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Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(3), Jun 2023, 346-355; doi:10.1037/dhe0000339
This online experimental study examined the roles of race and student-athlete status in college student perceptions of peers’ academic and intellectual skills and favorability. College student participants (n = 376) were randomly assigned to view a photograph (i.e., Black student-athlete, Black non-student-athlete, White student-athlete, White non-student-athlete) then rated the academic skills, intelligence, and favorability of the respective condition target. Moderation analyses revealed that White student-athletes were appraised as having higher study skills, academic motivation, and problem-solving abilities than White non-student athletes. Moreover, Black student-athletes were rated as less intelligent and less favorable than Black non-student athletes. Results suggest student-athlete status may be an advantage for White student-athletes, but a disadvantage for Black student-athletes in terms of peers’ academic, intelligence, and favorability appraisals relative to same-race, non-athlete peers. Findings imply that Black and White student-athletes likely face different campus experiences, wherein student-athlete status may pose risks of prejudiced peer evaluations and a potentially hostile campus climate for Black students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(3), Jun 2023, 284-296; doi:10.1037/dhe0000343
Using neoracism (Lee & Rice, 2007) as a theoretical framework, this study explored international students’ experiences, challenges, and perceptions of racism and racial discrimination during COVID-19 in the U.S. By conducting three virtual focus group interviews with 18 international students in total, we identified three key themes that encapsulated participants’ challenges and experiences of perceived racism: perceptions of racism—explicit discrimination and fear of threats, feelings of being unwelcome and unsafe, and two faces of quarantine—navigating tensions of relief and isolation. Implications for research and practice to support international students are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(3), Jun 2023, 384-396; doi:10.1037/dhe0000344
The present study examined the degree to which a large group of incoming college students (N = 2,290) had experienced economic constraints and marginalization across their lifetimes, before starting college. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to identify groups of students whose lifetime experiences differed based on economic constraints and marginalization experiences, and four distinct profiles emerged: (1) Privileged (low economic constraints and low marginalization; 52.8%), (2) Primarily Marginalized (high marginalization, 30.1%), (3) Primarily Constrained (high economic constraints; 7%), and (4) Marginalized and Constrained (high marginalization and high economic constraints; 10.3%). Compared to the Privileged group, students in the Marginalized and Constrained group were five times more likely to be first-generation students, 2.5 times more likely to intend to seek counseling in college, and two times more likely to identify as a Student of Color. They also experienced significantly greater current financial stress and lower life satisfaction. Implications for research and practice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(3), Jun 2023, 356-368; doi:10.1037/dhe0000342
The Pentecostal movement continues to expand throughout Latinx communities. Pentecostalism has traditionally held a hostile attitude toward college education and secular academic institutions. Conversely, Latinx churches have had a positive influence on academic success. This interpretive phenomenological study extends the College-conocimiento framework to consider the religious identities of Latinx students as grappling with other intersectionalities when making college decisions. In doing so, we provide voice to minoritized students forging college pathways associated with the unique subculture of Latinx Pentecostalism. By recognizing religious identity and detailing religious spaces as profound vehicles for cultural, spiritual, and socioemotional support, a window of understanding is provided as to how minoritized students with a high level of religiosity make college decisions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(3), Jun 2023, 333-345; doi:10.1037/dhe0000340
Many Latinas encounter negative expectations regarding their chances of attending college in the United States. Dominant narratives legitimize these structural and relational negations by depicting Latinas as a group that voluntarily lowers their expectations of themselves as they move through the education pipeline. To increase the representation of Latinas on college campuses, postsecondary institutions are financially incented to become Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). Through the lens of resilient resistance, this qualitative study asks the following questions: (a) How do first-generation college-going Latinas define their educational expectations for postsecondary education? and (b) How do first-generation college-going Latinas enact their educational expectations through the practice of resilient resistance at a Hispanic-Serving Institution? Through the stories of four Latina undergraduates at a 4-year HSI in the American Southwest, this study contends that participants’ refusal to accept other people’s disbelief ignited their postsecondary education pursuits. As their own educational expectations were overrun by the expectational status quo, the participants utilized their cultural values of familismo to enact resilient resistance as they navigated in-between institutional spaces. This article calls upon universities to establish equitable conditions within Latinas’ educational environments and to actively direct resources toward their ability to leverage human agency, build coalitions, and recenter their own expectations for college success. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(3), Jun 2023, 309-322; doi:10.1037/dhe0000215
