Achievement and Aspiration Among Boys and Girls in High School: A Comparison of Two Ethnic Groups / הישגים ושאיפות בבית-הספר העל-יסודי — השוואת בנים ובנות יוצאי אסיה ואפריקה לעומת יוצאי אירופה ואמריקה

The underlying assumption of this study was that the school in modern society serves social aims by teaching its pupils to achieve rather than to ascribe social gains. Moreover, it transmits to them in different ways a sense of their own individual position in this achievement-oriented system. The study was based upon a secondary analysis of the Junior High School Study data (Chen, Lewy & Adler, 1978) and the follow-up of the same sample (n = 3154) at age 17—18 (Kfir, Chen, Lewy & Adler, 1979). Two-way analyses of variance and one-way analyses of covariance were applied to the data. The main hypothesis concerned the differences between boys and girls in aspirations and achievements in high school, and the sex-ethnic origin interaction. It was hypothesized that differences between the sexes within each ethnic group would be found, and that in some cases these would be a sex-ethnic origin interaction, meaning that the gap between the sexes would differ in magnitude within each ethnic group. It was hypothesized that these differences could be explained, at least in part, by the differential influence of some of the school factors, especially those defining success in school, such as teacher evaluations and group or track allocation. It was hypothesized that the school would give advantages to girls; on the other hand, we assumed that in early status-attainment variables, including aspirations for future achievements, boys would score higher. Given identical SES and scholastic achievements in grade 7, it was hypothesized that the girls would succeed more within the school, but that this would not result in higher achievement at the end of high school or after. The confirmation of the hypothesis supports the theoretical ideas about sex differences and sex-ethnic origin interaction. It was thought that after controlling for SES and ability, social sex roles and the process of identifying with them would explain the differences between boys and girls in achievements and aspirations. It was also argued that since the definitions of sex roles in the A-A ethnic group tend to be more traditional than in the E-A ehtnic group, there would be more sex differences within the former. This was found in the discontinuity of girls' achievements in high school (teacher evaluations, grouping and tracking, getting into the academic track, number of school years—all girls' advantages) and their early status attainment, as it is expressed in cognitive achievement and educational