Getting There is Only Half the Battle: Stigma Consciousness and Maintaining Diversity in Higher Education

Abstract

Increases in stigma consciousness since arriving at a primarily White college could predict the college performance and self‐esteem of the academically stigmatized. After reviewing relevant research, the authors report on a study in which 44 stigmatized (African Americans and Latinos/Latinas) and 79 nonstigmatized (Whites and Asian Americans) students completed measures of stigma consciousness, GPA, disengagement from academics, and self‐esteem. Among stigmatized males, increases in stigma consciousness predicted lower GPAs and greater disengagement. Although stigmatized females had low GPAs regardless of their increases in stigma consciousness, with increases in stigma consciousness came less disengagement from school and lower self‐esteem. The discussion offers suggestions for how to minimize these negative effects of heightened stigma consciousness levels.