Exploring Gendered-Racial Microaggressions and Sense of Belonging for Black Undergraduate Women

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: Factors Shaping Sense of Belonging in College

Abstract

Gendered racial microaggressions—the subtle and everyday verbal, behavioral, and environmental expressions of oppression based on the intersection of one’s race and gender—compromise the experiences and well-being of Black undergraduate women on campus. This phenomenological study extends the literature by explicitly exploring the relationship between microaggressions and sense of belonging for these students. Our participants negotiated microaggressive experiences to support their sense of belonging in three distinct ways, (a) babying, (b) apologizing, and (c) opting out.

Authors

• Ekaete Udoh, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Donika Brown, San Diego State University

• Keisha Lewars, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• Michael Steven Williams, University of Missouri