Historically, research on racial microaggressions has focused on adult populations within clinical as well as work environments. The literature is just beginning to examine microaggressions within the K-12 education system and with younger populations. It is important to assess how racial microaggressions are impacting high school students given that research has indicated that this population is experiencing racial injustices. The perpetration of racial microaggressions is the basis for students’ discriminatory experiences within these institutions. This work has recently become even more necessary given that the high school student population is becoming increasingly racially diverse while our teaching population has remained mostly White. The purpose of this study is to investigate how White educators’ White identity development translates to the racial microaggression commission in the classroom setting. This study took place across three public schools within the South United States. This study included five White educators and 25 of their non-White students. The educators were interviewed and a selection of their non-White students were surveyed. This data was then analyzed using Thematic Analysis (TA). TA was utilized to uncover where White educators were in their White identity development and to assess students’ experiences with racial microaggressions. This study explored White identity development using Helms’ (1990, 1995) White Identity Development model. Findings indicated that White educators were at various levels of their White identity development. The educators ranged from those who endorsed colorblind ideologies to those engaged in racial activism. The findings were structured into six overcharging themes: Adherence to Colorblind Attitudes, Initial Response to Emerging Awareness of Racism, Denigration of POC, Intellectual Understanding of Racism, Desire to Achieve a Nonracist Definition of Whiteness, Positive White Racial Identity. The student participants reported diverse experiences within the school setting. The results were organized into two overarching themes: Positive School Experiences and Negative School Experiences. Recommendations were offered for educator preparation programs, ongoing training for educations, as well as larger systemic alterations.

Higher education has been linked to upward mobility in recent decades. Higher education has particularly served as a road to upward mobility for disadvantaged racial and gender groups. While United States colleges and universities strive to make their institutions, programs, and departments more diverse, students who are racial minorities still experience racism and those who are women still experience sexism. Colleges and universities are often considered bastions of progressive liberalism that will challenge racism and sexism; however, the seeds of American racism and sexism that were planted at the country's inception and that were sustained by the blatant subjugation of people of color and women continue to generate race and sex based oppression within present-day American society and within America's academic institutions. Therefore, residual racism and sexism are important to explore, since their presence in educational institutions serves to reify racial and gender based boundaries in achievement and well-being. To this end, research has inadequately determined the prevalence of overt and covert oppression within academic institutions. Using a sample of college students at a predominately white institution in a Midwestern college town and a diverse institution in a large urban area I will: 1) examine the prevalence of covert and overt racist and sexist experiences among college students and develop models of their occurrence by gender and race; 2) test double jeopardy and multiple jeopardy theory by finding out if women of color experience more racism and sexism than other groups; 3) examine the prevalence of racist, post- racist, sexist and post-sexist beliefs among college students and develop models of their origins by race and gender, 4) examine how environmental context impacts student's experiences and beliefs by comparing college students at a predominately white institution and at a diverse institution; and 5) conduct a path analysis in order to test the causal relationships between demographic factors (race, gender and institution type), experiences (racist and sexist victimization) and attitudes/outlook (racist, post-racist, sexist, post-sexist, campus climate and stress).

Psychological literature regarding South Asian American mental health and race-related issues is scarce (Daga & Raval, 2018; Nadimpalli, Kanaya, McDade, & Kandula, 2016; Pyke & Dang, 2003). In particular, discriminatory practices involving individuals’ personal names of ethnic origin have primarily been explored within educational research (Kholi & Solórzano, 2012); the present study conceptualizes these experiences within a psychological context as name-based microaggressions. Name-based microaggressions represent a promising avenue by which to advance racism-related theory and research in that they may be reasonably expected to occur throughout the interpersonal interactions of a wide variety of individuals, including the educational system, the employment process, and everyday casual conversations with others. The present study used consensual qualitative research (CQR) to analyze the narratives of South Asian American participants regarding name-based microaggressions (Hill, Knox, Thompson, Williams, Hess, & Ladany, 2005). The study sheds light on microaggressive events among this racial minority population whose experiences are infrequently studied by psychologists and who are generally underserved by mental health practitioners. The results have implications for the multicultural awareness for counselors working with South Asian American clients, and for psychological awareness about the existence and impact of a little-studied microaggression.

