In recent decades, female students have been more successful in higher education than their male counterparts in the United States and other industrialized countries. A promising explanation for this gender gap are differences in personality, particularly higher levels of conscientiousness among women. Using Structural Equation Modeling on data…

Although the trajectories of children's social skills have been examined across biological sexes, less research has examined these patterns for racially and ethnically diverse children in the United States. The purpose of this study was to estimate the longitudinal growth trajectories of social skills, while examining the influence of biological…

Recent empirical research shows that air pollution harms student test scores and attendance and increases office discipline referrals. However, the mechanism by which air pollution operates within schools to negatively affect student and teacher outcomes remains largely opaque. The existing literature has primarily focused on the effects of…

Purpose: Almost all epidemiologic studies estimating autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevalence have focused on school-age children. This study provides the first population-based data on the prevalence and expression of ASD among adolescents in a large US metropolitan region. Methods: Active multiple source ASD surveillance of adolescents aged…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous stress in multiple ways for undergraduate college students in emergent adulthood, a period that is already challenging. This study examined the self-reported strategies undergraduate students used to cope with COVID-19-related stress across gender, ethnicity, and academic level using a mixed-method approach.…

There is a large and growing number of non-degree credential offerings between a high school diploma and a bachelor's degree, as well as degree programs beyond a bachelor's degree. Nevertheless, research on the financial returns to non-degree credentials and degree-granting programs is often narrow and siloed. To fill this gap, we leverage a…

Impostor Phenomenon (IP) - a psychological experience marked by self-doubt and the fear of being exposed as a fraud - affecting 46% of 18-24-year-olds and 1 in 3 Americans, leads individuals to doubt their accomplishments, attributing success to luck (Cokley et al.,2015; Neureiter & Traut-Mattausch, 2016). In STEM (Science, Technology,…

Chronic school absenteeism can lead to poorer academic performance and school engagement for students. It is also a risk factor for school dropout, which is associated with many long-term health impacts. This report uses data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to describe the percentage of children ages 5-17 who experienced…

Purpose: An official autism diagnosis is required to access timely intervention and is associated with better long-term wellbeing and mental health. Certain demographic characteristics, such as being female or a racially or ethnically minoritized youth, have been associated with significant diagnostic lag. However, it remains unclear how assigned…

In the educational context, male and ethnic minority students are at a higher risk of school failure than female and ethnic majority students. The mainly female and ethnic majority teaching workforce has been discussed as reasons for the lower success of these different student groups. The classroom climate and how teachers create the learning…

Although community colleges have served as a gateway to universities for millions of students--disproportionately so for students from populations historically underrepresented in higher education--prior research has demonstrated that the majority of vertical transfer students lose at least some of their pretransfer credits. However, researchers…

Teachers' expectations of student capabilities can meaningfully affect future achievement. However, the consistency of teachers' expectations over time and their differential impact by student gender and ethnicity have not been thoroughly investigated in the context of students' reading achievement. The current study investigates the longitudinal…

Digital proficiency, including coding, is increasingly essential in physics education. However, disparities in coding skills among students are influenced by demographic factors and prior educational exposure. This study examines barriers to pre-university coding exposure for first-year physics students across five UK institutions, proposing a…

Australian education policies increasingly value equity and diversity, but these policies are not necessarily implicitly supported through curriculum. This study explores the hidden curriculum in senior school Drama and Theatre Studies in the state of Victoria, through an equity audit of texts prescribed through each subject's playlists, solos,…

Background: Exclusionary discipline (ED) has long been an educational equity concern, but its relationship with student health and protective factors is less understood. Methods: Using population-based public school student data (N = 82,216), we examined associations between past-month ED and positive depression and anxiety screening instrument…