Systemic Racism and Belonging: The Role of Environmental Racial Microaggressions at a Southeastern University

• In Event: Exclusive Inclusion of White Space: Systemic Racism Experiences of Students of Color in Higher Education

Abstract

Purpose. There is a large body of research on the experiences of students of color at Historically White Institutions (HWI’s) and how racial microaggressions shape students’ sense of belonging and the overall campus climate (Authors, 2021; Solórzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2000; Worthington et al., 2008). What is less typically explored is how environmental racial microaggressions also shape students’ sense of belonging and can reflect a broader conceptual understanding of what environmental racial microaggressions are beyond what is traditionally highlighted in the literature (Mills, 2020). To fill this research gap, we conducted a mixed methods study at a HWI in the South to uncover racial microaggressions experienced by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students and how these experiences have shaped their sense of belonging to the university. Our specific research questions were: (1) What types of racial microaggressions are associated with a sense of belonging for BIPOC college students at a HWI? (2) How do racial microaggressions manifest at the interpersonal and environmental level and function as systemic racism at HWIs?

Framework. For the purpose of this study, we apply critical race theory (CRT) as a framework that allows us to theorize racial microaggressions as a reflection of the permanent nature of racism in U.S. society (Crenshaw, 1995; Delgado & Stefancic, 2017; Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995). We also draw on the CRT scholarship in education, sociology, and psychology to better understand the impact of systemic racism on the psychosocial and educational experiences of BIPOC college students.

Methods & Data. We utilized a convergent mixed methods design where we simultaneously collected quantitative and qualitative data using an online survey (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). Participants were a total of 431 students, including 36% African American/Black (n = 155), 22% Asian/Asian American: (n = 94), 22% Hispanic/Latinx/e: (n = 94), 15% Biracial/Multiracial: (n = 63), 3% Native American/American Indian: (n = 11), and 2% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (n = 11). Participants completed an online survey, which included measures of environmental and interpersonal racial microaggressions and sense of belonging (Authors, 2021). In addition, participants responded to an open-ended question, which asked them to describe a situation in which people suggested that they did not belong at the university due to their race/ethnicity.

Findings & Significance. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach for critical inquiry (Charmaz, 2017) we uncovered five themes within our qualitative data: Marginalization, Race-Based Verbal and Digital Harassment, Alienation and Estrangement, Presumptions of Intellectual Inferiority, and Practices of Exclusion. In addition, within our quantitative data, a hierarchical multiple regression revealed that environmental and intellectual inferiority microaggressions significantly predicted lower sense of belonging. These findings support and extend existing research on environmental racial microaggressions (Authors, 2021; Mills, 2017). With our findings we address how a more expansive view of racial microaggressions, one where interpersonal racism is embedded within a multilevel framework of systemic racism is a helpful way to capture the nuanced experiences of racism more fully at HWIs and shapes feelings of belonging among BIPOC students.

Authors

• Jioni A. Lewis, University of Maryland

• Michelle Christian, University of Tennessee