How one perceives and copes with such experiences in graduate education can have profound impact upon the personal and professional experiences of minority women in higher education. This study utilized a grounded theory approach (Glasser & Strauss, 1967; Cresswell, Fassinger, 2005) to investigate the impact of perceived racial and ethnic discrimination occurring in academia and effective methods of coping with perceived racial/ ethnic discrimination among 10 women of color in graduate education. Data sources included individual interviews and a group interview meeting. This study allowed women of color who have felt marginalized to experience a sense of connectedness as they shared their experiences as a means of coping in and of itself, and evaluated the experience of the women’s participation in the research. Lastly, institutional factors that may be useful to the personal and professional development of women of color in higher education and in combating racial and ethnic discrimination were also assessed. Emerging results demonstrated that while women of color experience a wide range experiences of racism/discrimination, overwhelmingly they experienced microaggressions –mainly a lack of visibility and minimization of racial/cultural issues. The impact of racial and ethnic discrimination and microaggressions in academic environments ranged from the personal to the professional. Coping factors included a variety of emotion-focused and problem-focused strategies, but highlighted social coping. Cognitive processes were found useful in terms of negotiating variables such as power, their ability to be educative, professional consequences, and emotional factors. Protective, educational, and institutional factors that may be helpful in moderating the impact of such experiences are discussed.

Wellness has been identified as one of the primary goals in the counseling profession (Myers, 1992; Myers & Sweeney, 2005; Roscoe, 2009). Although wellness is one of the main goals of counseling, and there has been a plethora of research on wellness, there is a scarcity of wellness research focused on counselors, and counselors in training (Myers & Sweeney, 2008). Research on racial discrimination and microaggressions in students, as well as faculty in higher education suggests that many colleges and universities are hostile settings for people of color (Bradley & Holcomb-McCoy, 2004; Salazar, 2009; Salazar et al., 2004). Day to day experience with racial microaggressions can be detrimental to the well-being of people of color (Sue, Lin, Torino, Capodilupo, & Rivera, 2009; Troxel et al., 2003). This study utilized qualitative methods to examine the perceived relationship between racial microaggressions and wellness in female graduate students of color. A phenomenological approach (Creswell, 2007; Moustakas, 1994) guided this methodology. Participants included seven African American and one Latina American females who were enrolled in CACREP accredited counselor education doctoral programs in one region of the United States. Participants were interviewed face to face and/or by phone in two rounds of interviews. Interview questions addressed participants’ experiences, their definitions of wellness, and their perceptions of the relationship between wellness and racial microaggressions. Participants discussed seven themes including: program experience, day to day experiences of microaggressions, types of microaggressions, wellness, the impact of microaggressions on wellness, wellness strategies in coping with microaggressions, and program expectations. The primary types of microaggressions experienced were microinsults (n=8) and microinequities (n=7). Microaggressions were found to have an impact on emotional, academic/career, overall, interpersonal/social, physical, psychological, personal, and spiritual components of wellness. Wellness strategies helped to decrease participants (n=4) vulnerability to racial microaggressions. This study provides information which informs counseling programs of the unique experiences and needs of Latina and African American female graduate students, with implications for increasing retention rates and improving the overall quality and wellness of these students.

This paper is an exploration of the meaning of mixed racial identity and the representation of such experience by multiracial artists. By analyzing the art of Amalia Mesa Bains, Richard Alexander Lou, and Samantha Wall, I examine how such self identified artists address the concept of the mixed race and in-between experience noting whether they take a celebratory approach or more resistive approach. I then expand on why I chose this topic and why I used specific methods to create and depict my own personal multiracial experience.

This thesis attends to recent calls and decades of demands to de-whiten and de-colonise the discipline of Geography and higher education more broadly. This manuscript contributes unique empirical research and analysis on race, gender, sexuality and everyday life to geographies of intersectionality, visceral geographies of (micro)aggressions, and toxic geographies. Intersectionality is a Black Feminist framework that centres the entanglement of race and gender, (micro)aggressions are often unconscious and subtle insults experienced at the scale of the body by marginalized people, and toxic geographies are spaces with high concentrations of (micro)aggressions. The main objectives are to explore the co-constitutive nature of (micro)aggressions and space, engage intersectionality in practice through Participatory Action Research (PAR), and to centre the lives and promote the agency of students of colour, women, queer, transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) students in US higher education. The empirical research of this thesis is a PAR project and team composed of eleven people, myself included, on race, gender, and sexuality based (micro)aggressions at an elite US residential institution of higher education. The PAR team collectively curated a public art event where the university community was invited to share stories of (micro)aggressions experienced, witnessed, and produced. The PAR team’s efforts resulted in a powerful encounter that led to changes in policy and practice to mitigate toxicity in one particular place. The analysis of the empirical research involves an exploration of the fluidity, fixity, and spatiality of toxic geographies along the axes of race, gender and sexuality and within the context of the academic-military-prison industrial complex (AMPIC), a framework of structural violence. In addition, this thesis applies the higher-level analytic of intersectionality to the empirical research, connecting the micro level of (micro)aggressions, the meso level of the PAR team, and the macro level of the AMPIC to provide an empirical example of the complexity of toxic geographies, and an avenue for future research, by highlighting the material impact of the neoliberal university on the mental health of students of colour, women, queer, and TGNC students.

