The Experiences, Perceptions, and Consequences of Racism Among Racially Minoritized Undergraduate Students

• In Event: Disrupting Racial Inequality in College Students’ Experiences: Insights From National Survey Research

Abstract

Over the past three years, a series of attacks have been mounted against institutional efforts to advance equity in higher education. For instance, this past May, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that banned the state’s public colleges and universities from allocating funds to DEI programs. Such divestments in DEI will certainly have negative consequences on how racially minoritized students perceive the campus racial climate. Negative perceptions of the campus racial climate have been consistently linked with reduced sense of belonging, difficulty adjusting to campus, and can result in poor academic performance and early departure (Harper & Hurtado, 2007; Strayhorn, 2012).
In response the current crisis, the proposed paper leverages the best available national survey data to paint a robust statistical portrait of how racial minoritized students at colleges and universities are experiencing the campus racial climate. Drawing data from the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climate (NACCC), undergraduate students from 160 participating colleges and universities were included in this study. Data collection was conducted from Fall 2019 through Fall 2022. NACCC survey ask students’ experiences and awareness on campus racial climate based on six content areas: mattering and affirmation, cross-racial engagement, racial learning and literacy, encounter with racial stress, appraisals of institutional commitment, and impact of external environments. In addition, the NACCC survey collects participants’ demographic information with detailed categories including race, gender, and sexual orientation.
This study conducted seven regression analyses to identify the probability of their perception on how racist their campus is, experiencing racism both academic space and non-academic space, and racial trauma by different race/ethnicity groups. According to the analyses, Black/African American students are most likely to perceive their campus as racist than any other racial groups. In addition, they are also most likely to experience racism from White faculty while other racial group are also likely to experience racism more than their White counterpart. However, racism from campus police and security, Native American/Alaskan Native (NA/AN) students are most likely to experience. In terms of having a racial trauma, all students of color are likely to experience decline in emotional well-being and academic performance and grace due to racism they have experienced. While Black/African American and Native American/Alaskan Native students as well as students who provided a tribal affiliation are more likely to feel frustration and anger, Asian/Asian American and Hispanic/Latino students are less likely to feel that than White students. Lastly, the majority of student of color are less likely to experience racism on student housing.
Findings align with insights from previous studies suggesting that Black students continue to view the racial climate most negatively. This is not, surprising given the rise and pervasiveness of anti-Black violence on campuses (Dancy et al., 2018). Interestingly, NA/AN reported experiences the most racism from police on campus. This finding makes an important contribution, as this group is often absent in conversations about racist campus police interactions with students. The final paper will fully elaborate on the significance and implications of the findings.

Authors

• Royel M. Johnson, University of Southern California

• Jihye Kwon, University of Southern California