Racial/ethnic identity, congruence with the social context, and the transition to high school

The transition to high school may serve as a race/ethnicity consciousness-r aising experience that stimulates the development of one's racial/ethnic id entity depending on newcomers' racial/ethnic congruence with the student bo dy and staff, as well as their perceived social transactions with the new s chool. The nature of this development was rested within samples of poor; ur ban, Black, White, and Latino students (n = 144). Racial/ethnic identity (g roup-esteem and exploration) and perceived transactions with school (academ ic hassles, participation, and social support) were assessed at the end of both the year prior to the transition and the transition year The results s uggested that changes over the transition to senior high school served as a race/ethnicity consciousness-mising experience for both Black and European American students but in dramatically different ways.