Multiracial Students and Racial Stereotypes on the College Campus

• In Event: Public Scholarship on Racialized Opportunities and Experiences in Higher Education

Abstract

Research outside of higher education suggests that multiracial Americans encounter stereotypes on the bases of being perceived as multiracial and on the bases of being perceived as monoracial (Nadal et al., 2011). Moreover, stereotypes concerning multiracial women are complicated by the historical constructions of images such as the Tragic Mulatta (Dawkins, 2012), hypersexualized Jezebel (Collins, 2000; Stephens & Phillips, 2003), and colorism (Hunter, 2005; Funderburg, 1994). However, multiracial students’ perception of racial stereotypes on the college campus remains unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to explore ten multiracial women undergraduate students’ experiences with racial stereotypes and the ways in which these stereotypes are impacted by participants’ gender

Author

• Jessica C. Harris, The University of Kansas