The Impact of Racial Microaggressions Across Educational Attainment for African Americans

• In Event: 46.034 - Experiences of Diverse Groups in Higher Education

Abstract

While separate bodies of research have emerged regarding racial microaggressions in post-secondary settings and the relationship between race-related stressors and health outcomes for African Americans, there is a dearth of empirical investigations that test the effects of “general happiness,” “job satisfaction,” and race-related stress based on the educational attainment of African Americans. This study examines the experiences of 3,320 African Americans who participated in the National Survey of American Life (NSAL) conducted by the Program for Research on Black Americans at the University of Michigan. Using a multi-group structural equation modeling approach, findings suggest that experience with more racial microaggressions tends to lead to less general happiness. Furthermore, greater racial microaggressions lead to less job satisfaction regardless of educational attainment.

Authors

• William A. Smith, University of Utah

• Man Hung, University of Utah

• Jeremy D. Franklin, University of Utah