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School Resistance in American High Schools: The Role of Race and Gender in Oppositional Culture Theory

Oppositional culture theory has been primarily used to explain race and ethnic differences in education. It argues that members of involuntary minority groups tend to underachieve for fear of being sanctioned by their peers. The underlying assumption, then, is that academic success harms peer relationships for involuntary minorities more than it does for other groups. Prior tests based on survey data fail to support the theory. Using the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS), I examine race/ethnic and gender differences with respect to the two main components of oppositional culture theory: peer relations and school resistance. Like prior survey analyses, I find no support for the thesis that oppositional culture accounts for race/ethnic differences in school achievement. However, oppositional culture does appear to play a key role in explaining why male students tend to receive lower grades despite standardised test scores that equal or exceed the scores of female students. Based on several measures in the NELS, I find that anti-studious attitudes and behaviours are more prevalent among males than females, and conclude that future researchers should be more sensitive to this gender aspect of school culture.