Question

Give an overview of the studies testing discrimination in education.

Answer 1

As part of the broader literature review on the concerned topic which is related to examining discrimination in education, several statistical and empirical studies and evaluations have been conducted by many scholars and educationalists in different contexts and boundaries with varying results and outcomes. Hanna, Rema and Linden, Leigh L.(2009) performed an empirical study to measure discrimination in the domestic educational sector by conducting a mock test competition, and based on the test performance various ranges of financial rewards were given to the participating students. To grade the test, the teachers were randomly recruited from all over the country and so were the students. The study basically documented the presence of both caste and gender-based discrimination in the test marks obtained by the students and the test grading as low-caste and female students with good academic backgrounds predominantly obtained lower marks than their higher caste and male counterparts(both with good and poor academic backgrounds). The study or the paper also essentially found that based on the test grading and the caste affiliation of the respective graders, the teachers belonging to lower caste usually tend to engage in discriminatory grading compared to the higher caste teachers or graders in India. Ghoshal(2018) relied on the audit test to examine the unequal treatment of people engaged in the educational sector such as students, teachers, and other non-teaching staff/personnel based on several parameters such as race, gender, socio-economic status, and others in the United States mainly through email. The audit test basically shows how the treatment towards a particular identical group of people varies according to any individual criteria, trait, or parameter. The study presents evidence in favor of the overall efficiency and effectiveness of this approach or study.

Ghaffarzadeh(2016) conducted an empirical study on educational discrimination based on social class and financial status in Iran. In the study, the researcher observed the various activities and behaviors in 10 different English language classes from 10 random districts in the country between 2004 and 2014 and examined any link or association between the educational behaviors within the classrooms. The study essentially found that on many occasions some particular or specific group or learners or students were often initiated or threatened by rough and harsh behaviors of or reprimand from the teachers compared to the other students or learners. Based on the detailed results or outcome of the study, such behavioral discrimination towards students or learners were subjected mainly to the differences in social class and financial or economic status among the students in the schools that were observed. Based on a study specified by Lockhead, Eckstorm, and Harris(1977), the general educational system in the US is subject to intense gender discrimination based on the notion that the cognitive skills, intellectual capacities, personal attitudes and beliefs, personal behaviors and expectations, etc. vary significantly based on gender and it is reflected or documented in the overall educational achievements or accomplishments and occupational aspirations of males and females in the American society as a whole.  

  References

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/j.2333-8504.1977.tb01130.x

http://52.6.33.68/bread/system/files/bread_wpapers/230.pdf

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0092055X18789216

https://iafor.org/journal/iafor-journal-of-education/volume-4-issue-2/article-2/