Self-efficacy and successful school-to-work transition: A longitudinal study

A successful school-to-work transition is a precursor of promising career development. In the present longitudinal study we investigated whether academic self-efficacy beliefs and grades in school at the ages of 12-15 would be associated with unemployment and job satisfaction at the age of 21. We found that individuals with high self-efficacy beliefs and better grades were less likely to become unemployed and more likely to be satisfied with their jobs. The relationship between high self-efficacy and unemployment was mediated by higher career-related motivation and by less perceived application stress, measured at the time of vocational training at the age of 18. The relationship between self-efficacy and job satisfaction was primarily mediated by higher vocational congruence and less application stress. We conclude that school-based interventions targeted at increasing academic capabilities and self-efficacy would help prepare adolescents for a successful school-to-work transition.     

Reaping the benefits of cultural diversity: Classroom cultural diversity climate and students’ intercultural competence

Culturally diverse schools may constitute natural arenas for training crucial intercultural skills. We hypothesized that a classroom cultural diversity climate fostering contact and cooperation and multiculturalism, but not a climate fostering color-evasion, would be positively related to adolescents’ intercultural competence. Adolescents in North Rhine-Westphalia (N = 631, M_age = 13.69 years, 49% of immigrant background) and Berlin (N = 1,335, M_age = 14.69 years, 52% of immigrant background) in Germany reported their perceptions of the classroom cultural diversity climate and completed quantitative and qualitative measures assessing their intercultural competence. Multilevel structural equation models indicate that contact and cooperation, multiculturalism, and, surprisingly, also color-evasion (as in emphasizing a common humanity), were positively related to the intercultural competence of immigrant and non-immigrant background students. We conclude that all three aspects of the classroom climate are uniquely related to aspects of adolescents’ intercultural competence and that none of them may be sufficient on their own.     

Filipino Americans and racism: A multiple mediation model of coping

Although the literature on Asian Americans and racism has been emerging, few studies have examined how coping influences one's encounters with racism. To advance the literature, the present study focused on the psychological impact of Filipino Americans' experiences with racism and the role of coping as a mediator using a community-based sample of adults (N = 199). Two multiple mediation models were used to examine the mediating effects of active, avoidance, support-seeking, and forbearance coping on the relationship between perceived racism and psychological distress and self-esteem, respectively. Separate analyses were also conducted for men and women given differences in coping utilization. For men, a bootstrap procedure indicated that active, support-seeking, and avoidance coping were mediators of the relationship between perceived racism and psychological distress. Active coping was negatively associated with psychological distress, whereas both support seeking and avoidance were positively associated with psychological distress. A second bootstrap procedure for men indicated that active and avoidance coping mediated the relationship between perceived racism and self-esteem such that active coping was positively associated with self-esteem, and avoidance was negatively associated with self-esteem. For women, only avoidance coping had a significant mediating effect that was associated with elevations in psychological distress and decreases in self-esteem. The results highlight the importance of examining the efficacy of specific coping responses to racism and the need to differentiate between the experiences of men and women.     

Feeling Half-Half? Exploring Relational Variation of Turkish-Heritage Young Adults’ Cultural Identity Compatibility and Conflict in Austria

Growing up in multicultural environments, Turkish-heritage individuals in Europe face specific challenges in combining their multiple cultural identities to form a coherent sense of self. Drawing from social identity complexity, this study explores four modes of combining cultural identities and their variation in relational contexts. Problem-centered interviews with Turkish-heritage young adults in Austria revealed the preference for complex, supranational labels, such as multicultural. Furthermore, most participants described varying modes of combining cultural identities over time and across relational contexts. Social exclusion experiences throughout adolescence related to perceived conflict of cultural identities, whereas multicultural peer groups supported perceived compatibility of cultural identities. Findings emphasize the need for complex, multidimensional approaches to study ethnic minorities’ combination of cultural identities.     

Cultural diversity,migration and education

Migration is not a new phenomenon. However, recent data indicate that unprecedented numbers of people have experienced forced migration around the world with 51% under the age of 18 years. How can educational policies and practices respond sensitively to increasing cultural and migration-based diversity? The purpose of this special section that includes eight studies is to consider these issues more deeply. As a frame for the special section, we address the main question: What are promotive or protective factors for positive development of children and youth attending culturally diverse school contexts? In the collection of papers, these promotive and protective factors range from peers and families, to teachers, to organisational context and climate. With continued disruptions in children's lives due to a pandemic, climate change, war, conflict and poverty, migration will remain a pressing concern and will continue to transform the student populations in our classrooms and schools for the foreseeable future. The need to address how we can best provide students from diverse backgrounds equitable and supportive education, continues.     

Asian Americans and racism: when bad things happen to "model minorities."

Due to the limited psychological research on Asian Americans' experiences with racism, in the current study the authors examined the relationships between racial socialization, racial identity, and perceptions of racism, with a college-aged sample (N = 254) consisting primarily of Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans. With the use of multiple regression analyses, the results indicated that racial socialization, particularly discussions about race and racism, was positively related to one's perceptions of racism. Moreover, the study also showed that the relationship between racial socialization and perceptions of racism was partially mediated by racial identity schemas. To understand how Asian Americans regard racism, it is useful to have an understanding of racial identity theory and the manner in which Asian Americans are socialized to perceive racism.