As the nation's largest and fastest growing marginalized ethnic group, Latina/os play an increasingly crucial role in the economic and social life of the nation, highlighting the need for education systems to re-evaluate and expand their efforts in supporting and retaining this growing population. A number of contextual factors have been identified that influence the college experience and academic persistence of Latina/o students, including campus racial climate, perceptions of university environment, cultural congruity, interpersonal racism, and structural racism. An emerging area of research is racial/ethnic microaggressions (i.e., subtle forms of racism). In the face of these challenges, many Latina/os learn to critically navigate and negotiate the cultural environment of college, drawing on cultural strengths as well as cultural knowledge and skills gained in overcoming previous structural barriers to education. The focus of the present study is on Latina/o students and factors that influence their academic persistence intentions. Structural equation modeling techniques were performed to test a hypothesized structural model of the mechanisms by which racial/ethnic microaggressions, protective factors (i.e., resilience, mentor support, social support from family and friends), and sociopolitical development (i.e., ethnic identity, critical consciousness) influence Latina/o students' intentions to persist in academia. The hypothesized structural model tested indicated a good fit to the data. Study results were consistent with several study hypotheses: (a) the hypothesized structural model provided a good fit to the data; (b) the proposed set of relationships between resilience, mentor support, social support from family and friends, critical consciousness, ethnic identity, and intentions to persist accounted for significant variance in the model; (c) perceptions of university environment was directly related to intentions to persist; (d) protective factors (resilience, mentor support, social support from friends and family), sociopolitical development (ethnic identity and critical consciousness), and perceptions of university environment fully mediated the relationship between racial/ethnic microaggressions and intentions to persist; (e) protective factors mediated the relationship between perceptions of university environment and intentions to persist. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are discussed. / 2015-10-10

abstract: The majority of Black D/deaf female students who enter college do not obtain college degrees; as many of them drop out of college citing irreconcilable differences with faculty, staff and peers (Barnartt, 2006; Williamson, 2007). Although, many of these inequities are being addressed in current scholarship, traditionally social scientists have analyzed issues of race, gender, class, sexuality or disability by isolating each factor and treating them as if they are independent of each other (Thornton Dill & Zambrana, 2009). This qualitative dissertation study investigates the everyday lives of Black D/deaf female students on a college campus. The study is based on data gathered during four focus group interviews with twenty-two total participants and fifteen individual semi-structured interviews. Interviews were videotaped and conducted in either spoken English or sign language depending on the preference of the participant. Interviews conducted in sign language were then interpreted to spoken English by the researcher, and subsequently transcribed. The study sought to explore identity and individual agency, microaggressions and marginality on campus, and self-determination. Analysis focused critically on the women's understanding of their intersecting identities, their perception of their college experience and their persistence in college. The data revealed a seemingly "invisible" space that women occupied either because of their deafness, race, gender or social class status. Even though the women felt that that they were able to "successfully" navigate space for themselves on their college campus, many experienced more difficulty than their peers who were White, male or hearing. The women developed strategies to negotiate being part of both the deaf and hearing worlds while on their college campus. However, they frequently felt excluded from the Black hearing culture or the White deaf culture. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Justice Studies 2012

The literature on the career development of First-Generation College Students of Color (FGCSC) lacks a focus on the career decision-making difficulties consequently from racial microaggressions, academic self-efficacy, academic stress, and mental well-being at PWIs. Furthermore, there is a lack of empirical studies related to FGCSC help-seeking behaviors for racial microaggressions and the utilization of university counseling and career services on these campuses. The following research questions guided this study: a) What is the relationship between help-seeking attitudes and behaviors and racial microaggressions, academic self-efficacy, academic stress, mental well-being, and career decision-making difficulties among first-generation college students of Color (FGCSC) attending PWIs? b) Can the help-seeking behaviors of (FGCSC) attending PWIs be predicted by age, gender, ethnicity, racial microaggressions, academic self-efficacy and stress, mental well-being, and career decision-making difficulties? FGCSC present distinct personal, social, emotional, academic, and cultural needs. The growth in racial microaggressions and racial insults manifested within PWIs requires an examination into how services are tailored within university counseling and career advising centers to meet these needs. Racial microaggressions can result in stress that negatively influences both mental well-being and career decision making. Thus, career and personal counseling services provided on college campuses should be able to help students combat and cope with these stressors. In addition, these services should provide culturally-informed counseling interventions to help FGCSC determine how skills, values, and interests align with a future job that fits their personality and cultural background. A need for more literature that examines the relationship between these variables will assist university counselors and career centers within predominantly White institutions with interventions for this special group of students. The stressors related to racial microaggressions may result in career decision-making difficulties that contribute to low self-efficacy that increase low retention rates and lack of matriculation. A better understanding of the relationships between racial microaggressions, mental well-being and career decision making can result in the tailoring of counseling and advising services on PWIs. Practitioners employed in counseling centers, advising offices, and career services must have a working knowledge of FGCSC experiences with racial microaggressions at the societal, institutional, interpersonal, and individual levels to deliver effective services.