TY - JOUR
T1 - Academic disparities and health
T2 - How gender-based disparities in schools relate to boys’ and girls’ health
AU - Levine, Cynthia S.
AU - Miller, Gregory E.
AU - Shalowitz, Madeleine U.
AU - Story, Rachel E.
AU - Manczak, Erika M.
AU - Hayen, Robin
AU - Hoffer, Lauren C.
AU - Le, Van
AU - Vause, Katherine J.
AU - Chen, Edith
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health ( HL108723 , HL122328 , F32HL119021 ), the Institute of Education Sciences ( R305B1000027 ), and the Russell Sage Foundation ( 96-18-01 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2019/5
Y1 - 2019/5
N2 - Rationale: Recent research reveals that, although girls encounter some barriers in school (e.g., in science and math), on balance, boys perform worse academically. Moreover, other research has identified a correlation between exposure to a context characterized by large disparities in performance or resources and a range of negative outcomes, including negative health and well-being, among members of lower status groups. Objective: Building on these literatures, the present research tests the relationship between gender disparities in academic performance within a school and students’ health outcomes. Specifically, we investigated whether boys had worse health when they attended schools where there was a greater disparity between boys’ and girls’ academic performance. Method: We tested this hypothesis in two different samples with different health outcomes. In a sample of healthy eighth graders (Study 1; 159 girls and 81 boys), we assessed two indices of metabolic syndrome, and in a sample of children with asthma (Study 2; 122 girls and 153 boys), we assessed immune function (Th1 and Th2 cytokine production) and self-reported symptoms. Participants in both samples also reported the name of the school that they attended so that we could access publicly available information about the percentage of girls and the percentage of boys in each school who met expectations for their grade level on standardized tests. Results: In both samples, the greater the gap in a school between the percentage of girls and the percentage of boys who met expectations for their grade level on standardized tests, the worse boys’ health. This pattern did not emerge among girls. Conclusion: Results thus highlight the negative health correlates of academic disparities among members of lower-performing groups.
AB - Rationale: Recent research reveals that, although girls encounter some barriers in school (e.g., in science and math), on balance, boys perform worse academically. Moreover, other research has identified a correlation between exposure to a context characterized by large disparities in performance or resources and a range of negative outcomes, including negative health and well-being, among members of lower status groups. Objective: Building on these literatures, the present research tests the relationship between gender disparities in academic performance within a school and students’ health outcomes. Specifically, we investigated whether boys had worse health when they attended schools where there was a greater disparity between boys’ and girls’ academic performance. Method: We tested this hypothesis in two different samples with different health outcomes. In a sample of healthy eighth graders (Study 1; 159 girls and 81 boys), we assessed two indices of metabolic syndrome, and in a sample of children with asthma (Study 2; 122 girls and 153 boys), we assessed immune function (Th1 and Th2 cytokine production) and self-reported symptoms. Participants in both samples also reported the name of the school that they attended so that we could access publicly available information about the percentage of girls and the percentage of boys in each school who met expectations for their grade level on standardized tests. Results: In both samples, the greater the gap in a school between the percentage of girls and the percentage of boys who met expectations for their grade level on standardized tests, the worse boys’ health. This pattern did not emerge among girls. Conclusion: Results thus highlight the negative health correlates of academic disparities among members of lower-performing groups.
KW - Asthma
KW - Disparities
KW - Gender
KW - Metabolic syndrome
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U2 - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.02.036
DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.02.036
M3 - Article
C2 - 30909156
AN - SCOPUS:85063113787
SN - 0277-9536
VL - 228
SP - 126
EP - 134
JO - Ethics in Science and Medicine
JF - Ethics in Science and Medicine
ER -
