Campus Racial Climates: Integrating Qualitative, Quantitative, and Historical Approaches

• In Event: 203 - Informal Discussion Roundtable Session

Abstract

Campus racial climates have been studied from a range of theoretical and methodological approaches, both qualitative and quantitative. Yet with few exceptions, these analyses have fallen short of comprehensive explanations in one critical respect: because they examine institutions at a single point in time, they typically underplay the critical role of context and history, both local and national. In this roundtable, I would like to explore the implications of this absence by considering how insights from three theoretical frames that are rarely brought together might be integrated to create a more satisfactory analysis. These include Critical Race Theory, a perspective that foregrounds the importance of power and ideology at both the group and individual levels and is used in a wide range of fields across the humanities and social sciences and, increasingly, by sociologists; intergroup relations theory, grounded in sociology and psychology; and cultural sociology, which provides an interpretive framework for conceptualizing institutional change over time and how it shapes the actions and perspectives of individuals. In this roundtable, I would like to discuss how insights from these perspectives can be integrated to improve our understanding of what college campuses face today, especially those that are striving to move from hegemonically white to racially inclusive institutions. As a context for this discussion, I will offer data from a 30 year longitudinal case study of a selective liberal arts college attempting to make this transition.

Author

• Katherine McClelland, Franklin and Marshall College