Assessing Color-Neutral Racial Attitudes of Faculty at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory quantitative study was to assess the color-neutral racial attitudes of faculty at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and to investigate the connection to knowledge and skills for teaching minoritized students. HSIs enroll a large percentage of racially minoritized students, and faculty must be able to assess their attitudes about institutional discrimination and blatant racial issues, which may affect how they teach students of color. We used The Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale and Multicultural Teaching Competency Scale to collect data from faculty at 10 HSIs across the United States. Results show that faculty in our sample have low levels of color-neutral racial attitudes, meaning they are aware of racial issues facing students, with slight differences by race, gender, and academic discipline. Moreover, higher color-neutral racial attitudes are associated with lower knowledge and skills for teaching minoritized students. Implications for enhancing “servingness” at HSIs are offered.

Colorblind Racial Ideology Among Teachers of Gifted Students and Its Relationship With Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

“…Ultimately, teachers with greater knowledge of culturally responsive instruction report greater implementation of culturally responsive practices when teaching gifted students. However, CBRI was also found to be a significant predictor in the model, aligning with previous findings that teachers who endorse racial colorblindness demonstrate less multicultural teaching competency and are less likely to implement culturally responsive instruction (Aragón et al, 2017;Burden et al, 2015;Garcia et al, 2020;Spanierman et al, 2011). Our findings underscore the notion that a teacher's capacity and willingness to implement culturally responsive instruction are not only dependent on their knowledge of culturally responsive pedagogy but are also subject to their beliefs about race.…”

“…Previous research suggests that men typically report higher levels of CBRI than women and that individuals who are White report higher levels of CBRI than those who are not (Garcia et al, 2020;Mekawi et al, 2017;Neville et al, 2000;Yi et al, 2020). Despite a greater endorsement of CBRI among White individuals, there is wide variability of colorblind racial attitudes within historically minoritized groups (Neville et al, 2000;Yi et al, 2020).…”

Examining Organizational Behavior of Hispanic-Serving Institution Computer Science Departments: Toward Servingness and Equity in the Field

“…Notably, not all faculty members shared talent development-oriented views of students and did not describe enacting these student support strategies. Some did not perceive the needs of Latinx students to be different from any others, reflecting a color neutral attitude, which in HSIs is higher among science faculty members than their counterparts in other disciplines (García et al, 2020). Others characterized Latinx students as underprepared, without articulating the social and economic contexts (e.g., under-resourced K-12 schools) that might account for a lack of preparation.…”

Servingness in the Borderlands: A Study of Faculty Hiring at a Hispanic-Serving Institution on the Border

“…To date, few studies have identified the specific attitudes or beliefs faculty members have of their role as Latinx-serving educators (Ching, 2022; Garcia et al, 2020; Hubbard & Stage, 2005). Scholars recommend a transition to pedagogical approaches that are culturally sensitive (Cortez, 2015) or asset based (Rendón et al, 2015).…”