Calling All Students? Enrollment In Community-Engaged Learning Courses At A Marianist University, Molly Malany Sayre, Castel V. Sweet, Kelly Bohrer

Research and Reflection on Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

‘Community’ is a pervasive concept at the University of Dayton, a Catholic, Marianist institution in Dayton, Ohio. As such, it was unknown how students who enrolled in community engaged learning (CEL) courses were different from their peers in demographic characteristics, previous experiential learning, and views of community engagement. Findings can inform CEL recruitment as well as evaluation of CEL outcomes, especially at institutions with a similar values orientation. This mixed-methods study indicates that among four semesters of students in three selected CEL courses, few differences were found with students in non-CEL control groups. One significant difference found was in racial …

Racing To Math: Racial Identity, Math Anxiety, And Achievement Motivation Amongst College Students, Amanda A. Derrell

Senior Projects Spring 2023

A person’s racial identity can inform their choices in life as well as their perceptions. Existing literature typically investigates how racial identity is involved in the development of one’s overall self-growth throughout their childhood and adolescence and how it influences their adulthood. The aim of this present study was to see if racial identity is associated with the feelings college students hold towards math, specifically math anxiety, as well as achievement motivation. The study also explored the relationship between math anxiety and achievement motivation. The sample was made up of college students in their first year, ages 18-19 (N = …

Immigrant Therapists’ Perceptions Of Transference, Countertransference, And Racial Experiences In The United States, Lian Malki-Schubert

Dissertations and Theses

There has been a steady increase in the percentage of immigrant therapists in the US. In psychology doctoral programs, the number of foreign-born students has doubled between 1997 and 2016. The present study aimed to examine the perceived impact of therapists’ immigrant identity when working with US-born and foreign-born clients, as little research has been dedicated to this topic. Another central theme this study sought to explore was immigrant therapists’ perspective shifts on racial identity upon arriving in the US. Given that race is a social construct that is culturally bound, the study investigated immigrant therapists’ perceptions of racial identity …

Distress And Growth In The Black Community, Devin A. Noel-Harrison

Research Psychology Theses

Racial discrimination is an unfortunate reality that people of color regularly experience. This leaves lasting impacts on the health of individuals and communities. With the increased use of social media, videos depicting violence against black bodies are widely circulated. The consequences of being exposed to these race related traumatic events online (TEO) can be damaging to the mental health of the black community, maybe even more so if one’s racial identity is important and salient to their overall wellbeing. Though witnessing these race related TEO often lead to posttraumatic stress, positive change may also be possible known as posttraumatic growth.

Self-Care: An Ethical Imperative For Anti-Racist Counselor Training, Michelle Mitchell, Erin Binkley

Teaching and Supervision in Counseling

Attention has been given to multicultural counseling, social justice and advocacy work over the last several decades; with this in mind, it is essential Counselors educators work as anti-racist change agents to understand the role of self-care in advocacy and be armed with self-care strategies based upon racial identity standing. Working through the lens of racial identity development models, educators will learn ways to support students of the dominant culture in engaging in self-care without initiating oppressive behaviors, and conversely will learn strategies to assist Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color (BIPOC) in enacting self-care without assisting in their own oppression. …

Confronting And Dismantling Whiteness In Higher Education: A Grassroots Approach, Winnie Needham

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to investigate how an Educational Studies department in a small, Midwestern liberal arts college might confront and dismantle whiteness in curricular, pedagogical, and policy choices. Utilizing a critical participatory action research design, five higher education faculty engaged in a critical conversation inquiry group (Schieble et al., 2020) to develop their critical literacy (Rogers and Mosley, 2014). This study was designed to answer the following questions: How do faculty within an Educational Studies department think about their racial identities and the relevance of racial identity to the program, the institution, and higher education? …

Check One Box And One Box Only: Christianity And Biracial/Bi-Ethnic Identity Development, Carina Schiro

