“Do my opinions even matter?” Variation in White Students’ Participation in Class Discussions on Race

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Race-related class discussions can be conducive to self-censoring for a variety of reasons, though they also create opportunities for students to signal certain perspectives. The current study focuses on the perceptions, motivations, and participation patterns of White students when race-related topics were discussed in class. A survey of 478 White students included quantitative and qualitative data describing students’ emotional experiences and desires regarding race-related discussions. Cluster analysis yielded three distinct groups of students: Enthusiasts, Worriers, and Detached. These groups varied in how they adjusted their discussion participation. The coding of open-ended responses and subsequent quantitative comparisons suggested that the groups varied in their motivations for willingly backing off, begrudgingly backing off, increasing participation, and their participation being contingent on class circumstances. A total of 14 major codes emerged across these four approaches.