White Undergraduates Research Articles

How White Undergraduates Experience and Make Meaning of Parental Messages about Race

Higher education offers an important space to engage white students on issues of race and racism. Yet, parents play a pivotal role in shaping their children’s understandings of race during childhood and adolescence. The results of this study document the weight and significance of parents in the pre-college socialization process and how White students navigate relationships with their parents in light of new, emerging understandings of race in college.

Beyond Reverse Racism: A Research Note on How White College Students Construct the Myth of Silencing in the Classroom

ABSTRACTThe popular rhetoric of “reverse racism” suggests that white students are victimized by racism, but it is unclear what contemporary white college students specifically find negative about their experiences in race classrooms. Analyzing interviews and open‐ended survey data from 54 white undergraduates at a predominantly white university in the Northeast, this research note shows that “reverse racism” is not the primary framework through which respondents interpret their negative classroom experiences. Instead, respondents rely on racist tropes about people of color to position themselves as silenced in these settings. We show how respondents (1) describe hypothetical scenarios involving explosive professors and students of color, and (2) view the race classroom as a space for learning “different perspectives,” in order to (3) claim that their whiteness renders them ineligible to participate in class discussions. Amidst political and academic condemnation of “cancel culture” and the perpetuation of myths that left‐wing activists of color unjustly target free speech, white students may incorporate these concerns into their meaning‐making. Although respondents do not explicitly invoke “reverse racism,” we argue that these narratives still reinforce the existing racial structure. These preliminary findings suggest the need for further exploration of white students' complex reactions to race classes in the current sociopolitical context.

Race Talk: Assessing Awareness and Mood After a Difficult Dialogue

Facilitating racial dialogue in higher education is challenging and taxing for instructors and students. Race, racism, implicit bias, and microaggressions are all topics that evoke strong emotions in a classroom. This can be especially challenging at a predominantly white institution. Facilitators must develop and assess pedagogical approaches for navigating these contentious spaces. This paper assesses an implicit bias lesson plan designed to educate, foster dialogue, and cultivate inclusive spaces. The lesson plan, Association Awareness, utilizes the Harvard Implicit Association Test to measure implicit attitudes. We use the Bias Awareness Scale to measure the effectiveness of the lesson plan and present findings on mood, bias awareness, explicitly stated racial preferences, and implicit racial associations. Results suggest that participation in the Association Awareness lesson significantly increased bias awareness in predominantly white undergraduates without negatively impacting their mood. Implications for action and future research are discussed.

An investigation of the associations between trauma exposure, racial stereotypes, and racist beliefs.

Given the concerning rise in hate crimes in recent years, it is critical to better understand factors associated with racist beliefs. As suggested by terror management theory (TMT), trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) may activate existential distress and anxiety, which may strengthen worldviews, including prejudiced beliefs (Greenberg & Kosloff, 2008; Weise et al., 2012). Although PTSS include negative alterations in beliefs about other people and the world, the connection between trauma and racist beliefs has not been investigated. There may also be key differences in terms of types of trauma exposure, such as interpersonal and noninterpersonal trauma, and racial beliefs. The present study aimed to determine: (a) whether cumulative trauma exposure and PTSS are associated with endorsement of racist perceptions and stereotypes regarding Black people, and (b) if interpersonal trauma is more strongly tied to prejudiced and stereotyped beliefs than noninterpersonal trauma among 277 White undergraduates (Mage = 23.33, SD = 6.11; 76.4% female). Neither cumulative trauma nor PTSS were found to be related to elevated racist beliefs or positive or negative stereotypes. However, noninterpersonal trauma exposure was associated with stronger endorsement of racist beliefs and negative stereotypes (ηp² = .03, .01). Surprisingly, interpersonal trauma exposure corresponded with lower racist beliefs (ηp² = .02). Noninterpersonal trauma exposure may thus activate TMT and strengthen prejudiced ideology, whereas interpersonal traumatic experiences and PTSS may not. More research is needed to better understand how types of traumatic events may relate to the development of prejudiced beliefs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Toward a Deeper Understanding of the Precollege Racial Socialization of White Undergraduate Students

