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Tackling educational inequalities with social psychology: identities, contexts, and interventions
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 HaddenSome 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.
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- Published
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- Published version
Journal
Social Issues and Policy ReviewISSN
1751-2395Publisher
WileyExternal DOI
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1-57Department affiliated with
- Psychology Publications
Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2020-10-02First Open Access (FOA) Date
2020-11-12First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2020-10-01Usage metrics
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