Messaging and Action around Race and Inclusion at a Predominantly White Institution: Perceived Dissonance of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Students

Abstract

As college has increasingly become part of emerging adulthood for United States youth, Predominantly White and Historically White Institutions (PWI/HWIs) have faced pressures to diversify and address problematic racial/ethnic campus climates. Within the rich and evolving literature, there is room for better understanding how Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) emerging adults experience institutional messaging. This report draws on environmental press and meaning making to explore this experience for 21 BIPOC students at an urban, Midwestern PWI/HWI. In focus groups, students highlighted the role of the university’s messaging around race/ethnicity and inclusion as problematic: negative descriptions about the urban context surrounding the university held implicit messages about BIPOC students on campus, while positive messaging about inclusion and diversity efforts was dissonant with the lack of perceived action. The findings speak to the importance of emerging adults’ perception and interpretation of messaging and institutional action to promote diversity.

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

“…For BIPOC college students attending a PWI, the experiences with microaggressions may be even greater and more severe than BIPOC persons at non-PWIs (e.g., Graham et al, 2022; Velez & Jessup-Anger, 2022). By definition, a PWI is comprised predominantly of White individuals and this likely leads to a significantly higher frequency of microaggression transgressions toward BIPOC individuals.…”

“…By definition, a PWI is comprised predominantly of White individuals and this likely leads to a significantly higher frequency of microaggression transgressions toward BIPOC individuals. In fact, discriminatory treatment against BIPOC students is practiced by the institution, such as the underrepresentation of BIPOC students, faculty, and administrators at these institutions and portraying certain neighborhoods near the college campus where BIPOC individuals are heavily populated as dangerous, ultimately perpetuating and instigating racial aggression towards BIPOC (Velez & Jessup-Anger, 2022). When BIPOC persons experience microaggressions, there are relatively few sources of support at PWIs with predominantly White students, faculty, and staff, and thereby worsening the initial impact of the microaggressions.…”

Impostor phenomenon among Black undergraduates: Contributions of microaggressions, gender, and school belonging.

“…As a result of racial microaggressions, Black students may experience "belonging uncertainty," where they are unsure about whether their racial group is accepted within an institutional setting. This belonging uncertainty can be worsened by public racial hate experiences (McClain et al, 2016;Stone et al, 2018) and lackluster institutional responses that reinforce perceptions of an unwelcoming community and signal that institutions do not prioritize the needs of their Black members (Briscoe, 2022;Strayhorn, 2012;Velez & Jessup-Anger, 2022). Due to the subtle nature of racial microaggressions, individuals targeted by this form of discrimination are not typically able to process their experience at the moment and may struggle to label their experiences as discrimination (V. E. Johnson et al, 2021).…”

“…Racial microaggressions experienced on college campuses are associated with poor academic achievement, motivation attitudes, and mental health problems (Durkee et al, 2021; Huynh, 2012). For instance, Black students in predominantly White spaces may report experiences of tokenism, where they are idealized as a representative of their race, as well as inferiority messages, where it is assumed that their very presence within academic spaces is the product of targeted diversity programs (e.g., affirmative action) instead of their own competence (Newton, 2022; Velez & Jessup-Anger, 2022). These invalidating experiences suggest that Black students are either recognized as an exceptional member of their race or intellectually inferior compared to other students and may be especially influential for Black students’ IP development by serving as “proof” that their success has little to do with their individual talent (Bernard et al, 2017; Cokley et al, 2013; McClain et al, 2016; Peteet et al, 2015).…”