ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to evaluate the identities students develop in educational institutions in relation to cultural ideologies surrounding race and intelligence. It analyses whiteness in education. The chapter demonstrates that the historical inequities racial/ethnic minorities faced in public educational institutions and the cumulative nature of such inequities. Education can provide tools to overcome adversity, as well as contribute to the development of critical thinking skills. Although personal efforts certainly influence school success, structural factors, such as social class, gender, race, nationality and sexuality, correlate with educational success as well. Sociological research has identified numerous patterns pertaining to race, class, and education. The chapter explores the disparities in detail, beginning with sociological perspectives on race and education, including some of the ways whiteness in education manifests itself. It examines the ways student identities are racialized and how higher educational identities are linked to race and the history of minority education in the United States.
