Teens need consistent positive messaging in multicultural environments

In an increasingly diverse, multicultural world, adolescents struggle academically in multicultural environments if they don’t receive consistent and positive messages at school, home and among their peers about cultures that are not their own, a University of California, Davis, study suggests.

In a survey of more than 700 teens at public schools in the Southwestern United States, researchers found that while these students attended ethnically diverse schools and reported learning about multiple cultures in school, they didn’t always get the same messages from friends and their families. This affected their academic engagement, such as participation and interest in school, and their goals for higher education.

Reference: Teens need consistent positive messaging in multicultural environments; Journal of Youth and Adolescence, DOI: 10.1007/s10964-023-01828-0