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to better understand how white students are socialized to think about race in their precollege environments. While a great deal of scholarship has examined the racial attitudes, beliefs, and ideologies of white students in college, much less is known about how race is learned and rendered significant in precollege contexts. This study explored how 40 white undergraduates were socialized to think about race in two critical precollege environments: their neighborhoods and schools. The results of this study emphasize that while participants came from racially homogenous communities, they were not empty vessels merely waiting to be filled up with new information about race in college. Rather, they experienced a number of contexts that imparted particular messages about the nature of race, racism, and whiteness prior to ever stepping foot on campus.

Examining social reinforcement learning in social anxiety

Background and objectivesReinforcement learning biases have been empirically linked to anhedonia in depression and theoretically linked to social anhedonia in social anxiety disorder, but little work has directly assessed how socially anxious individuals learn from social reward and punishment. MethodsN = 157 individuals high and low in social anxiety symptoms completed a social probabilistic selection task that involved selecting between pairs of neutral faces with varying probabilities of changing to a happy or angry face. Computational modeling was performed to estimate learning rates. Accuracy in choosing the more rewarding face was also analyzed. ResultsNo significant group differences were found for learning rates. Contrary to hypotheses, participants high in social anxiety showed impaired punishment learning accuracy; they were more accurate at choosing the most rewarding face than they were at avoiding the most punishing face, and their punishment learning accuracy was lower than that of participants low in social anxiety. Secondary analyses found that high (vs. low) social anxiety participants were less accurate at selecting the more rewarding face on more (vs. less) punishing face pairs. LimitationsStimuli were static, White, facial images, which lack important social cues (e.g., movement, sound) and diversity, and participants were largely non-Hispanic, White undergraduates, whose social reinforcement learning may differ from individuals at different developmental stages and those holding more marginalized identities. ConclusionsSocially anxious individuals may be less accurate at learning to avoid social punishment, which may maintain negative beliefs through an interpersonal stress generation process.

Learning from Dar es Salaam: Harvard’s “Project Tanganyika” and a Nodal Perspective on Decolonization’s Itineraries

Abstract: This article traces the history of Harvard’s “Project Tanganyika” and its encounter with Dar es Salaam’s burgeoning community of Southern African political exiles. An unsung predecessor to Kennedy’s Peace Corps, Project Tanganyika began in 1961 amidst a Harvard campus reckoning with issues of race, civil rights and global decolonization. Sending groups of mostly white undergraduates to Dar es Salaam as volunteer teachers, the Project would become uncannily central to the city’s emerging fame as a haven for leftwing exiles and fellow-travelers. For many Project volunteers and liberation movement leaders, the initiative was mutually generative, even as it resonated in more ambivalent ways for rank-and-file cadres. In both its generative capacity and its limitations, Project Tanganyika’s trajectory provides a glimpse of the junction of African decolonization and US civil rights in a manner inflected by race, class, and mobility.

Captive Market Pricing and Lack of Transportation: A Survey of Undergraduate Food Insecurity at a Public University in New England.

The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence of food insecurity among college students and its relationship to on-campus food purchasing patterns and barriers to eating a healthy and sufficient diet, including the relative cost of food items on campus compared to national chain grocery stores. A campus-wide survey using stratified sampling among undergraduates and food audit. An urban public university in New England. A total of 951 surveys completed by undergraduates. Demographic characteristics, behavioral factors and food security status (measured using the USDA 6-item short form) were collected. Descriptive and multivariable analyses were conducted to describe differences between food insecure and food secure undergraduates. Overall, 35% of undergraduates experienced food insecurity in the past year (response rate = 92%). Food insecure undergraduates had different on-campus purchasing patterns than their food secure counterparts. Food insecure students were more likely to report barriers to healthy eating on all measures, including prices (AOR= 8.12, P < .0001), to experience housing insecurity (AOR= 2.64, P = .001) and to report that transportation is a barrier to buying groceries (AOR= 1.63, P = .01). After multivariable adjustment, food insecure undergraduates had higher odds of being African American (AOR= 1.57, P = .031) or other races (more than 1 race) (AOR= 3.35, P = .002) compared to white undergraduates. Food insecure college students face a variety of barriers to healthy eating on campus, including high food pricing on campus and limited transportation options. Further research is needed to inform campus resource development, policies and programming focused on food insecurity prevention for college students.

