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We examine the disparities in educational outcomes for high-income countries as they are reported by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), with a specific emphasis on a more nuanced exploration of SES-based achievement gaps. To explore differences in the educational inequality and disadvantages associated with SES-based achievement gaps by country, we analyze three measures: overall average performance, educational inequality (or achievement gaps), and educational disadvantage (comparative achievement gap patterns). We find that, when examined together, these three measures are instructive for understanding the differences in educational outcomes across countries. Our findings offer insight into the PISA results that go beyond average achievement. We recommend that country-level averages should not be emphasised or interpreted without also considering educational inequality and disadvantage.

Background/Context: Scholars have attributed the underperformance of U.S. students relative to students in other high-income countries to unequal access to high-quality educational environments. Poor students are presumed to do disproportionately worse on international achievement tests and, consequently, to pull down the U.S. average. Conversely, high-socioeconomic-status (SES) students in the United States, who are among the wealthiest in the world, are presumed to outperform other rich students. Purpose/Objective/Research Question: Despite these common assumptions regarding the performance of different SES groups in the United States, little research has empirically examined the extent to which these assumptions are correct. As such, we seek to benchmark low-, middle-, and high-SES students in the United States relative to comparable groups in other countries in order to contextualize U.S. performance. Data Analysis: We analyze 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) mathematics achievement for 42 high-income countries. We average scores for low-, middle-, and high-SES groups within each country, using PISA's index of economic, social, and cultural status (ESCS) index to generate categories. We then generate grand means for all countries in our sample to have an overall benchmark for each group. To calculate overall country scores and SES group scores, we use PISA-specific plausible values techniques. We use 12 points to identify meaningful achievement differences. Findings/Results: Contrary to conventional wisdom regarding the performance of students in the United States on PISA, poor students do not disproportionately pull down U.S. scores; relative to poor students around the world, poor students in the U.S. are average, despite being among the most socioeconomically disadvantaged. Moreover, and contrary to conventional wisdom, the richest students in the United States do not exhibit stellar performance and are average compared with other rich students globally, despite being among the richest in the world. Middle-SES students in the United States, however, perform 17 points below the average for all middle-SES students in the 42 countries we examined, suggesting that they are nearly half a school year behind middle-SES students around the world. Conclusions/Recommendations: Although common explanations for U.S. PISA achievement may seem logical, they are not always correct. Such incorrect assumptions overlook significant educational concerns that could be shaping educational policies. Considering our findings, the United States needs to address the within-country SES-based achievement gap, but it also needs to address the gap between the United States and other countries. While policy makers should continue to focus on economically disadvantaged students, there are systemic concerns with the U.S. education system that prevent the academic success of students across the class spectrum.

Research on positional segregation in sport focuses on mechanisms perpetuating discrepancies in integrated contexts, including in majority-minority sports. However, theoretical explanations for positional segregation should apply to other status groups, such as ethnicity, that may be more salient in monoracial or nearly monoracial settings. We use 2018 to 2019 data on 790 NHL players and executives along with descriptive models previously applied to questions of racial segregation in sport to evaluate if stereotypes have led to ethnicity-based differences in athletes' outcomes, using on-ice positions, leadership positions, team management positions, and penalty minutes related to stereotypes in playing style. Results show no evidence for ethnic stacking nor barriers to player leadership in the NHL but substantial differences in team management positions and penalty minutes. Our findings illuminate the degree to which theories concerning racial stereotyping mechanisms might be extended to apply in monoracial settings. Plain language summary: Much research has shown that stereotypes linked to race are connected to the ways athletes are positioned on competitive fields or courts. This can in turn lead to limited opportunities for minority athletes in terms of endorsement or leadership opportunities. We are interested in whether the theories used to explain these patterns in reference to race can be used to examine the opportunities available to other minority groups. In this paper, we use data on 790 professional hockey players to see whether ethnic stereotypes lead to similar patterns in a mostly-white setting. We use descriptive methods traditionally used to examine spatial distributions of racial minorities in sport along with models that examine access to leadership positions to see how ethnic stereotypes might be used. We also use penalty minutes to try to identify patterns of ethnic stereotypes connected to playing style. We find little evidence that ethnic stereotypes affect player position or leadership opportunities in this mostly-white sport, but good evidence that ethnic stereotypes affect off-ice leadership opportunities and on-ice playing styles. While intriguing, these data cannot examine specific interactions involving stereotypes that players might experience. Our approach here could also be applied to other status groups, such as gender, sexual orientation, or age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although gender ideologies influence many outcomes, research shows they often fluctuate across the life course. Family structure transitions are one mechanism through which gender ideologies change. Divorced and single adults report more egalitarian ideologies than stably married adults. Little research has examined whether children in these families experience similar gender ideologies. Based on parental role modeling, we would expect children in non-traditional families to exhibit more egalitarian gender ideologies. We examine family structure and youth gender ideologies in two contexts, essentially two case studies: Germany and South Korea. Using Starting Cohort 3—Grade 5 (N = 4,021) and Starting Cohort 4—Grade 9 (N = 9,913) of the Germany National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) and Cohorts 1 (N = 2,844) and 2 (N = 3,449) of the Korea Youth Panel Survey (KYPS), we uncover counterintuitive findings that youth gender ideologies do not vary across family structures. Child gender is the most salient predictor of gender ideologies across contexts. Plain Language Summary: Little research has examined whether children experience more egalitarian or less egalitarian gender based beliefs across various family structures, including step-families, single parent families, and two parent families. Based on parental role modeling, we would expect children in non-traditional families to exhibit more egalitarian gender beliefs. We examine family structure and youth gender ideologies in two contexts: Germany (NEPS) and South Korea (KYPS). Using Starting Cohort 3—Grade 5 (N = 4,021) and Starting Cohort 4—Grade 9 (N = 9,913) of the Germany National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) and Cohorts 1 (N = 2,844) and 2 (N = 3,449) of the Korea Youth Panel Survey (KYPS), we uncover counterintuitive findings that youth gender ideologies do not vary across family structures, but that it is the youth's gender that is the most important predictor of a youth's gender beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: Child problem behaviors have been linked to immediate and long-term negative outcomes. Research has found that family and peer social capital have a strong influence on child behavioral outcomes. However, most research about social capital and child behavior problems has been conducted in Western contexts. Social capital may influence child behavior problems differently in non-Western sociocultural environments due to different family and peer dynamics. Methods: Using a sample from the Japan Household Panel Survey and Japan Child Panel Survey (N = 182), we expand this literature on various forms of social capital to the Japanese context with data that were collected between 2009 and 2014. We examine the relationship of family and peer social capital with children internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors using OLS linear regression. Results: Our results differ from what is commonly found in Western contexts. Whereas family and peer social capital are typically associated with both internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors in Western countries, we find that greater family social capital is associated with decreased externalizing problem behaviors but not internalizing problem behaviors in Japan, and peer social capital has no association on either type of problem behaviors. Conclusions: Our findings emphasize the importance of considering social and cultural contexts when exploring how social capital might encourage prosocial child outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research suggests positive associations between shared recreational activities and father–child relationships for young children. We extend these ideas to adolescents and to recreational activities in which the father's participation might be limited to audience membership. We use the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to evaluate whether an association exists between adolescent sports participation and paternal relationships, focusing on the adolescent's perspective, and whether these associations differ for boys and girls. Findings show positive associations between sports participation and closer relationships between fathers and adolescents. Sports participation was more important for boys' relationships with fathers than girls'. We discuss our findings in terms of contemporary shifts in gendered norms and conclude that gender may remain salient in how sport participation can promote father–child relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on family structure has led some to claim that sex-based parenting differences exist. But if such differences exist in single-parent families, the absence of a second parent rather than specific sex-typed parenting might explain them. We examine differences in mothering and fathering behavior in single-parent households, where number of parents is held constant, and we describe individualist and structuralist perspectives for potential sex-based parenting behaviors. We compare 3,202 single mothers and 307 single fathers in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (Kindergarten Cohort). Results suggest that, although there are small differences in the parenting behaviors of single mothers and single fathers, differences are sensitive to demographic disparities and do not translate to academic deficits for children in either family type.

