Perceptions of diversity, social justice, and belonging among arts graduates

• In Event: 20420 - Section on Sociology of Culture Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 3: Cultural Capital and Taste

Abstract

This paper brings together two strands of existing scholarship – one that addresses the causes and consequences of racialized cultural capital in educational settings and one that addresses divergent perceptions and experiences of diversity among college students. Recent sociological scholarship on racialized cultural capital emphasizes the ways in which cultural hierarchies are fundamentally racialized, which means that legitimate cultural codes and styles are determined by the dominant racial group and the cultural capital of nondominant racial groups is devalued (Cartwright 2022, Kozlowski 2024, Richards et al. 2023, Wallace 2020). Indeed, many studies highlight the role that cultural capital plays in reinforcing the advantages of some students while diminishing a sense of belonging among first-generation, low-income, and/or historically underrepresented racial or ethnic groups (Beattie 2018, Dumais and Ward 2010, Jack 2016, Roksa & Robinson 2017, Wallace 2020). Another relevant line of research calls attention to the divergent perceptions of college students regarding issues of diversity, social justice, and inclusion in higher education. Among other things, studies show that students from historically underrepresented groups (i.e., first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented racial or ethnic identities) often have different perceptions of institutional efforts to promote diversity (Beattie 2018, Dingel & Sage 2020, Warikoo 2019, Warikoo & Deckman 2014, Wildhagen 2015) and divergent assessments of the racial climate on their campuses (Griffin et al. 2016, King & Ford 2003) relative to peers who are not from underrepresented groups. Based on the 2022 wave of the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP), the project examines the perceptions that arts graduates (N=59,690) have of their own institution’s efforts to incorporate diverse perspectives and how this shapes their sense of belonging to the institution and their artistic practice post-graduation.

Authors

• Vaughn Schmutz, University of North Carolina-Charlotte

• Luis Hernan Tejada, University of North Carolina-Charlotte

• Hailey Ann Dunn, University of North Carolina-Charlotte

• Miles Thompson, UNC Charlotte