Senior Honors Theses

A phenomenological overview showed the current understanding and conceptualization held by biracial and bi-ethnic individuals of their racial identity development. While the literature on biracial identity development recently expanded, there is little research done on the various coping mechanisms and mindsets used to create a solidified sense of racial identity in biracial and bi-ethnic individuals. Additionally, there is no research investigating Christianity’s influence on biracial identity development. Such research could bring greater understanding to the various ways double racial consciousness has impacted the lives of multicultural individuals. Furthermore, investigations have brought greater understanding of the different identity resolutions individuals have …

The Relationship Between Race-Related Stress And Coping Strategies Of African American Men, Rynata Trevyce Leach

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this research was to identify coping mechanisms that African American men use when they perceive race-related stressors. Race-related stress derives from the occurrence of racism and discrimination that individuals, generally African Americans in the United States, experience in addition to daily life stress. Race-related stress may involve cultural racism, individual racism, or institutional racism. The coping mechanisms used by African American men when perceiving race-related stress were identified through the use of an online survey that consisted of 3 instruments: The Index of Race-Related Stress-Brief Version (IRRS-B), Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory (Brief COPE), and …

Racial Identity, Skin Tone, And Intragroup Racism Among African American Males, Carlton Deshawn Lewis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

Skin tone of an African American is a key primer for prejudicial attitudes among Whites,

with darker skin tones eliciting more negative reactions. No previous studies have

examined this phenomenon with African Americans as the evaluators. Social identity and

social categorization theories, and Cross' theory of nigrescence, provided theoretical

frameworks for this study. It was proposed that male African American observers'

evaluations of another African American male may depend not only on the skin tone of

the target (job candidate) and the quality of his credentials, but also on the observer's

own skin tone and stage of racial identity. …

Making Sense Of The Mix : Understanding The Role Of Family Dynamics In The Racial Identity Experiences Of Black-White Emerging Adults, Crystal Austin

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

As a population, Black-White (B-W) biracial individuals have been relatively overlooked and underserved in the psychological literature. Although some theoretical attention has been paid to the racial identity development of biracial individuals, research is lacking on the psychological processes influencing the identity experiences of these individuals (Rockquemore et al., 2009). Specifically, little is known about how adults’ family-of-origin dynamics influence the racial identity construction process of B-W individuals.

Trini To De Bone: The Impact Of Migration On The Cultural Identities Of Trinidadian Immigrants In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Stephanie Zukerman

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the impact of migration and the resulting intercultural interactions on the cultural identities of first-generation immigrant Trinidadians living in the Philadelphia area of the United States. It focused on four identities: race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and nationality. The goal of the study was to determine how Trinidadian immigrants define and reconceptualize these four dimensions of their identities as they make new lives in American society. Another goal was to determine whether identities shift and, if so, how, for Trinidadian immigrants when they move across cultures to a society where they are no longer in the racial, ethnic, …

The Impact Of Family Satisfaction, Racial Identity And Perceived Ethnic Discrimination On African-American College Students' Vulnerability To Stereotype Threat, Erica Lynn Featherson

Dissertations

Problem

Stereotype threat is something that has plagued the African-American community for decades. However, there is no direct research on the protective factors that could mitigate or exacerbate the effects of stereotype threat on African-Americans. The present study is intended to focus on the relationship between family satisfaction, racial identity, perceived ethnic discrimination and African-American college students’ vulnerability to stereotype threat.