Human, financial, and social capital from several contexts affects child and adolescent well-being. Families and schools are among the most important, and research is increasingly studying how effects of capital across such contexts affect child and adolescent academic and social outcomes. Some research suggests that families may be more powerful than schools in promoting child and adolescent well-being. Additional research is needed to more fully understand how capital across institutions interacts in producing child well-being, when and why multiple institutions or levels of analysis are relevant, and how several contexts can form chains of causation. Theories of social capital may promote increased conversation among researchers who study the same outcomes yet focus their analyses on different contexts.

Research examining the influence of social relationships on child outcomes has seldom examined how individuals derive social capital from more than one context and the extent to which they may benefit from the capital derived from each. We address this deficit through a study of child behavior problems. We hypothesize that children derive social capital from both their families and their schools and that capital from each context is influential in promoting social adjustment. Using a large national data set and structural equation modeling, we find that social capital at home and at school can be measured as separate constructs and that capital at home is more influential than is capital at school. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research on social capital and for practical interventions promoting social adjustment. (Contains 2 tables, 2 figures, and 4 notes.)

This article focuses on the effect of labor market restrictions on worker dignity during the recruitment and hiring processes by examining a labor-market case study in which worker power is severely constrained through industry practices. Specifically, the authors study workers who attempted to gain employment in the National Football League to explore how artificially restricted labor markets limit workers' market power. Findings from extensive field notes, observations of player assessments, and semistructured interviews suggest that although workers possess elite skills necessary for employment, industry restrictions on employees' market power enable employers to demand painful and dehumanizing concessions that seriously challenge workers' dignity. The findings presented here extend previous studies of threats to worker dignity from shop floors and workplaces to labor markets and to elite, highly skilled workers. Keywords: labor markets, hiring, sports, dignity

Objective: Examine whether the relationship between ethnicity and parental discipline practices is consistent across contexts. Background: Harsh discipline has been linked to negative child behaviors and adolescent outcomes. In examining harsh discipline, scholars have observed ethnic differences. Methods: We use the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS‐K) for the United States and the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) for the United Kingdom. The samples include parents of children aged 7–11 years old (ECLS‐K N = 13,008, MCS N = 11,113). Using logistic regression, we model the associations between parental ethnicity and five disciplinary strategies (spanking, yelling, sending to timeout, discussing, and withdrawing privileges). Results: Black parents in the United States were more likely to use harsh physical discipline, whereas all ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom exhibited higher odds of using harsh physical discipline than did White parents. By contrast, Hispanic parents and parents from a general Other ethnic category were less likely to use harsh verbal discipline in the United States than White parents are, and Black and Asian parents were less likely than White parents to use harsh verbal discipline in the United Kingdom. White parents were more likely than other ethnic groups to use timeout across countries. Black and Asian parents were less likely to discuss with children in the United Kingdom; compared to White and Asian parents in the United States had lower odds of using discussion as discipline, but Hispanic parents had higher odds. Conclusions: Ethnic minority parents are likely resorting to harsh physical parenting practices to socialize their children into conforming to social norms that may protect them from negative repercussions in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]