Investigating the Impact of Racially Biased Incidents on Culture and Climate Indicators Across Targeted and Nontargeted Groups

• In Event: Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding Students’ Racialized Experiences in and Through Higher Education

Abstract

This paper explores how a racially-biased incident targeting the Asian student community at a compositionally diverse public research institution on the U.S. West coast influenced overall perceptions of campus culture and climate among all racial groups. Taking advantage of the unplanned incident that occurred during data collection, we utilize General Linear Models taking into account racial group and response group (pre- and post-incident). Indicators of campus culture are less affected by a single incident, while climate indicators seem more malleable. Additionally, non-targeted groups’ perceptions of climate are also affected by racially-biased incidents. Implications for institutional responses to these pervasive incidents and future research on both their direct and indirect effects are discussed.

Authors

• Fanny P. Yeung, University of California - Los Angeles

• Marc P. Johnston-Guerrero, The Ohio State University