The relationship between teacher-based discrimination, academic adjustment, psychological well-being, and student-teacher relationship quality among African American adolescents

Abstract

The present study investigated the nature of perceived teacher-based racial and gender discrimination among young African American adolescents ((N=248; 50.8% female) and simultaneously examined associations between perceived racial and gender discrimination, academic adjustment, psychological well-being, and student-teacher relationship quality. Additionally, the study explored adolescents’ beliefs about personality as a moderator between perceived discrimination and adjustment. In line with hypotheses, adolescents perceived more racial discrimination from teachers. However, African American boys perceived more gender discrimination than girls. When perceived racial and gender discrimination were considered simultaneously, racial discrimination was more strongly linked to teacher-student relationship quality; where as, gender discrimination was linked to academic adjustment and psychological well-being. Among girls, perceived racial discrimination was negatively associated with student-teacher relationship quality. Students perceiving both forms of adjustment evidenced lower levels of adjustment compared to students perceiving only one type of discrimination. Personality beliefs only moderated the relationship between perceived discrimination and student-teacher relationship quality The findings from this study greatly contribute to our understanding of early adolescents’ perceived racial and gender discrimination in educational contexts. Through examination of both gender and race-related discrimination the present study provides important insights into the nature and importance of discrimination for a comprehensive understanding of young African American adolescents’ academic, psychological, and social adjustment in the classroom.