Friendship in School: Gender and Racial Homophily

This article analyzes the development of racial and gender homophily in a population of 2,135 schoolchildren, grades 3-12, in all public schools in a biracial Southern community. Sociometric friendship nominations were used to examine changes in racial and gender segregation and preference. The results suggest that for these major status variables, the relationship between homophily and grade is curvilinear, first increasing because of increments in racial homophily from elementary to middle school (while gender homophily remains stable), then decreasing owing to the decline of gender homophily from middle school onward (while racial homophily remains stable). The findings are most consistent with theories that give the middle school a prominent role in shaping peer relations.