Ethnically-based rejection sensitivity and academic achievement: The danger of retracting into one’s heritage culture

This study examined the relation between ethnically based rejection sensitivity and academic achievement in a sample of 936 immigrant students in Germany and Switzerland. The theory of race-based rejection sensitivity that originated in North America was extended to immigrant students in Europe. The rough political climate against immigrants in Europe makes it probable that immigrant youth face particular difficulties and are affected by ethnically based rejection sensitivity, at least as much as—or even more than—minority youth in the United States. Using a standardized literacy performance test and multilevel analyses, we found that ethnically based rejection sensitivity was negatively related to academic achievement for immigrant students. This relation was partially mediated by a strong contingency of the students' self-worth on the heritage culture, as well as by a low number of native German or Swiss majority-group friends. We interpret these processes as immigrant students' efforts to cope with ethnically based rejection sensitivity by retracting into their heritage culture and avoiding majority-group contact, which unfortunately, however, at the same time also results in lower academic achievement. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

How gender fair are German schoolbooks in the twenty-first century? An analysis of language and illustrations in schoolbooks for mathematics and German

Schoolbooks convey not only school-relevant knowledge; they also influence the development of stereotypes about different social groups. Particularly during the 1970s and 1980s, many studies analysed schoolbooks and criticised the overall predominance of male persons and of traditional role allocations. Since that time, women’s and men’s occupations and social functions have changed considerably. The present research investigated gender portrayals in schoolbooks for German and mathematics that were recently published in Germany. We examined the proportions of female and male persons in pictures and texts and categorized their activities, occupational and parental roles. Going beyond previous studies, we added two criteria: the use of gender-fair language and the spatial arrangements of persons in pictures. Our results show that schoolbooks for German contained almost balanced depictions of girls and boys, whereas women were less frequently shown than men. In mathematics books, males outnumbered females in general. Across both types of books, female and male persons were engaged in many different activities, not only gendertyped ones; however, male persons were more often described via their profession than females. Use of gender-fair language has found its way into schoolbooks but is not used consistently. Books for German were more gender fair in terms of linguistic forms than books for mathematics. For spatial arrangements, we found no indication for gender biases. The results are discussed with a focus on how schoolbooks can be optimized to contribute to gender equality.

Subtile und direkte Mechanismen der sozialen Konstruktion von Geschlecht in Schulbüchern. Vorstellung eines Kategoriensystems zur Analyse der Geschlechter(un)gerechtigkeit von Texten und Bildern

Ausgehend von der Frauenbewegung in Deutschland wurden bereits vor über 40 Jahren erste Analysen zur Darstellung der Geschlechter in Schulbüchern vorgelegt. Sie haben gezeigt, dass weibliche Charaktere im Vergleich zu männlichen seltener und oft in geschlechterstereotypen Rollen dargestellt werden. Heute besteht auf gesellschaftlicher Ebene deutlich mehr Geschlechtergerechtigkeit, dennoch existieren nach wie vor subtile Formen von Diskriminierung in Schulbüchern. Der vorliegende Beitrag dokumentiert die Entwicklung eines Kategoriensystems, das geeignet ist, das Ausmaß von Geschlechter(un)gerechtigkeit in Texten und Bildern aus aktuell in deutschen Schulen verwendeten Deutsch- und Mathematikbüchern zu analysieren. Neben den Häufigkeiten der Darstellungen von weiblichen und männlichen Charakteren und der Geschlechtstypizität ihrer Rollen und Aktivitäten können hiermit zwei subtile Mechanismen der Herstellung von Geschlechterungleichheiten untersucht werden: geschlechter(un)gerechte Sprache und die räumliche Darstellung weiblicher und männlicher Charaktere. Erste Ergebnisse der Anwendung des Kategoriensystems für Deutsch- und Mathematikbücher werden in der Diskussion dargestellt.