Who Are the “Journalism Kids?” Academic Predictors of Journalism Participation in Secondary Schools
Issue Date
2015-12-31Author
Bobkowski, Peter S.
Cavanah, Sarah B.
Miller, Patrick R.
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, author accepted manuscript
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Prior scholastic journalism research did not adequately address the possibility that journalism students perform better academically because of their backgrounds and inherent abilities. Using Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 data, this study shows that high school journalism attracts better students. Although for-credit and extracurricular programs differentiate journalism student characteristics, journalism students generally tend to have greater English self-efficacy, higher English grade point average, greater involvement in schools, be female and White, or have a higher socioeconomic background than those who do not participate in journalism. Future assessments of journalism’s contribution to academic achievement should account for students’ pre-journalism characteristics.
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Citation
Bobkowski, P. S., Cavanah, S., & Miller, P. R. (in press). Who are the “journalism kids?”: Academic predictors of journalism participation in secondary schools. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator. doi:10.1177/1077695815622770
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