Are teachers biased when nominating students for gifted services? Evidence from Kazakhstan

Abstract

The purpose of this experimental, vignette study was to analyze whether certain demographic characteristics of students (i.e. gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status) influence secondary education teachers in referring students for gifted services in Kazakhstan. A sample of 132 teachers were randomly assigned to one of eight profiles describing a typical gifted student with particular demographics and requested to indicate how strongly they believed the student should or should not be recommended for gifted services. Results evidenced that gender, ethnicity, and SES did not influence the Kazakhstani teachers’ referrals. The implications of teacher nominations in students’ identification for gifted programs and the discussion on the role of gifted education as perceived by school teachers in Kazakhstan and elsewhere are provided.

Keywords:

• gifted
• teacher referral
• gender
• ethnicity
• socioeconomic status
• Kazakhstan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. When analyzing the effect of student ethnicity on teachers’ nominations for gifted services, Kazakh ethnic and Russian ethnic groups were considered majority groups in this study, as they represent 63.1% and 23.7% of the population in Kazakhstan, respectively. Uyghur ethnic group was considered a minority group, as it represents 1.4% of the population.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by “Nazarbayev University Research and Innovation System” PI. The funding for the study is provided by The Corporate Fund “Social Development Fund”.