Middle-school students are more likely to feel safer, less bullied and less lonely when they are in ethnically diverse schools, says a new study by UC Davis and UCLA psychologists.
The study offers new empirical evidence for the psychological benefits of integrated schools, say the researchers, Adrienne Nishina of the UC Davis Department of Human and Community Development, Jaana Juvonen of the UCLA Department of Psychology and Sandra Graham of the UCLA Department of Education.
In a survey of more than 70 sixth-grade classrooms in 11 public middle schools serving poorer communities in Southern California, the researchers compared classrooms with lower and higher classroom diversity among African Americans, Asian and Pacific Islanders, Caucasians and Latinos.
"Our study focused on the effects of ethnic diversity on Latino and African-American students," said Nishina, an assistant professor of human development at UC Davis.
"However, we expect that students from other ethnic backgrounds would experience similar benefits.
Latino and African-American were the two ethnic groups represented across all the classrooms in this sample of public middle school youth in the Los Angeles area.
Citing a recent Supreme Court decision on ethnic diversity on college campuses, the other co-author, Graham, underscored the role of ethnic diversity on college campuses as a way to promote better learning.
That, in turn, may reduce harassment that leads to students feeling unsafe.
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