Method

This study used the Family Satisfaction Scale (FSS), The Black Racial Identity Attitude Scale (BRIAS), The Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire (PEDQ) and the Stereotype Confirmation Concern Scale (SCCS) to explore the relationships between the four variables. A structural …

Whiteness Interrupted: Examining The Impact Of Racialized Space On White Racial Identity, Marcus Bell

Dissertations - ALL

What does it mean to be white? This fundamental question stands at the heart of the interdisciplinary field of critical whiteness studies. Critical whiteness studies (CWS) epistemologically and theoretically upends traditional approaches to the study of race and racial inequality by averting the critical gaze from racially subordinate groups and focusing it upon the racially dominant group. Although insightful and highly influential, CWS has not sufficiently incorporated racialized space as a theoretically meaningful concept. Far too often, critical whiteness scholars speak of racial categories and racial experiences in board, spatially generalized terms. My dissertation moves beyond the general question of …

Learning To Disclose: A Post Colonial Autoethnography Of Transracial Adoption, Joni Schwartz, Rebecca Schwartz

Publications and Research

This autoethnographic research project examines the transformational learning of a transracial adoptive adult mother and daughter through the lens of postcolonialism. As collaborative researchers, adult adoptee and adoptive mother, examine this lifelong learning experience through critical self-reflection, qualitative meta-analysis, and autoethnographic research methods within the overarching historical and sociopolitical context of Haiti. The findings address the lived complexities of increasingly hybrid families, particularly around the contentious boundaries of race, nationality, and colonial history, as they impact transformational learning. Color blindness and racial identity development for both mother and daughter within their relationship are explored. Implications for adult educators around the …

Racial Identity Invalidation With Multiracial Individuals: An Instrument Development Study, Marisa Franco, Karen M. O'Brien

Counseling and Psychological Services Faculty Publications

Objectives. Racial identity invalidation, others’ denial of an individual’s racial identity, is a salient racial stressor with harmful effects on the mental health and well-being of Multiracial individuals. The purpose of this study was to create a psychometrically sound measure to assess racial identity invalidation for use with Multiracial individuals (N = 497). Methods. The present sample was mostly female (75%) with a mean age of 26.52 years (SD = 9.60). The most common racial backgrounds represented were Asian/White (33.4%) and Black/White (23.7%). Participants completed several online measures via Qualtrics. Results. Exploratory factor analyses revealed three Racial …

Against Critical Race Theory, Paul C. Mocombe

Ethnic Studies Review

Critical Race Theory (CRT) seeks to apply the negative dialectics of critical theory to the intersection of race, law, and power in the pursuit of racial and ethnic equality in Western society. That is to say, critical race theorists seek to convict Western society for not identifying with their values due to the prevalence of racial and ethnic oppression and subordination in the society. I argue here that this pursuit of racial emancipation and anti-subordination through the negative dialectics of critical theory by critical race theorists offers a false sense of racial difference which is convicting the values of the …

Exploring Racial Ideology And Coping As Moderators Of The Association Between Experiencing Racial Microaggressions And Psychological Outcomes In Black College Student, Terrence Harper Ii

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Recently, researchers have investigated how racial identity status attitudes may influence the relationship between experiencing racism and affective responses (i.e., it has been suggested that racial identity may act as a buffer against experiencing negative affect as a consequence of exposure to racial discrimination). While this question has received increased attention in recent years, this literature has not extensively examined this association with more current and refined conceptualizations of subtle discrimination (i.e., microaggressions) and racial ideology. Additionally, the impact of racial coping styles on this association has not yet been examined. As such, the purpose of this study was to …

Thinking About Race: The Development And Implication Of Racial Ideology, Robert E. Gutierrez

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Underlying contemporary discussions of race and race relations in the United States is the concept of racial ideology. Racial ideology comprises the ways in which individuals conceptualize racial identity, race relations, and the practical and ideal roles race plays in our lives. Two dominant models of understanding racial ideologies have emerged: Colorblindness and multiculturalism. Colorblindness advocates a race neutral approach while multiculturalism affirms and values the diversity of racialized experience. Critics of colorblindness argue that inattention to the role race plays in individuals’ lives serves to propagate an unequal status quo, and can actually exacerbate racial inequality. Conversely, critics of …

In Plain Sight: How Social Images In Education Shape The Social Identity Of Black Students, Kandyce Cabacar

