A Scoping Review of Colorism in Schools: Academic, Social, and Emotional Experiences of Students of Color

Jandel Crutchfield, Latocia Keyes, Maya Williams and Danielle R. Eugene
Additional contact information
Jandel Crutchfield: School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
Latocia Keyes: Department of Social Work, Tarleton State University, Stephenville, TX 76402, USA
Maya Williams: School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
Danielle R. Eugene: School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA

Social Sciences, 2022, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-21

Abstract: Students of color experience academic, social, and emotional challenges due to colorism in schools. The purpose of this scoping review is to compare the experiences with colorism of students from varying racial backgrounds (African Americans, Native Americans, Asians, and Latin) in U.S. public schools. It is predicted that the understudied group of Latinx and indigenous students of color will uniquely experience colorism in academic settings when compared to African American and Asian students. A 30 article literature review utilizing search dates from 1990 to 2020 was conducted employing a scoping review framework. Themes emerged that include: the privileging of lighter skin and more Eurocentric features in academic outcomes, the complicated social status created for students of color experiencing colorism in schools, and the increased potential for emotional challenges as a result of colorism. This review highlights possible school reform efforts to affirm all skin tones, reduce colorist biases, and offer mediation to mitigate colorist experiences in the school environment.

Keywords: colorism; skin color bias; implicit bias; students of color; public schools; academic outcomes; socioemotional outcomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/1/15/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/1/15/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:11:y:2022:i:1:p:15-:d:718074

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().