Processes of Indigenization under way in Canada aim to bring more Indigenous students and faculty to mainstream colleges and universities. These Indigenization initiatives are critical components that work toward reconciling systemic and societal inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous within higher education. Despite these important efforts, institutions of higher education were founded on and continue to reflect the goals and norms of a settler colonial society, and such contexts constitute a complicated and evolving environment for Indigenous people. Based on interviews with 23 Indigenous faculty, students, staff, and community members, this paper explores their experiences at an Indigenizing university. We outline how encounters with ongoing colonialism and contradictions at an Indigenizing university both generated new pain and echoed existing historical trauma. In many ways, explicit and publicized institutional efforts to incorporate Indigenous people and perspectives, while needed and valued, simultaneously magnified the cultural dissonance, biases, and power structures within the institution. Consequently, participants identified needs for healing that were insufficiently supported and also constrained by institutional logics. This study calls attention to the settler colonial dynamics that often persist within North American colleges and universities in their efforts to target and recruit Indigenous students and how such institutions should support robust and culturally appropriate healing practices and resources that depart from default institutional understandings and operative processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(3), Jun 2023, 297-308; doi:10.1037/dhe0000337
Despite the increase of studies done on trans college students and an increase in LGBT Centers on college campuses, college campuses are still failing to adequately meet the needs of their trans students. Furthermore, the ongoing effects of racism in queer and trans spaces remain a phenomenon in urgent need of redress. This study uses queer of color critique to examine the specific ways trans students of color (TSOC) use the internet as a way to explore notions of self as well as navigate the pernicious material realities of campus life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(3), Jun 2023, 273-283; doi:10.1037/dhe0000338
Across empirical examinations and within popular culture, Black women continue to (re)center and (re)define what being Black and woman mean within a society wherein Black women have been relegated to the margins. The purpose of our study was to highlight the complex and nuanced understandings of the hashtag BlackGirlMagic (BGM) as a mantra for Black women in focus groups at three higher education institutions (two predominantly White and one predominantly Black). In relationship to Collins’ (2009) personal, community, and systemic dimensions of oppression, authors interpreted the following three themes: (a) juxtaposing BGM as “empowering and problematic;” (b) “her extraordinary has to be ordinary:” BGM should not be synonymous with perfection; and (c) complicating the BGM narrative by (re)defining “what it means to be a Black woman.” Individual participant quotes are represented as composite narratives; implications for practice and research are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(3), Jun 2023, 261-272; doi:10.1037/dhe0000242
Despite the increasing attention given to veterans in higher education, few studies have explored the transitional experiences of women of color student veterans (WOCSVs). This study examines the gendered and racialized experiences of WOCSVs and the impact of their intersecting identities on the transition through higher education. Considering the overlapping marginalities of the WOCSV participants, we grounded this study in the concept of Intersectionality, intrinsically aligned to Critical Race Theory. Based on the thematic analysis of 10 participants’ narratives, this study revealed four interrelated themes that characterize their transition journey: (a) suppressed and redemanded identity, (b) fighting for visibility, (c) marginalized academic identity, and (d) no belonging. The sense of no belonging is evident through the participants’ transition experiences, thus setting them apart from other groups of student veterans. However, the participants showed critical insight and resilience that evolved from their intersecting identities. In addition, they proactively constructed their own support system on and off campus, which further served as a psychological sanctuary and motivational cradle. We conclude with recommendations for institutions of higher education, including the reimagining and restructuring of the current cultural climate of veteran-friendly campuses grounded in the stereotypes of White men as the prototype of U.S. military veterans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(3), Jun 2023, 323-332; doi:10.1037/dhe0000333
Garnering faculty support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is increasingly important. Methods for fostering faculty support of DEI have largely centered on formal workshops and interventions. We extend this work by drawing on the trickle-down model and its underlying theories (social learning theory, social information processing theory) to investigate whether a recurring source of social influence—academic leaders—spur faculty DEI support. We develop a model in which academic leaders’ diversity-related attitudes interact with faculty gender to predict faculty endorsement of institutional diversity in higher education over time. Specifically, we propose that academic leaders’ diversity attitudes have a stronger effect on male faculty, who tend to have less personal experience with bias than women, providing greater opportunity for building their awareness. We also hypothesize that faculty perceptions of bias mediate this relationship, uncovering awareness of inequity as a predictor of diversity endorsement. We tested this multilevel moderated mediation model using two climate surveys of academic leaders (N = 70) and full-time faculty (N = 254) at a flagship university in the United States. Each hypothesis was supported: Men but not women reported greater perceived bias in academia when their leaders held more positive diversity attitudes. In turn, perceived bias predicted faculty endorsement of institutional diversity 2 years later, mediating the relationship. This work suggests that academic leaders are role models and educators for diversity-related initiatives, particularly for men. We discuss the implications of this work for heightening the success of DEI in higher education. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(3), Jun 2023, 369-383; doi:10.1037/dhe0000324