Master's Theses

This thesis will postulate social identity development in Black students is shaped by their school experience. Reviewing how racial grouping is a critical factor in how we engage with others socially, this study will curate the variables of society that assembles the Black image. Social construction influenced by media messages and the neighborhoods that determine our respective schools will also be analyzed. By borrowing from the research of social psychology and contributions of sociologists on race relations, this thesis will demonstrate how expectations influenced by racial stereotypes of Black students create a correlation to social identity. These findings are discussed …

Forbidden Identities: A Qualitative Examination Of Racial Identity Invalidation For Black/White Biracial Individuals, Marisa Franco, Rahel Katz, Karen M. O'Brien

Counseling and Psychological Services Faculty Publications

This qualitative study examined instances of racial identity invalidation among 49 Black/White Biracial individuals. Transcriptions of participants discussing their most stressful experience of invalidation were coded for themes using content analysis. Themes that emerged provided a rich description of Biracial participants’ perceptions of why invalidation occurs and why perpetrators invalidated the individual. Also addressed are Biracial people’s thoughts, feelings, and reactions in response to the invalidation, and the effect of the invalidating experience on racial identity. Implications for research and preventive interventions are provided.

The Mediating Role Of Cognitive Flexibility On The Relationship Between Cross-Race Interactions And Psychological Well-Being, Robert D. Cardom

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Counseling psychologists are tasked with understanding optimal psychological and cognitive functioning. Recent theoretical predictions (Crisp & Turner, 2011) and growing evidence suggest that cross-race interactions are important ways individuals might improve their cognitive and psychosocial functioning. However, the theoretical predictions from Crisp and Turner have not yet been tested in one model. Further, much of the empirical support for the theoretical predictions has been from studies using 1) undergraduate samples and 2) weak theory-measurement fit.

The present study used an online, community survey (N = 270) to test Crisp and Turner’s (2011) predictions that cognitive flexibility would mediate the …

The Effects Of Learning About Black History On Racial Identity, Self-Efficacy, Self-Esteem, And Depression Among Low-Income African American Male Youth, Quentin L. Stubbins

Dissertations

Problem

The literature is clear that African American youth receive a shallow account from parents and schools about Black history. More importantly, African American male youth from low-income families rarely receive information about Black history. Youth today watch television for entertainment and through watching television learn about new facts and information. African American youth watch more television than any other ethnic group. The media has a long history of portraying African Americans in a negative light. The negative media portrayals of African Americans have impacted their racial identity, self-esteem, self-efficacy and their mental health. No research has been done on …

The Role Of Cultural Climate, Racial Identity, And Mentoring Relationships On African American College Success, Kia-Rai Michelle Prewitt

Dissertations

African American undergraduate students face numerous challenges in higher education including adjusting to college-level work, a new environment, increased responsibilities, building new relationships, and experiences with discrimination. The dissertation study examined whether cultural climate, racial identity, and mentoring relationships predicted academic success for African American undergraduate sophomores attending four-year colleges and universities. The researcher analyzed these constructs using data from the 2012 national data set of the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership (MSL) survey, an instrument containing over 400 items and scales measuring student demographic information, pre-college knowledge and experiences, college experiences, and educational outcomes. Results of a hierarchical multiple regression …

Impact Of Identity Invalidation For Black Multiracial People: The Importance Of Race Of Perpetrator, Marisa Franco, Stephen A. Franco

Counseling and Psychological Services Faculty Publications

Multiracial people report repeated experiences of racial identity invalidation, in which their racial identity is rejected by others. The current study examined whether the race of the perpetrator of these invalidating experiences matters in determining the impact of invalidation. A sample of 221 Black Multiracial people was recruited to take an online survey investigating their experiences of identity invalidation, levels of cultural homelessness, and challenges with racial identity. Participants reported that Black people invalidated their racial identity the most and they were most hurt by invalidation perpetrated by Black people. Lastly, those whose experiences of identity invalidation were mostly perpetrated …

