Schools’ Respect for Identity-Based Differences and Student Outcomes: Examining the Relationship among Students with Varying Numbers of Marginalized Identities

Abstract

When schools value diversity, students with marginalized identities exhibit better academic and well-being outcomes. However, most work focuses on one identity dimension (e.g., race, sexuality) at a time. Using data from the California Healthy Kids Survey (N=205,064 6th–12th grade students in 751 schools), we examined how the number of marginalized identities a student held, schools’ respect for identity-based differences, and their interaction were related to multiple outcomes (e.g., belonging, grades, reported suicidality). Looking across multiple dimensions of marginalization (i.e., race, income, gender identity, sexual orientation, and language spoken at home), we found that 1) more marginalized identities predicted worse outcomes, 2) greater school respect for differences predicted better outcomes, and 3) this association was stronger among students with fewer marginalized identities for some outcomes but equally strong across all students for others. These results highlight the importance of respect for identity-based differences for all students.