Defining Diversity Ethnic Differences in Black Students Perceptions of Racial Climate

Journal of Diversity in Higher EducationDefining Diversity: Ethnic Differences in Black Students’ Perceptions of Racial ClimateKimberly A. Griffin, Emil L. Cunningham, and Chrystal A. George Mwangi Online First Publication, May 4, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039255

CITATIONGriffin, K. A., Cunningham, E. L., & George Mwangi, C. A. (2015, May 4). Defining Diversity: Ethnic Differences in Black Students’ Perceptions of Racial Climate. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039255

Journal of Diversity in Higher Education © 2015 National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education 1938-8926/15/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039255

Defining Diversity: Ethnic Differences in Black Students’ Perceptions of Racial Climate

Kimberly A. GriffinUniversity of Maryland

Emil L. CunninghamThe Pennsylvania State

University

Chrystal A. GeorgeMwangi

University ofMassachusetts, Amherst

This qualitative study addresses the potential range ofperspectives within the Black student community, focusingspecifically on differences by ethnicity and nativity.Narratives were collected from 43 Black students (15native, 28 immigrants) enrolled at a predominantly Whiteresearch institution, analyzing their perspectives ondiversity and campus racial climate. Findings suggest bothrace and ethnicity have the potential to shape ways inwhich Black students engage and perceive campus racialclimate. Second and 2.5 generation Black immigrants weremore likely to experience and perceive climate in wayssimilar to their native Black peers, perceiving a lack ofracial diversity and experiences with marginalization oncampus. However, second and 2.5 generation studentsperceived more stereotypes in the classroom, whereasnative students discussed more frequent socialmarginalization. First-generation immigrants describedmore campus diversity, and noted fewer encounters withracial discrimination. All students expressed interestin engaging with peers from diverse backgrounds but notedvarying levels of inclusion and their desire to findwelcoming environments in which to engage their peers.

Keywords: Immigrants, climate, Black students, diversity

Over the past two decades,scholars developed animpressive body of researchdocument- ing how studentsexperience campus racial cli-mate (CRC) at predominatelyWhite institutions (see Harper &Hurtado, 2007; Hurtado,Griffin, Arellano, & Cuellar,2008; Milem, Chang, &

Antonio, 2005 for reviews). CRCis defined as communitymembers’ attitudes andperceptions regarding issues ofrace and diversity, particu-larly the perceived level ofracism and discrim- inationwithin the campus environment(Hur- tado, Milem, Clayton-Pedersen, & Allen, 1999).Research shows that hostile

climates and expe-riences with

marginalization, isolation, andrac-

ism have detrimental effects on student sense of

belonging, adjustment, achievement, and reten-

Kimberly A. Griffin, Department ofCounseling, Higher Education, SpecialEducation, University of Maryland; EmilL. Cunningham, Office of the VicePresident of Stu- dent Affairs, ThePennsylvania State University;ChrystalA. George Mwangi, Department ofEducation Policy, Re- search, andAdministration, University ofMassachusetts, Amherst.We thank the Pennsylvania State

University College of Education,Africana Research Center, and SocialScience Research Institute for generousfinancial support in the completion ofthis research. We thank Autumn Griffinfor her substantial contributions tothis work.Correspondence concerning this article

should be addressed to Kimberly A.Griffin, Benjamin Building, Depart- mentof Counseling, Higher Education, SpecialEducation, University of Maryland,College Park, MD, 20742. E-mail:[email protected]

tion (Brown, Morning, & Watkins,2005; Ca- brera & Nora, 1994;Hurtado & Ponjuan, 2005;Johnson et al., 2007), makingperceptions of climate animportant area of study.Research also suggests

students’ identities shape theirperceptions of climate. Notably,students of color report moreobserved and direct encounterswith racism than their Whitepeers, perceiving the CRC ontheir campuses as more hostileand discriminatory (Cabrera &Nora, 1994; Harper & Hurtado,2007; Rankin & Reason, 2005;Suarez-Balcazar, Orellana-Damacela, Portillo, Rowan, &Andrews-Guillen, 2003). Althoughseveral studies identify Blackstudents’ percep-

