The impact of GSAs, school size, and geographic location on school climate in South Texas

Authors

Heraclio Flores
Israel Aguilar, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Jonathan McPhetres
Frank Hernandez

Document Type

Book

Publication Date

2021

Abstract

While gay-straight alliances (GSAs) play a role in improving the well-being and sense of safety for LGBTQ students, additional factors such as school size, geographical location, and the community climate at large may have more controlling implications for school diversity and acceptance. This survey research type, quantitative study, investigates the retrospective responses of subjects from two Hispanic-Serving Institutions to examine the impact of GSAs, school size, and geographic location on school climates in rural South Texas high schools. Results suggest that the effect of GSAs on school diversity and acceptance may be diminished in a conservative, rural setting. Other factors (school size, geographic location, and community climate at large) may play a greater role in establishing school diversity and acceptance. Further research is warranted to uncover the mechanisms that drive school diversity and acceptance in conservative, rural geographical locations like South Texas.

Comments

ISBN 978-1-7348790-0-1

Published 2021 by ceder, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

Recommended Citation

Flores, H., Aguilar, I., McPhetres, J., & Hernandez, F. (2021). The impact of GSAs, school size, and geographic location on school climate in South Texas. In B. Pletcher, F. Bruun, R. Banda, K. Watson, & A. Perez (Eds.), Empowering student researchers: Critical contributions by emerging 21st century scholars (pp. 319–342). ceder, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

First Page

319

Last Page

342

Publication Title

Empowering student researchers: Critical contributions by emerging 21st century scholars