College students' racial attitudes may be linked to academic success

Van Laar analyzed data from more than 5,000 students at the University of Texas based on their majors, GPAs and racial attitudes. Researchers found that certain majors--such as nursing and sociology--lead to more racial tolerance among students than did other majors--such as accounting or economics.

In most cases, students who had a high-level of racial tolerance earned higher grades, but students whose racial attitudes differed from others within their major got lower grades. Sixty-three percent of students who earned high GPAs (above 3.5) held racial attitudes that matched the prevailing opinions for the major, while only 37 percent held dissimilar attitudes. In comparison, 74 percent of students who earned below 2.0 did not hold similar racial attitudes.

Results also showed that differences in racial attitudes decrease as students spend more time in their major. To explain how some students within a major come to possess the same racial ideology, the researchers discuss four factors:

* Self-selection: Students pick majors in which people share their racial attitudes.

* Institutional selection: University departments set the tone for racial attitudes, and they create criteria such as grades and prerequisite classes, that support or hinder students from choosing a particular major.

* Institutional socialization: Students inherently learn which racial attitudes are appropriate by spending time with professors, teaching assistants and peers.

* Differential attrition: Students whose racial attitudes differ voluntarily or involuntarily withdraw from the major.

Van Laar's study was published in the February issue of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (Vol. 25, No. 2, p. 139-151).

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