Racial Stress and Its Impact on Mattering and Affirmation Among Students of Color at PWIs

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 9:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Voices for Change: Racial Justice, Healing, and Educational Reform

Abstract

This study uses student-level data (N = 6,367) from the 2021 National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates (NACCC) survey to investigate whether racial stress affects undergraduate students’ perceptions of mattering and affirmation at six predominantly white institutions (PWIs). We conduct various fixed effects regression models using IRT-derived scale scores with institutional-level clustering, focusing on Students of Color and disaggregated racial/ethnic subgroups. Results show that racial stress significantly undermines feelings of mattering and affirmation among Students of Color. Subgroup analyses reveal the steepest declines in affirmation among Black and NHPI students, and the lowest mattering scores among Arab students. These findings highlight the uneven toll of negative campus racial climates and underscore the need for group-specific, equity-centered institutional interventions.

Authors

• Michael Grigsby, University of Southern California

• Saba Lily Modaressi, University of Southern California