Race and Gender Representation in College and Career Readiness Research for Students With Emotional Behavioral Disorders

The purpose of this review was to investigate the extent to which students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) are adequately represented in and benefiting from college and career readiness (CCR) intervention research across race and gender groups. We conducted a secondary analysis of 14 intervention studies meeting the criteria for a prior systematic literature review examining CCR for students with and at risk for emotional and behavioral problems. We found that the majority (86%) of studies reported the race and gender of participants and more recent studies were more likely to have included this information. Students with EBD are more likely to be Black and identify as male, while the participants in our study samples were more likely to be White/Caucasian and identify as female. All studies reported gender exclusively within a gender binary. Furthermore, only three studies provided overall school or district demographics, allowing the reader to assess the extent to which the participants were representative of the school/district population. Finally, only two studies parceled out findings by race, making it difficult to assess the overall extent to which interventions for CCR are effective for students across race and gender groups. Given the high priority currently placed on preparing all students for college and career, these findings have important implications for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers.