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Tackling educational inequalities with social psychology: identities, contexts, and interventions

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Version 2 2023-06-12, 09:31
Version 1 2023-06-09, 21:45
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-12, 09:31 authored by Matthew EasterbrookMatthew Easterbrook, Ian HaddenIan Hadden
Some groups of students—typically those who have suffered because of historical inequality in society—disproportionately experience psychological barriers to educational success. These psychological barriers—feelings of threat to their social identity and the sense that their identity is incompatible with educational success—make substantial contributions to inequalities in educational outcomes between groups, even beyond economic, historical, and structural inequalities. A range of wise psychological interventions can help remove these barriers by targeting students’ subjective interpretation of their local educational context. In this review, we outline the Identities in Context model of educational inequalities, which proposes that interactions between students’ social identities and features of the local educational context—expectations about a group's academic performance, a group's representation in positions associated with academic success, and a group's orientation towards education—can trigger social identity threat and identity incompatibility in ways that vary considerably across contexts. We present an implementation process, based on the Identities in Context model, that academic researchers, policymakers, and practitioners can follow to help them choose and tailor wise interventions that are effective in reducing educational inequalities in their local context. Throughout the review, we make policy recommendations regarding how educational practices can be altered to help remove psychological barriers for underperforming groups of students and so reduce educational inequalities.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Social Issues and Policy Review

ISSN

1751-2395

Publisher

Wiley

Page range

1-57

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2020-10-02

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2020-11-12

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2020-10-01

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