Toward Clarifying Mechanisms of Racism as Fundamental Causes of Educational Inequality
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| Title: | Toward Clarifying Mechanisms of Racism as Fundamental Causes of Educational Inequality |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | David Enrique Rangel (ORCID |
| Source: | Educational Researcher. 2026 55(1):46-54. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 9 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Descriptive |
| Descriptors: | Equal Education, Racism, Educational Research, Social Theories, Socioeconomic Status, Social Bias, Social Class, Etiology |
| DOI: | 10.3102/0013189X251356448 |
| ISSN: | 0013-189X 1935-102X |
| Abstract: | This article proposes adopting fundamental cause theory (FCT) in education research. FCT's emergence and application in medical sociology can serve as an example of integrating relational theories of inequality with causal designs to propose more effective interventions to address racialized educational disparities. Additionally, despite the many contributions from the expanding scholarship in critical quantitative and computational methods, limited work has clarified and operationalized the causal mechanisms of racism in education. We contend that FCT can sharpen and crystalize this synthesis between critical theoretical frameworks and quantitative methodologies through its premise that racism is a fundamental cause of educational inequality, defining and testing for fundamental causal relations, and focusing on flexible resources that reinforce the durability of racialized educational disparities. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1494637 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | This article proposes adopting fundamental cause theory (FCT) in education research. FCT's emergence and application in medical sociology can serve as an example of integrating relational theories of inequality with causal designs to propose more effective interventions to address racialized educational disparities. Additionally, despite the many contributions from the expanding scholarship in critical quantitative and computational methods, limited work has clarified and operationalized the causal mechanisms of racism in education. We contend that FCT can sharpen and crystalize this synthesis between critical theoretical frameworks and quantitative methodologies through its premise that racism is a fundamental cause of educational inequality, defining and testing for fundamental causal relations, and focusing on flexible resources that reinforce the durability of racialized educational disparities. |
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| ISSN: | 0013-189X 1935-102X |
| DOI: | 10.3102/0013189X251356448 |