Mock juror decisions regarding an undocumented immigrant: Similarity of defendant-juror ethnicity matters

Hispanic and White undergraduates (N = 238) read an online scenario depicting a Hispanic defendant on trial; defendant documentation status (undocumented, natural-born citizen) and defendant background (more sympathetic, less sympathetic) were varied. White participants saw the Hispanic defendant as generally more likely to commit a crime than Hispanic participants. White participants also saw the undocumented defendant as most likely to be guilty, while Hispanic participants saw the undocumented defendant as least likely to be guilty. These results suggest that defendant-juror similarity has an impact on juror decisions, even when the defendant is undocumented, a finding important for those selecting jurors.

Black-White incentive inequality for college persistence

Despite similar educational aspirations, black students persist in higher education at much lower rates than white undergraduates. This paper advances a theoretical explanation for the racial gap in persistence by examining whether the differential attrition in college reflects contrasting incentives for educational persistence. To account for the highly unequal hurdles faced by black men and women in college and in the labor market, we propose a method that addresses race-gender-specific opportunity structures in both institutions simultaneously. This approach is based on forward-looking estimates of outcomes where students draw information from their race-gender reference group ahead of them. The model estimates the earnings payoffs of persistence separately for each race-gender group at three consecutive educational decision nodes: at high school graduation, college entry, and after one year in college. We subsequently apply one version of this model to data from the American Community Surveys (2001–2017), calculating the absolute and relative incentives for educational persistence across racial groups. In addition to large dollar earnings differentials, the analyses reveal striking racial gaps of the relative incentives to stay enrolled: “incentive inequality.” This incentive race gap is largest at the earliest stages of the higher education career—high school graduation and college entry—where the black undergraduate dropout rate is highest. Our findings have substantive and methodological implications for situations where returns to investments are unequal across groups affected by discrimination.

“If Lil’ Wayne Can Say It, Why Can’t I?”: White Male Undergraduates Using the N-Word

ABSTRACT This paper critically analyzes the narratives of 62 White male undergraduates and their consistent use of the n-word during their college years. Almost all heard and/or used the n-word, but rarely did they believe using the n-word was racist. Despite these beliefs, the participants almost never used any form of the n-word in the presence of People of Color, Black people in particular. There were some who felt uncomfortable with their friends’ casual use of the n-word, but they rarely challenged their peers fearing social discomfort. The analyses highlight different levels of responsibility for the racism embedded in both speaking and hearing this word as well as the White campus-based segregation that allowed the use of the term to flourish.

Anticipating White Futures: The Ends‐Based Orientation of White Thinking

Recent scholarship demonstrates that whites' racist action requires creativity as much as habit. Racial cognition is implicated in this behavior, as white people use ignorance and apathy to overcome epistemic challenges that threaten white power, privilege, and wealth. Using Mueller's Theory of Racial Ignorance, we show how these cognitive processes abide by an ends‐based orientation—one whereby white people coordinate “anticipated futures” to maintain the literal and psychic spoils of racism. Analyzing papers produced by white undergraduates following a project investigating systemic racism and family wealth transmission, we reveal how students' practical takeaways betray this ends‐based orientation, which remains resilient amidst critical learning.

