Jennifer Pearson

The Social Dynamics of Mathematics Coursetaking in High School

This study examines how high school boys’ and girls’ academic effort, in the form of math coursetaking, is influenced by members of their social contexts. The authors argue that adolescents’ social contexts are defined, in part, by clusters of students (termed “local positions”) who take courses that differentiate them from others. Using course transcript data from the recent Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement Study, the authors employ a new network algorithm to identify local positions in 78 high schools in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Incorporating the local positions into multilevel models of math coursetaking, the authors find that girls are highly responsive to the social norms in their local positions, which contributes to homogeneity within and heterogeneity between local positions.

Sizing up Peers: Adolescent Girls' Weight Control and Social Comparison in the School Context.

Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and multi-level modeling, we examine the role of social comparison with schoolmates in adolescent girls’ weight control. Specifically, we focus on how girls’ own weight control is influenced by the body sizes and weight-control behaviors of their schoolmates. Our findings suggest that comparisons with similar others (in this case, girls of a similar body size) appear to have the strongest association with individual girls’ reports of trying to lose weight. For example, the odds that an overweight girl is engaged in weight control increase substantially when many overweight girls in her school are also trying to lose weight. This study highlights how schools play an important role in shaping girls’ decisions to practice weight control and demonstrates how social comparison theory improves our understanding of how health behaviors are linked to social contexts.

Same-Sex Sexuality and Educational Attainment: The Pathway to College

ABSTRACT Research finds lower levels of academic performance among sexual minority high school students, but some studies suggest sexual minorities have higher levels of educational attainment in adulthood. To further our understanding of how and why sexual orientation is associated with educational success, this study turns attention to the pathways to college completion, examining points along educational trajectories in which sexual minorities fall behind or surpass their heterosexual peers. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we find that sexual minority women are less likely than women with no same-sex sexuality to complete college, in part due to their high school performance and transition into college. Men who experience same-sex sexuality only in adolescence struggle in high school, but men who experience same-sex sexuality for the first time in adulthood are more likely to earn a college degree than men who do not experience same-sex sexuality.

High School Religious Context and Reports of Same-Sex Attraction and Sexual Identity in Young Adulthood

The objectives of this study are to understand the association between high school religious context in adolescence and the reporting of same-sex attraction and sexual identity in young adulthood and how these associations vary by gender. Previous studies have considered how high school contexts shape the well-being of sexual minority youth, yet few have examined the extent to which these contexts shape sexual desire and identity. We use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and find that among women, school religious context is negatively associated with the likelihood of reporting same-sex attraction in young adulthood. We also find a negative association between school religious context and reporting a bisexual or flexible sexual identity among men and women. Finally, we find a positive association between mean school religious attendance and reporting a homosexual identity among men and women.

Adolescent Sexual Experiences

The initiation of romantic and sexual relationships during adolescence is a normative and integral part of adolescent identity development. In the United States, the overwhelming majority of young people have romantic relationships (Carver et al. 2003) and initiate sexual activity during their high school years (Guttmacher Institute 2011); this trend has continued for decades (Finer 2007). American adult attitudes toward adolescent sexual behavior, however, continue to be characterized by fear, concern, and a focus on risk (Russell 2005; Schalet 2004), as evidenced by debates surrounding sex education in schools. Similarly, research on adolescent sexuality is largely focused on preventing sexual risk-taking and negative sexual outcomes, especially in the area of demography (Tolman and McClelland 2011). For example, sexual initiation is often characterized as a problem behavior, and the focus is overwhelmingly on contraceptive use, sexually transmitted infections, and pregnancy.

College-Going Benefits of High School Sports Participation Race and Gender Differences Over Three Decades

The long touted athlete advantage in college enrollment has been tempered by assertions that this advantage is actually due to characteristics that precede participation. Moreover, it remains unclear whether the benefits of sports extend into contemporary times and apply equally to female and racial minority athletes. This study uses three nationally representative longitudinal data sets of students who were 10th graders in 1980, 1990, and 2002. We find that high school sports participation was positively associated with college enrollment, even with the utilization of propensity score modeling, for White boys and girls, Black boys, and Latino boys and girls during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. The most important gender and race differences include Black female athletes’ college-going disadvantage in the 1980s and 1990s, and girls’ persistently lower rates of high school sports participation than boys’.

Consequences of runaway and thrownaway experiences for sexual minority health during the transition to adulthood

ABSTRACT Sexual minority youth are more likely to run away from home or experience homelessness, leaving them at increased risk of victimization and negative health outcomes. In this study, the authors use a developmental perspective that considers both vulnerable beginnings in families and the risky trajectories that follow to explore the connections between running away or being thrown out by parents and sexual minority womens and mens health in adulthood. Using four waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), the authors consider multiple dimensions of health and several potential intervening mechanisms. Findings suggest that runaway and thrownaway experiences have persistent negative effects on health into adulthood, in part because of their association with sexual victimization, educational attainment, and relationships with parents. Sexual minority men who have been thrown out by parents report a greater likelihood of suicidal ideation, smoking, and substance use into adulthood. Sexual minority women with runaway experiences have poorer health and increased depressive symptoms, while women with thrownaway experiences engage in more health risk behaviors. Sexual victimization stands out as a key mechanism for sexual minority womens health, as more than half of these young women report experiences of sexual victimization.

Same-sex Sexuality and Postsecondary Outcomes: The Role of High School Locale

This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine how high school locale moderates the association between same-sex sexuality (SSS) and postsecondary outcomes, including four-year college enrollment and four-year degree completion. Our results suggest that the link between same-sex sexuality and college completion is complex, varying by gender, high school locale, and the timing of same-sex sexuality. We find that sexual minority men who attended a rural high school enroll in and complete college at higher rates than their heterosexual peers, although this varies by the timing of same-sex sexuality. Sexual minority women are less likely than heterosexual women to enroll in and complete college, and high school locale does not moderate this association. We discuss these gender differences and the role of high school locale in shaping both high school and college outcomes.

Educational attainment of transgender adults: Does the timing of transgender identity milestones matter?

Adolescence is a difficult life stage in which to navigate a transgender identity, yet adolescence plays a key role in shaping educational trajectories. While transgender-related stigma and victimization within secondary schools persists, the social climate in which transgender adolescents navigate their identity has changed over time. Analyzing data from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey, a national, non-probability sample of U.S. transgender adults, we address the following research questions: 1) Is experiencing transgender identity milestones in adolescence associated with educational attainment?; 2) Does this association vary by birth cohort? We find that those who first experienced transgender identity milestones in adolescence attained less education than those who first experienced milestones in other life stages. This association is larger among younger birth cohorts, pointing to the adolescent years as a particularly difficult time to navigate a transgender identity, even in the midst of increased transgender awareness and resources within schools and society.

School Experiences and Educational Opportunities for LGBTQ Students

This chapter provides an overview of empirical research on the educational experiences and opportunities of LGBTQ students in U.S. K–12 and postsecondary institutions, situating this research within theoretical frameworks that emphasize heteronormativity, gendered sexual socialization, and minority stress. We begin with a historical overview of research on LGBTQ students in U.S. schools and discuss conceptualization and measurement issues inherent in studying sexual orientation and gender identity. After reviewing the educational experiences and outcomes of LGBTQ students and the consequences of heteronormative school contexts, we discuss policies, programs, and supportive school environments associated with greater well-being and academic success among LGBTQ youth. Throughout the chapter, we emphasize the unique experiences of gender minority students, relative to sexual minority students, as well as the complex interplay of sexuality and gender identity. We conclude with a discussion of remaining barriers to equal educational opportunity for LGBTQ students and provide suggestions for future research.