Questioning Race: Ancestry Dna And Dialogue On Race, Anita K. Foeman, Angela Howard

Communication and Media Faculty Publications

Human genetics and racial identity converge pointedly in the family narrative. Until recently, genetics, racial identity, and family narrative were all rather malleable concepts in the public arena. All were presented in anecdotal form for the most part, and were often based on certain social conventions. The interjection of popularly available ancestry DNA data adds an additional piece of information to the discussion of genetics, race and narrative. Using the framework of both narrative theory and theory of social construction, this work uses quantitative and qualitative data to explore how individuals react to ancestry DNA findings and to consider if …

Social Identity And Wellness Of People Who Have Acquired Physical Disability: What Is The Role Of Social Support?, Katherine S. Ong

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The degree to which individual members of social minority groups identify with their stigmatized ingroup vary—some closely identify whereas others distance themselves from it as a byproduct of stigmatization. Research findings are mixed in regard to whether group identity influences well-being. One reason is that the relationship may be obscured by other factors. This study sought to clarify the mechanism by which group minority identity relates to health through social support. To assess the linkages among the three variables, individuals with acquired physical disabilities were surveyed. The study of disability identity is of import because, first, it may predict health …

The Effects Of Racial Identity On African American Youths' Psychosocial Adjustment: A Conceptualization Of The Literature And Meta-Analytic Review, Corinn Elmore

Dissertations

There is a general assumption of the positive effect of racial identity on the psychosocial adjustment of African-American youth. Despite this assertion, research findings for racial identity are unclear. The disparate measures of racial identity were organized into a cohesive framework with eight categories. Using this conceptual framework, a meta-analytic review was conducted on the effects the components of racial identity on African-American adolescents' psychosocial adjustment. There were 58 independent samples from 34 published journal articles and 14 unpublished papers (dissertations) including a total of 14,209 youth included in the study. Results of study highlight the importance of racial pride …

Authentic, Transformational Leadership: A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of Black/White Biracial Leaders, Carmen R. Zafft

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Scholarship

This phenomenological study described the racial identity and leadership experiences of eight community, education, and business Black/White biracial leaders. Four central themes emerged relating to the participants’ racial identity choices: (a) family discourse, (b) social networks, (c) appearance, and (d) identity work. Three central themes emerged relating to the participants’ leadership experiences: (a) cultural agility: “Blessed to be flexible”, (b) perceived representation: “I look like them”, and (c) transformational leadership: “I lead so others can grow.” Because the participants were conscious of their identity development experience, all demonstrated a strong sense of self which influenced how they experienced leadership. As …

White Noise : Negotiating Boundaries And Constructing Whiteness In Hip-Hop America, Carolyn Corrado

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation examines the ways in which white hip-hop youth negotiate racial boundaries in their daily lives, and how this process of racial boundary negotiation in turn influences their construction of white racial identities. By focusing on white youth who mark their racial identity to varying degrees based on their level of involvement in hip-hop culture, and comparing and contrasting white hip-hop kids from a suburban area who live their lives in a homogenous, mostly white racial context to their counterparts from an urban area who live their lives in a heterogeneous, multiracial context, I have been able to parse …

Bearing The Burden Of Whiteness: The Implications Of Racial Self-Identification For Multiracial Adolescents' School Belonging And Academic Achievement, Ruth Burke, Grace Kao

Grace Kao

Previous literature on racial self-identification among multiracials demonstrates that self-identification differs by context. Moreover, among multiracial adolescents, identity, usually measured in school, is correlated with achievement. In addition, a few studies have indicated that for half-white, half-minority adolescents, school achievement falls in between the achievements of their monoracial counterparts. Using the in-school and in-home components of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we examine the relationship between racial self-identification and school belonging and achievement. We find that among black/white and Asian/white adolescents, adolescents who self-identify as white are particularly disadvantaged in school, reporting lower grade point averages …