Tipping Point: Perceptions of Diversity in Black and White

By 2044, the USA is projected to be a majority-minority nation. Research suggests that when people of color reach 40–60% of the population, a tipping point occurs in which white individuals experience a collective existential threat and threat to their status and resources, resulting in more negative attitudes toward diversity. Institutions of higher education are microcosms of society. We were interested in how perceptions of diversity might differ across two universities—one that had reached the tipping point of only 50% white Americans; 543 black and white undergraduates completed items from the Diverse Learning Environment Core Survey measuring perceptions of belonging, diversity, and discrimination. We found that white students in the more diverse context were less satisfied with diversity on campus than their white counterparts (at the less diverse university); moreover, these students reported the highest level of discrimination in the study—even higher than that of black students in the less diverse context. These findings highlight the ways in which increasing representation and enfranchisement of racially and culturally different others may result in feelings of disenfranchisement for white Americans. With implications for the larger society, we argue that centering and deconstructing whiteness and white racial socialization is essential for the next era of equity and diversity aimed at redressing structural inequality.

The Bulimia Test-Revised (BULIT-R): Psychometric properties in a non-clinical sample of White and Latina college women

The Bulimia Test-Revised (BULIT-R) is a measure of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder symptoms. While this measure can serve as a useful screening tool, the validity of the BULIT-R in White and Latina samples is uncertain. Previous research has proposed several different BULIT-R factor structures, but has yet to find consistent support for a measurement model or to test measurement invariance. To address this gap, the current study attempted to examine the factor structure and measurement invariance of the BULIT-R among 699 non-clinical White (40.9%) and Latina (59.1%) undergraduate women. Analyses indicated that none of the previously published factor structures in adult samples of the BULIT-R were an acceptable fit in either Latina or White undergraduates. These findings further underscore difficulties in replicating the BULIT-R factor structure, even when using similar sample characteristics to those in the literature. Given the lack of an adequate fitting measurement model, tests of measurement invariance were not conducted. In the absence of measurement invariance of the BULIT-R, there is uncertainty regarding group comparisons, such as whether group differences reflect true differences or are artifacts of measurement error. This study highlights the need for additional psychometric investigation of the BULIT-R. The focus should be on diverse groups as well as non-clinical samples, with the latter being less likely to endorse extreme eating behaviors. Special consideration should be given to the number of items included in the measurement model and the number of indicators per latent factor. Caution should be exercised when interpreting scores on this instrument.

Whiteness, Anti-Blackness, and Trauma: A Grounded Theory of White Racial Meaning Making

This constructivist grounded theory study reveals nine interrelated components that describe white undergraduates' processes for making meaning of issues of race and racism in their environments. Findings also reveal how these processes perpetuate whiteness and anti-blackness. I present the theory as a composite counternarrative that draws upon data from 31 white undergraduate students and foregrounds Black students' experiences with racism on campus. The resulting juxtaposition highlights how whiteness and anti-blackness, on a spiritual level, function as pathologies that perpetuate trauma.

Ethnic-Racial Life Scripts: Relations With Ethnic-Racial Identity and Psychological Health

Life scripts dictate the culturally appropriate order, content, and timing of autobiographical events. In the current study, we examined the ethnic-racial life scripts of American emerging adults from three ethnic-racial backgrounds. One hundred ninety-five Asian, 165 Latinx, and 45 White undergraduates produced and rated seven life events they believed to be prototypical of their ethnic-racial group and self-reported desired and perceived script normality, ethnic-racial identity (ERI), and psychological health. The resulting life scripts differed in meaningful ways between the three ethnic-racial groups. Relations between script normality, ERI, and psychological health were similarly varied between groups. These findings provide a descriptive basis for understanding the normative expectations associated with certain ethnic-racial enclaves and how life scripts may vary across these and other such groups. Moreover, the manner in which these scripts are perceived may carry divergent implications for adjustment, across ethnic-racial groups.

