Source: Huffington Post
A recent study conducted by researchers at Northwestern University found that stressors related to racism affect student-performance in minorities.
Supported by previous research that indicates increased levels of cortisol hormones in minorities, researchers were now able to link increased stress levels to feelings of discrimination.
“We had observed these [dissimilarities] and knew that sleep and stress hormones have strong implications for cognition … we also knew that there was a strong racial gap in academic attainment,” said Emma Adam, a professor of human development and social policy at Northwestern
Researchers examined two primary stressors: perceived discrimination — “the perception that you will be treated differently or unfairly because of your race — and stereotype threat, the stress of confirming negative expectations about your racial or ethnic group.”
The study showed that in addition to the physiological responses induced by discrimination stress, minority youth also experience psychological damage and develop harmful coping methods that all ultimately impact their performance in school, such a pretending that grades do not matter anyway.
The research is important to furthering our overall understanding of the achievement gaps and an important addition to a plethora of research that examines the socioeconomic factors that affect student performance.
Read full story at: Huffington Post