GENDER, RACE, AND CULTURAL LITERACY: CONSEQUENCES FOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE.

This paper explores the relevance of "cultural literacy" for teaching sociology at the undergraduate level. Past research demonstrates that women and racial minorities have limited access to certain types of cultural knowledge. Thus, they may be particularly vulnerable to poor academic performance. Given the potential relationship between background knowledge and sociological comprehension, we empirically examine the importance of "cultural literacy "for students' mastery of introductory sociology. Using a cultural literacy test based on our assumptions about what students should know before entering an introductory-level sociology class, we surveyed 709 undergraduates at a major state university. Our data show that female and black students store lower than non-black males on our indicators of cultural literacy. Despite this initial disadvantage, women, but not blacks, exhibit higher overall academic performance. We conclude that cultural literacy pretests can be a tool for improving the teaching and learning climate of introductory sociology courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]