Responding to Racial Microaggressions: Resilience Among Black Undergraduate Students

• In Event: Validating the College Experiences of Marginalized Students

Abstract

Racial microaggressions can negatively influence academic and socioemotional outcomes. This paper explores how Black undergraduates demonstrate resilience in response to experiencing racial microaggressions. Four focus group interviews were conducted with 17 Black undergraduates at a midwestern public research university. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) approach to thematic analysis was used to identify protective factors and positive adaptations that contributed to Black students’ resilience. Preliminary findings indicate that students described 1) social supports and motivation as protective factors and 2) developing assertiveness, resisting cultural discontinuity, and discounting offenders’ behavior as positive adaptations that aided in their resilience. These findings may aid in promoting college student success by illuminating malleable factors that buffer or interrupt the impacts of environmental risks in academic spaces.

Authors

• Kristen J. Mills, The Ohio State University

• Bridget A. Parler, Pennsylvania State University