Mobilizing betrayal: Black feminist pedagogy and Black women graduate student educators

AbstractThis article addresses Black women graduate students' educational labor in higher education teacher training programs. We ground this reflective account of our respective teaching praxis in the educational betrayal we endured as younger students, connecting it to our engagement of Black feminist pedagogy. We illustrate how this praxis empowered us as undergraduate educators to implement pedagogies of equity and justice. Employing a structured vignette analysis framework, we draw on a Black feminist paradigm and Black feminist autoethnography to examine field notes of our teaching praxis. These two field notes, one from Francena and one from ArCasia, demonstrate challenges that emerged in our instruction of mostly white undergraduates. Despite the precarious nature of our political and professional positions, we discuss why working toward an anti‐oppression praxis remains our ultimate pedagogical aim.

Affirmation and Majority Students: Does Affirmation Impair Academic Performance in White Males?

Self-affirmation is a promising brief intervention for reducing the academic achievement gap between majority and stigmatized groups (e.g., underrepresented minorities, women in STEM fields). Affirmations are thought to improve academic performance among stigmatized groups by expanding one’s sense of self, buffering social belonging, and reducing social identity threat. Despite encouraging results, some studies suggest that affirmations may inadvertently decrease the academic performance of nonthreatened White students. We conducted experimental studies to evaluate whether an affirmation focused on the theme of social belonging (i.e., belonging-affirmation) decreased the math performance of White males. We hypothesized that the belonging-affirmation would enhance performance for female participants but diminish math performance for White male participants. Two studies were conducted to evaluate these hypotheses: (1) a lab-based study involving 122 White male and mixed-ethnicity female undergraduates, and (2) an online study involving 197 young adult White males and females. Results failed to support study hypotheses, with no substantive differences in math performance found between male and female participants randomized to a belonging-affirmation versus neutral writing control. These findings are consistent with recent large-scale field replication failures of self-affirmation interventions, indicating that the phenomena may be more nuanced and fragile than suggested by early research findings.

My skin is unqualified: an autoethnography of black scholar-activism for predominantly white education

This research addresses the guiding autoethnographic question: “What three key institutional incidents/conditions inform my Black scholar-activism for predominantly White education in this historical moment?” Moreover, it applies autoethnography to illuminate three key incidents/conditions involving: (1) predominantly White undergraduates; (2) top-level predominately White male university administrators; and (3) White school community leaders in this historical moment (i.e. within the last 4 years). The research is organized to begin with a new poem and proceed to illuminate: (a) the current, observed historical context, (b) the application of critical race theory for illuminating my lived experiences of this context, (c) the rationale for applying autoethnography in this research, and (d) the three key incidents/conditions. It concludes by returning to the guiding question, critical race theory, related implications and rationales.

The conflicted language of interracial feedback.

How is the natural language of feedback affected when instructors are White and learners are minorities? The present research addressed this question using a website called Feedback Forward through which White undergraduates provided extensive open-ended responses on a poorly written essay supposedly drafted by either a Black or a White fellow student. Results revealed a dissociation between the substance and style of feedback to the Black writer. The Black writer received selectively more overt praise for his or her writing and writing skills, and more encouragement to pursue a writing-related career, replicating past studies of the positive bias. However, this positively biased feedback was conveyed in a selectively more “lenient” style, marked by a simpler and less analytic vocabulary, more personal pronouns, more positive emotion words, and syntax that more closely mimicked that of the poorly written essay. Discomfort supplying feedback moderated these effects. Increased discomfort was associated with more substantive criticism to the White writer, and with a more lenient style to the Black writer. In sum, minority learners may be receiving open-ended feedback that is a perplexing blend of explicit praise conveyed in an implicitly diminishing manner. Additional results showed that manipulated self-image concerns produced positively biased copyedits to the Black writer, replicating Harber, Stafford, and Kennedy (2010). Direct queries from the fictive writer—in the form of rating-based questions—also favored the Black writer, whose essay, ability, and prospects were rated higher than those of the White writer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)