The Influence of Racial Identity on White Students' Perceptions of African American Faculty

Abstract

Due to the underrepresentation of African American teachers and college faculty, students have limited to no interaction with Blacks as authority figures in the classroom. When White students in particular face African American faculty in class, they often exhibit negative attitudes and inappropriate behavior. Using racial identity development and critical race theory, we seek to understand how White college students perceive African American professors and from where those perceptions stem. In considering the social and educational context in which students live, our study explores the ways White students perceive Black professors and how students' racial identity development influences their perceptions.