Systemic inequalities in higher education have contributed to lower retention and completion rates among low-income, first generation, and racially/ethnically minoritized students, who we refer to as “at-promise” students. In response, educators have implemented comprehensive college transition programs that offer students holistic support including academic, social, financial, and major and career support. Scholarship exploring the efficacy of comprehensive college transition programs commonly focuses on the role of this support in promoting academic self-efficacy, retention, sense of belonging, and other intermediate outcomes linked to at-promise college student success. One sorely understudied intermediate outcome related to at-promise college students’ success is their confidence in a major and career path (i.e., major and career self-efficacy). This article focuses on a large scale, longitudinal (2015–2020) study of a comprehensive college transition program called Thompson Scholars that offers major and career support to promote at-promise college students’ major and career self-efficacy. Based on the Thompson Scholars’ approach, we identified a new model for developing major and career self-efficacy among at-promise students called the At-Promise College Student Major and Career-Self Efficacy Ecology Model that explains how and why Thompson Scholars promotes students’ confidence in their major and career path. This new approach illustrates how educators can curate a developmentally appropriate set of major and career experiences across multiple contexts responsive to at-promise students’ multiple assets to build their confidence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(2), Apr 2023, 226-235; doi:10.1037/dhe0000327
Prior research documents that, even after controlling for a variety of potentially potent student background and achievement factors, education abroad exerts favorable effects on indices of college student success, such as timely college completion. Racial–ethnic minority students, however, are both generally underrepresented in education abroad participation and can be disproportionately at risk of not completing their degrees. This article reports findings from the Consortium for Analysis of Student Success through International Education (CASSIE) to assess whether racial–ethnic minority students receive a boost in student success by virtue of studying abroad. CASSIE received data from 36 U.S. institutions covering Fall 2010 and Fall 2011 first-time freshman cohorts. The final sample consisted of 221,981 students, 30,649 of whom had studied abroad. Using statistical matching techniques to minimize effects of confounding factors such as high school grade point average (GPA) or college major, students from six racial–ethnic groups who studied abroad were compared with students from their own groups who did not. Results showed that racial–ethnic minority students who participated in education abroad demonstrated a higher likelihood of timely graduation and higher GPA at graduation, relative to otherwise similar students who did not study abroad. The magnitudes of those benefits exceeded those increments experienced by White students. Racial–ethnic minority students who studied abroad on average required a few additional credit hours at graduation, yet time to graduation was fractionally lower compared to students from the same racial–ethnic group who did not study abroad. These findings warrant strong efforts to recruit and support racial–ethnic minority students to participate in education abroad. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(2), Apr 2023, 170-181; doi:10.1037/dhe0000334
Based on interviews with 31 academics and 5 nonacademic partners, this article explores the experiences of academics in commuting couples, or those who live apart for work-related reasons. Using identity theory as a guide, this article explores how participants navigate their competing identities of academic and partner (and, for some, parent) to determine how to best accommodate their personal and professional obligations. Although commuting offered participants an opportunity to prioritize their professional identity, women in opposite-gender couples particularly struggled with the arrangement as they felt it came into conflict with their responsibilities and roles as mothers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(2), Apr 2023, 248-259; doi:10.1037/dhe0000329
Finding pathways to success for students with disabilities is important to the work of administrators and educators who wish to support this population. Guided by an anti-deficit framework and the minority group model, data from the 2015 and 2016 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement were examined to learn how Engagement Indicators related to outcomes (GPA, satisfaction, and self-reported learning) for over fifteen thousand first-year students with disabilities. To avoid deficit framing, structural equation modeling was employed to measure the mediation effects of four Engagement Indicators for students with learning disabilities compared to other students with disabilities. Results from this study indicate that most Engagement Indicators are significantly, and in some cases strongly, related to outcomes for students with disabilities; however, only Student–Faculty Interaction was a significant, positive mediator for students with learning disabilities whereas the significant negative mediators indicate that engagement has divergent effects for students with disabilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(2), Apr 2023, 215-225; doi:10.1037/dhe0000326
Despite growing diversity among Asian Americans, little attention has been given to the diverse experiences and outcomes of Asian American subgroups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Using a nationally representative data set, High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), this study examines Asian American students’ various pathways of entrance into STEM majors by college selectivity. Results show different patterns of STEM major selection among Asian ethnic subgroups that are not uniformly applied to all types of college selectivity, thereby revealing the heterogeneity within Asian American populations and suggesting the peril of the monolithic stereotype of Asian American students in STEM fields. Analyses further disclose that disparities of STEM major selection among Asian ethnic subgroups can be partially but not fully explained by high school math achievement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(2), Apr 2023, 157-169; doi:10.1037/dhe0000332
