ERIC Number: EJ1455056
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jan
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0038-0407
EISSN: EISSN-1939-8573
Complicating the "Suburban Advantage": Examining Racial and Gender Inequality in Suburban and Urban School Settings
Sociology of Education, v98 n1 p3-26 2025
This article investigates the racial and gender dynamics of educational inequality in suburban public schools in the United States during an era of rapid demographic change. As suburban schools transition from predominantly White enclaves to more diverse settings, it is unclear to what extent the popular narrative of "suburban advantage" holds for newcomers. Using a longitudinal data set of majority non-White, lower-income students (the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study), we explore how these students fare compared to urban counterparts during this transformative period. Our findings suggest that suburban schools are higher resourced than their urban counterparts, yet there are minimal urban-suburban differences in educational outcomes after accounting for individual and family characteristics. Furthermore, we reveal disparities in urban-suburban differences by race and gender. Our research challenges narratives that treat suburban institutions as monoliths and suggests the purported advantages of suburban schooling are not conferred uniformly to all students.
Descriptors: Equal Education, Racial Differences, Gender Differences, Suburban Schools, Urban Schools, Minority Group Students, Low Income Students, Educational Resources, Student Characteristics, Family Characteristics, Gender Bias, Racism, Preadolescents, Adolescents, Honors Curriculum, Probability, Academic Achievement, Elementary Secondary Education
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (DHHS/NIH)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: P2CHD047879; T32HD007163