Understanding Racial/Ethnic Diversity Gaps Among Early Career Teachers

The growing evidence on the importance of teacher representation points to the need to better understand the factors shaping the lack of racial/ethnic diversity in the teacher workforce. In this study, we examine the extent to which college major choice explains racial/ethnic gaps in teaching. Drawi...

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Main Authors: Christopher Redding, Dominique J. Baker
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2019-05-01
Series:AERA Open
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419848440
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author Christopher Redding
Dominique J. Baker
author_facet Christopher Redding
Dominique J. Baker
author_sort Christopher Redding
collection DOAJ
description The growing evidence on the importance of teacher representation points to the need to better understand the factors shaping the lack of racial/ethnic diversity in the teacher workforce. In this study, we examine the extent to which college major choice explains racial/ethnic gaps in teaching. Drawing on data from the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study, we find that White college graduates are close to twice as likely to major in education compared to Black, Latinx, and other graduates of color. Even among college graduates, respondents who identify as White are 5 percentage points more likely to enter teaching than respondents who identify as Black and 2 percentage points more likely to enter teaching than graduates who identify as Latinx. Regression and decomposition analyses demonstrate that the observed racial/ethnic gaps in entry to teaching can largely be explained by whether a graduate studied education in college.
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spelling doaj.art-28f45749dd004cbc95fb4d5aec6268d02022-12-22T01:49:40ZengSAGE PublishingAERA Open2332-85842019-05-01510.1177/2332858419848440Understanding Racial/Ethnic Diversity Gaps Among Early Career TeachersChristopher ReddingDominique J. BakerThe growing evidence on the importance of teacher representation points to the need to better understand the factors shaping the lack of racial/ethnic diversity in the teacher workforce. In this study, we examine the extent to which college major choice explains racial/ethnic gaps in teaching. Drawing on data from the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study, we find that White college graduates are close to twice as likely to major in education compared to Black, Latinx, and other graduates of color. Even among college graduates, respondents who identify as White are 5 percentage points more likely to enter teaching than respondents who identify as Black and 2 percentage points more likely to enter teaching than graduates who identify as Latinx. Regression and decomposition analyses demonstrate that the observed racial/ethnic gaps in entry to teaching can largely be explained by whether a graduate studied education in college.https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419848440
spellingShingle Christopher Redding
Dominique J. Baker
Understanding Racial/Ethnic Diversity Gaps Among Early Career Teachers
AERA Open
title Understanding Racial/Ethnic Diversity Gaps Among Early Career Teachers
title_full Understanding Racial/Ethnic Diversity Gaps Among Early Career Teachers
title_fullStr Understanding Racial/Ethnic Diversity Gaps Among Early Career Teachers
title_full_unstemmed Understanding Racial/Ethnic Diversity Gaps Among Early Career Teachers
title_short Understanding Racial/Ethnic Diversity Gaps Among Early Career Teachers
title_sort understanding racial ethnic diversity gaps among early career teachers
url https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419848440
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