Black students attending predominantly White institutions face racism in residence halls. Although research suggests that Black students create communities that help them thrive on campus despite this racism, little work has examined students’ experiences with affinity housing as one such Black-centered residential counter space. Therefore, we investigated the lived experiences of Black college students in a Black affinity house at a predominantly White institution. In this study, semistructured interviews were used to capture the experiences of 13 Black student and alumni residents. We utilized conventional content analysis in a qualitative descriptive design to summarize participants’ experiences with Black-centered affinity housing. Categories of experiences that support affinity housing as a counter space included the following: home and family, diversity of the Black experience and intersectionality, and collective empowerment and campus involvement. Students also noted concerns about institutional commitment to and maintenance of the affinity house. Black-centered affinity housing may be one valuable counter space for institutions to offer. Such a space may bolster the thriving of Black college students on campus. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(2), Apr 2023, 131-143; doi:10.1037/dhe0000331
College students who experience dating violence (DV) often report detrimental impacts to their academic, social, and personal lives that influence their retention and persistence in higher education (e.g., Wood et al., 2020). To address the negative impacts of DV, higher education leaders and practitioners must focus on promoting healing among college students. Further, the current scarce racial analysis in campus DV research, policy, and practice necessitates an analysis of the experiences of survivors of color. By understanding the healing journeys of South Asian student DV survivors, professionals, policy-makers, and researchers can better support survivors in thriving in higher education. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative study is to understand the healing experiences of South Asian college student DV survivors in support of institutional efforts to respond effectively to interpersonal violence. This study uses the decolonial Par/Des(i) framework (Bhattacharya, 2019), along with culturally situated methods, to explore the healing modalities of six South Asian women students at one institution of higher education. Participants engaged in two thé talks, similar to semistructured interviews, and a photovoice activity which centered their healing journeys. Using a critical qualitative approach, data analysis of participants’ narratives demonstrated five connections that supported their healing from their experiences of DV: intergenerational connections, peer connections, connections to formal resources, connections with nature, and (re)connections with oneself. Findings highlight the need to incorporate culturally resonant healing modalities in institutional policies and services and to center minoritized students’ experiences in campus interpersonal violence research and practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(2), Apr 2023, 236-247; doi:10.1037/dhe0000258
Recent studies showed a considerable amount of individual variations in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) college students’ reporting of peer harassment experiences. This result is often interpreted as an indication that LGBQ students differ in their chance of experiencing peer harassment, but it may also reflect students’ varying interpretations of peer behaviors. To examine this possibility, we analyzed data from in-depth interviews with 45 LGBQ students by using narrative construction as a theoretical framework. The analysis showed that LGBQ students constructed largely two types of narratives regarding heterosexual peers’ behaviors, which we call stigma narratives and post-closet narratives. Those who told stigma narratives described heterosexual peers’ behaviors critically and believed that those behaviors reflected the institutional oppression of LGBQ students. Those who told post-closet narratives did not see these types of peer behaviors as problematic and sometimes interpreted them as heterosexual peers’ friendliness and an indication of inclusive campus climate. The results suggest that college assessments of peer harassment and campus climate require close attention to LGBQ students’ efforts to construct coherent narratives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(2), Apr 2023, 182-193; doi:10.1037/dhe0000269
We present the motivations and meaning-making processes bolstering minoritized faculty’s daily efforts to disrupt institutional forms of oppression and imagine more equitable institutions. Through critical in-depth phenomenological interviewing (CIPI), we profile the experiences of minoritized faculty (N = 6) within the professional discipline of counselor education. Participants represented multiple racial identities, identified as cisgender men and women, and included diversity in sexual identity and ability. We utilize a critical race feminist (CRF) framework to analyze our findings and review the implications for institutional transformation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Vol 16(2), Apr 2023, 194-204; doi:10.1037/dhe0000325
Within postsecondary education, we often equate students’ need for support with socioeconomic status (SES). There is also recognition of the challenges faced by Black students while navigating higher education. Programmatic and policy efforts to address these issues often focus on singular aspects of students’ identities, particularly for low-SES students and Black male students. The purpose of this study was to explore SES and sex differences in the relationship between Black college students’ involvement and their educational outcomes, as measured by graduation. Results show statistically significant differences between Black male and female students in the impact of involvement on degree attainment. Findings also have implications for the impact of high-impact practices, as a specific form of involvement, on students’ outcomes. There are significant implications for policy and practice based on findings that can improve efforts to improve collegiate outcomes for all Black students. Results also demonstrate the need to shift thinking in higher education about how to effectively support students and identify their needs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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