When Vulnerability is Visible: Natural Disasters, Representative Bureaucracy, and Student Achievement

Recent disaster events have led to an increased awareness of racial disparities in disaster response and recovery, calling for greater attention to reducing such disparities across racial and ethnic groups. In this paper, we examine whether racial and ethnic minority students are disproportionately affected by natural disasters and whether representative bureaucracy reduces the impact of disasters for minority students. To test our hypotheses, we employ ordinary least squares and difference-in-difference model designs across all disasters and large-scale disasters, using a sample of California public schools during 2004–2012. The results show heterogeneous effects of disaster events on students’ academic performance by their ethnic background and indicate that, although limited, representative bureaucracy demonstrates some moderating effects in the context of major disasters. Our findings suggest that minority status is an important factor in determining vulnerability to disasters and highlight the need for greater efforts to effectively moderate the vulnerability of minority groups to disasters.