External Factors Affecting Ethnic Differences in Achievement

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Ethnic Differences in Achievement

External Factors Affecting Ethnic Differences in Achievement

1. Cultural Deprivation

2. Material Deprivation

3. Racism in Wider Society

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Cultural Deprivation

Cultural deprivation theory sees the underachievement of some ethnic groups as the result of inadequate socialisation in the home.

Three main aspects:

  • intellectual and linguistic skills
  • attitudes and values
  • family structure and parental support
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Intellectual and Linguistic Skills

Low-Income Black Families 
Lack intellectual stimulation and enriching experiences
Poorly equipped for school - not able to develop reasoning and problem-solving skills

Bereiter and Engelmann
See the language spoken by low-income black American families as inadequate for educational success
It's ungrammatical, disjointed and incapable of expressing abstract ideas

English in the Home
Children who don't speak English at home may be held back educationally 

Official Statistics from 2010
Pupils who had English as their first language = 3.2 points ahead of those without English as their first language when it came to gaining five A*-C GCSEs including Maths and English
English = first language = 55.2%
English = not first language = 52.0%

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Attitudes and Values

Lack of motivation - major cause of failure for many black pupils

Socialisation
Some black children are socialised into a subculture that establishes a 'live for today' attitude
Subculture doesn't value education 
Leaves children unequipped for success

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Family Structure and Parental Support

Failure to socialise children adequately = dysfunctional family structures

Daniel Moynihan (1965)
Many black families are headed by lone mothers - children are deprived of adequate care - she struggles financially in the absence of a male breadwinner 
Absence of a male role model - cycle of inadequately socialised children - fail school - become inadequate parents themselves

Charles Murray (1984)
High rates of lone parenthood and lack of male role models = underachievement of some miniorites

Roger Scruton (1986)
Low achievement levels of ethnic minorities = failure to embrace mainstream british culture

Ken Pryce (1979)
Family structure contributes towards the underachievement of black Caribbeans in Britain - experience of slavery was culturally devastating - lost their language, religion and family systems
Asians are higher achievers - culture is resistant to racism - gives them a sense of self-worth - Asian family structures, languages and religions haven't been destroyed by colonial rule

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Fathers, Gangs and Culture

Tony Sewell (2009)
Problem of black boys underachievement = lack of fatherly nurturing or 'tough love' 
Results in black boys finding it hard to overcome the emotional and behavioural difficulties of adolescence

Street Gangs
Other fatherless boys offer black boys 'perverse loyalty and love' 
Media-inspired role model of anti-school black masculinity

Black Pupils Vs Asian Pupils 
Asians typically do better in education - cultural differences in socialisation and attitudes to education

Black children need to have greater expectations placed on them to raise their aspirations 

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Asian Families

Indian and Chinese Pupils
Benefit from education
Have supportive families - have an 'Asian work ethic' - highly value education 

Ruth Lupton (2004)
Adult authority in Asian families - simillar to authority in school
Respectful behaviour from children to adults is expected within the family - positive knock-on effect in school - parents are more supportive of school behaviour policies

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White Working-Class Families

White W/C pupils often underachieve and have lower aspirations

Andrew McCulloch (2014)
Conducted a survey of 16,000 pupils
Found ethnic minority pupils are more likely to aspire to go to university than white British pupils 
May be a result of lack of parental support

Ruth Lupton
Studied four mainly W/C schools - two predominantly white, one serving a large Pakistani community and the fourth drawing pupils from an ethnically mixed community
Teachers reported poorer levels of behaviour and discipline in the white W/C school - blamed on lower levels of parental support and their negative attitudes W/C parents have of education
Ethnic minoritiy parents - see education as 'a way up in society' 

Gillian Evans (2006) 
Street culture in white W/C areas can be brutal - young people have to learn how to deal with intimidation and intimidate others
School - becomes a place where power games people engage in in the street are played out again - brings disruption and makes it hard for pupils to succeed

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Criticisms of Cultural Deprivation Theory

Geoffrey Driver (1977) - ignores the positive effects of ethnicity on achievement - black Caribbean families provides girls with positive role models of strong, independent women 

Errol Lawrence (1982) - black pupils underachieve because of racism NOT due to low self-esteem

Keddie - ethnic minority children are culturally different, not deprived - underachievement is because schools are ethnocentric

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Material Deprivation and Class

Material deprivation is a lack of physical necessities that are seen as essential or normal for life in today's society 

Guy Palmer (2012)

  • Almost half of all ethnic minority children live in low-income households
  • Ethnic minorities are almost 2x as likely to be unemployed compared to whites
  • Ethnic minority households are approx 3x as likely to be homeless
  • Half of Bangledesh and Pakistani workers earn under £7 per hour compared with only a quarter of white British workers
  • Ethnic minorites are more likely to be involved in shift work

Reasons why ethnic minorities are at greater risk of facing material deprivation:

  • Many live in economically deprived areas - high unemployment and low wage rates
  • Cultural factors 
  • Lack of language skills and foreign qualifications not being recognised in the UK
  • Asylum seekers may not be allowed to work
  • Racial discrimination in the labour and housing markets 
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Racism in Wider Society

David Mason (2000) 
Discrimination is a continuing and persistent feature of the experience of Britain's citizens of minority ethnic origin

John Rex (1986)
Racial discrimination leads to social exclusion - worsens poverty for ethnic minorities
E.g. housing - discrimination - ethnic minorities are more likely to be forced into substandard accomodation than white people of the same class 

Wood et al (2010)
Deliberate discrimination in the workplace
Three closely matched job applications to almost 1000 vacancies  - appeared to come from one from a white person and the other two from people of ethnic minority
Only 1/16 ethnic minority applications were offered an interview against 1/9 white applications

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