Diversity in the workforce can be attributed to both a popular, cultural shift and legislative intervention. Despite these forces, discrimination endures in all aspects of Western society from education to employment. Unequal pay and opportunities for promotion are symptoms of a systematic discrimination of individuals based on race and gender.…

In many parts of the world, classrooms are characterised by cultural and ethnic diversity. Increasingly, researchers are interested in exploring these rich and socially complex contexts. However, research into "the ethnic other" can present complex ethical and methodological challenges. In this paper, the authors discuss, with reference…

"Outlier studies" identify items for which extreme differences in performance by contrasting groups occur; these extreme items are the "outliers" referred to. Review of the studies conducted on tests receiving major use in higher education reveals that though one cannot make a priori classifications of outliers with confidence,…

Reports on a study of 305 African American and 338 white middle school students to determine whether self-beliefs underlying self-esteem are different across ethnic and gender boundaries. Finds that academic self-beliefs, as opposed to nonacademic self-beliefs were not strong predictors of self-esteem among any of the groups. (ACM)

Reports on a study of differences in assumptions about a just world among 140 college students. Finds that nonminority students saw their personal worlds as less random, more just, and more benevolent than they saw the general world. Finds that minority students saw both the personal and the general world as less benevolent and less lucky. (CFR)

Faculty beliefs regarding the achievement potential of women and minority students may be communicated through microinequities in everyday exchanges. To determine whether women and minority students perceive a less encouraging classroom atmosphere than white male students, 941 students were surveyed using a questionnaire designed for this study.…

This study: (1) tested the effectiveness of the Model of Educational Productivity for predicting the inquiry skill of 17-year-olds; (2) investigated if the prediction of inquiry differed for males and females; and (3) if the prediction of inquiry skill differed for white and nonwhite students. (JN)

Identified factors associated with college students' interest in science and mathematics and if these factors differed for men and women or for Blacks and Whites. Results are based on a 78-item questionnaire completed by 2,046 junior/senior students who participated voluntarily in the study. (JN)

Concern over the under representation of women and minorities in the natural sciences and engineering led to the research reported in this document. The project surveyed a stratified sample of 1,651 college seniors who registered to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and who were majoring in natural sciences, mathematics, computer…

Examines how judicial selection methods (appointive or elective), electoral power, and intergroup competition influence number of state judgeships among women, Blacks, and Hispanics. Reports the impact of selection methods has been overstated. Shows a positive relationship between number of women and minority lawyers and number of women and…

Noting that there is near universal agreement that children from families with higher socioeconomic status (SES) have access to more of the resources needed to support their positive development than do lower SES children, this monograph examines the myriad questions remaining regarding relations among SES, parenting, and child development from a…

The six papers which comprise this report analyze the labor market experience of youth as reflected in the 1982 results of a longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of 32.9 million young people who were ages 14-21 as of January 1, 1979. Chapter 1, "The Nature and Consequences of High School Employment," by Ronald D'Amico…

Asserts that song lyrics illustrate important sociological concepts. Reports on a study using song-lyric packets with 23 students in an introductory college sociological course. Finds that students were very supportive of the strategy and includes an appendix illustrating the approach by presenting one song-lyric packet. (CFR)

This information bulletin reviews the research literature on blacks and mathematics. The amount of research that focuses specifically on race differences in mathematics in an attempt to explain and lessen those differences is small. Research of the past ten years indicates that black students, when compared to white students, take fewer…

A study investigated the relationships between academic self-concepts, metacognitive problem solving, and ethnicity in entering college freshmen minority men and women. The study hypothesized, first, a positive relationship between metacognitive problem solving skills and academic self-concepts, and second that there would be ethnic differences…