Invisibility and Negative Career Outcome Expectations among Racially and Ethnically Diverse College Students at a Predominantly White Institution

Abstract

The present study explored the relationship between invisibility experiences, a component of microaggressions, and negative career outcome expectations among a sample of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students attending a predominantly White institution of higher education (PWI). Additionally, given that invisibility is experienced differently across gender (i.e., intersecting invisibility), we explored whether the relationship between invisibility experiences and negative career outcome expectations differed across women and men. With a sample of 103 BIPOC college students, the findings supported the hypothesis of a significant positive relationship between invisibility experiences and a negative outlook on career advancement. Using Hayes’ SPSS PROCESS, the results also supported the moderation role of binary gender on the relationship between invisibility experiences and negative career outcome expectations in which the relationship was observed only for self-identified men BIPOC students. Implications include providing more attention to the invisibility experiences of BIPOC students, particularly at PWIs, and placing greater effort in assisting with the career development of BIPOC men college students. Specifically, given the significant moderation by gender relationship, customized interventions based on intersecting invisibility experiences are warranted. Additional discussion of the study’s implications and limitations are further described.

Social Identities and Cognitive Information Processing Theory: A Qualitative Analysis

“…Additionally, intersectionality between ethnicity, family, and SES, particularly feelings of overachieving immigrant parents SES was endorsed by participants, similar to other studies (Koçak et al, 2021). Suh et al's (2024) findings were reflected by participants stating feelings about jobs where they did not feel represented appeared out of bounds.…”

“…Several studies have shown how SIs interact with executive processing. For example, career decision self-efficacy was lower for students from high socioeconomic backgrounds (Turner et al, 2019), and others (Suh et al, 2024) have found that those from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups perceived fewer career options and more career barriers compared to Caucasians. In addition, mental health concerns such as worry (Hayden & Osborn, 2020) and depression (Anghel & Gati, 2021) are also associated with negative career thoughts.…”