Assistant Professor of Sociology Mahala Stewart recently presented “Pushed or Pulled to Homeschool: How Inequality Shapes Black and White Mothers’ Schooling Decisions” at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her talk, part of UNLV’s University Forum public lecture series, focused on the challenges of school choice policies as they relate to race, class, and gender inequalities in America.
Though 41 percent of U.S. homeschoolers are families of color, there is little information about the role of race in the homeschooling decision. Stewart’s talk drew from her interviews with homeschooling mothers to examine what brings them to this schooling option. She discussed her findings within the context of her book, The Color of Homeschooling: How Inequality Shapes School Choice, published last fall by NYU Press.
Her research showed that many families do not choose homeschooling for religious or political reasons, but rather for “the logic of best fit” — though often “racially implicated push-pull factors” underlie these decisions,” she said.
“Black mothers explain being pushed out of public schools due to their child’s experience of racial discrimination,” Stewart said. “Conversely, white mothers are pulled to individualize their child’s learning, exposing the privilege of not having to consider race in their decision-making.C
She says that having schooling options can contribute to, rather than help correct, long-standing inequalities.