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2 GRIFFIN, CUNNINGHAM, AND GEORGE MWANGI

tions of climate as particularlynegative (e.g., An- cis,Sedlacek, & Mohr, 2000; Suarez-Balcazar et al., 2003), fewexamine within group differencesin how Black students viewracial climate on campus.Specifically, scholars have notfully ex- plored thedistinctions between Blackstudents based on ethnicidentity. Over three million ofAmerica’s Black population isforeign-born, with first- andsecond-generation Blackimmigrants being the fastestgrowing group within the U.S.Black population (Kent, 2007).Over 12% of all Blackundergraduate students in theUnited States are immigrantswith even higher levels ofrepre- sentation at selectivecolleges and Ivy Leagueinstitutions (Kent, 2007; Massey,Mooney, Torres,& Charles, 2007). However,studies on Black collegestudents often report Blacknatives and immigrants as asingular demographic, or do notinclude data on foreign-bornBlack students (Massey et al.,2007).Sociological research on the

experiences and identities ofBlacks from immigrant back-grounds suggests that theirperceptions of race and racismare often distinctive fromBlacks with longer histories inthe United States (e.g., Portes& Rumbaut, 2006; Stepkick &Stepkick, 2003; Waters, 1994).Little is known about thepotentially unique perceptionsand experiences of first-generation (student was bornoutside of the United States),second-generation (student wasborn in the United States, andboth parents were born outsideof the United States), and 2.5-generation (student and oneparent were born in the UnitedStates, while one parent wasborn outside of the United

States; Portes & Rumbaut, 2006) Blackimmigrants in college, exploring howthey perceive campus climate as theynavigate predominantly Whiteinstitutions. This qualitative studybegins to address this gap in theliterature, examining the narratives of43 Black students (15 native, 28immigrants) enrolled at apredominantly White research insti-tution. This work extends the literatureon CRC by moving beyond a Black-Whitebinary, examining the perceptions ofCRC among Black immigrant and Blacknative students: two racially similar,but ethnically different subpopu-lations. Based on these data, we argueboth race and ethnicity have thepotential to shape ways in which Blackstudents engage and perceive CRC. Ethnicbackground and generation statusdistinguish how students perceive theirexperiences, lending to differentunderstandings of

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PERCEPTIONS OF DIVERSITY AND CLIMATE

3what diversity andengagement acrossdifference means andlooks like.Consequently, stud-ies of the relationshipbetween climate andstu- dent outcomes mustmore often disaggregatedata based on both raceand ethnicity,acknowl- edging withingroup diversity andhighlightingdifferences betweengroups that may appearracially similar.

Backg

round Campus

Racial Climate

Hurtado et al.’s(1999) campus racialclimate framework isused to ground andinform this study.Within this framework,climate is con-ceptualized as amultidimensionalphenomenon, constructedthrough interactionsbetween exter- nalforces, such asgovernmental policyand sociohistoricalfactors, and the uniqueracial context of aninstitution (internalforces). The internalforces shaping climatecan be assessed acrossfour dimensions: (a)structural diversity,(b) historical legacy ofinclusion or exclusion,(c) psychologicalclimate, and (d)behavioral climate(Hurtado et al.,1999).This study focuses on

how Black immigrant andnative students

experience three of the in-ternal dimensions: structuraldiversity, psychologicalclimate, and behavioral climate.Al- though an institution’slegacy of inclusion andexclusion can also have aninfluence on the climate, wefocus on the remaining threedimen- sions, which are the mostreadily perceived and directlyexperienced by students.Colleges and universities oftenseek to increase structural di-versity, or the numericalrepresentation of people ofcolor, as a means of improvingcampus diversity and climate.The underrepresentation ofBlack students on most campusesleaves them less likely toperceive the climate favor-ably, more vulnerable totokenization, and moredissatisfied with theopportunities available toengage meaningfully (Harper,2012; Harper & Hurtado, 2007).Conversely, Black students oncampuses with higher rates ofBlack student enrollment aremore satisfied than their peers(Bonous-Hammarth & Boatsman,1996), and the diversity of thecampus community is asso-ciated with Black students’satisfaction with campusdiversity (Park, 2009).Hurtado et al. (1999) indicate

that increasing structuraldiversity without emphasizingthe


other dimensions can createconflict, competi- tion, andseparation amongmajority/minority groups.Allport’s (1954) contacthypothesis similarly remindsthat mere contact betweengroups cannot, by itself, reduceprejudice. Thus, multipledimensions must be addressed topro- mote positive cross-racialinteractions and gain a fullunderstanding of climate and itsinfluence on students’experiences and outcomes. Thepsychological dimension reflectsthe perceived hostility,racism, and tension amongcommunity members around issuesof race (Hurtado et al., 1999).CRC is perhaps most oftenassessed through students’perceptions of the campusenvironment, which is also areflection of the psychologicaldimension (Hurtado et al.,2008). For example, Blackstudents perceive more racial-ethnic campus conflict,stereotyping, andracism/inequitable treatmentfrom faculty than their peers(Ancis et al., 2000; Harper,2012). Although Cabrera and Nora(1994) found that while allstudents felt alienated oncampus at some point in theirexperience, Black students moreoften reported experiences withalienation due to racialprejudice and discrimination.When asked to document each timethey experienced racism orwitnessed a racist act over twoweeks, Black students in a studyby Swim, Hyer, Cohen,Fitzgerald, and Bylsma (2003)reported encounters withunfriendly stares from Whitestudents and faculty, as well asoffensive, racially chargedremarks. Further, Black stu-dents across multiple studiescontinue to report facingstereotypes and questions whichchal- lenge their academicabilities, framing them as more

likely to be athletes or entertainersthan scholars (Griffin, 2006; Fries-Britt& Griffin, 2007; Harper, 2012).Finally, the behavioral dimension

captures both frequency and quality ofinteraction between diverse peers(Hurtado et al., 1999). It reflectswhether or not students are engagingacross difference both in and outside ofthe classroom, and whether theseinteractions are friendly, open,enlightening, discriminatory, tense, orguarded. Although some express con-cerns about self-segregation andbalkanization on college campuses,research illustrates that students ofcolor often engage across racial dif-ference in developing peer groups(Antonio, 2001). In their longitudinalstudy on interracial interaction incollege, Hurtado, Dey, and Trevino(1994) found that students ofcolor

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5were more likely thanWhite students tointeract across raceand the interracialinteraction for Blackstudents was most oftenrelated to socialactivities. Further, ina study by Bowen andBok (1998) Blackstudents were morelikely than theirpeers to report havingfriends from otherracial/ethnic groups.

Black Immigrants and Beliefs About Race and Racism

Although previousresearch provides someunderstanding of theways in which Blackstu- dents perceive theracial environment oncollege and universitycampuses, scholarsfocusing on ethnicbackground and identitywould suggest this workis incomplete. Despitesharing racialcharacteristics withnative Blacks, Blackimmi- grants havedistinct ethnicbackgrounds and cul-tures, which ultimatelyshape how they perceivetheir racial and ethnicidentities within aU.S. context. Forexample, Blackimmigrants, partic-ularly within the firstgeneration, often havestronger connections totheir ethnic ornational identitiesthan racial identity(Portes & Rum- baut,2006; Stepkick &Stepkick, 2003). Overtime, however, Blackimmigrants oftentransi- tion from an

identity based on national orethnic origin (e.g., Haitian) toa pan-national identity (e.g.,West Indian) to a pan-ethnicAmerican identity (e.g.,African American; Guenther,Pendaz, & Songora Makene, 2011;Rong & Brown, 2001; Waters,1994).These distinctions may

influence the differ- encesobserved between Blackimmigrants’ and natives’perceptions of race and racism.In his study on first-generation African immigrants,Arthur (2000) found that mostparticipants “acknowledgedthat their foreign backgroundsmade it difficult, if notimpossible, to grasp themeaning of [B]lack–[W]hitepolarization in Americansociety” (pp. 73–74). In astudy on the experiences offoreign-born students of color,researchers found that thesestudents struggled with U.S.-based constructs of race andracism due to theirsocialization in a differentcountry’s racial context (Fries-Britt, George Mwangi, &Peralta, 2014). Ogbu and Simons(1998) argued that Blackimmigrants are “vol- untaryimmigrants” who come to theUnited States for economicreasons, downplaying dis-crimination and emphasizingimprovement in their economiccondition and educational op-


portunities. Previous researchsuggests that some Blackimmigrants, particularly thosewho are more recent immigrants,actively work against beingidentified by society asAfrican American (Jackson, 2010;Rong & Brown, 2001; Waters,1994, 1999). For example, Jack-son’s (2010) work on Blackimmigrants suggests they mayengage in social distancing,dif- ferentiating themselvesfrom native Blacks, by focusingon their ethnic rather thanracial identity.Although ethnic differences

may initially dis- tinguishBlack immigrants from nativeBlacks, research suggests thatthe system of racial strat-ification in the U.S. imposesexpectations and stereotypesbased on racial identity(Fries-Britt, George Mwangi, &Peralta, 2014; Bashi & Mc-Daniel, 1997). Bashi andMcDaniel (1997) re- inforcedthis perspective in their studyon Black immigrants and racialstratification noting, “newarrivals may not know their racewhen they arrive, but theycertainly learn it eventu-ally” (p. 676). Likewise, Fries-Britt, George Mwangi, andPeralta (2014) found that theen- counters of foreign-bornstudents of color with racistacts led them to “consider theirown po- sitioning within a U.S.racial context” (p. 9).Consequently, Black immigrantswith a longer duration in theUnited States have greater oddsof identifying with nativeBlacks than more recentimmigrants, or perceivingthemselves as hyphenatedAmericans rather thanemphasizing their ethnicidentity alone (Benson, 2006;Rum- baut, 1994; Waters, 1994).

Methodology

This study examines Black students’distinct experiences with andperspectives of campus racial climate,comparing and contrasting theperspectives of students fromimmigrant andbackgrounds. Specifically, we addressthree questions:

1.How do Black immigrant and nativestudents perceive diversity oncampus (structural diversity)?

2.How do Black immigrant and nativestudents describe how they perceiveand experience the climate(psychological climate)?

3.How do Black immigrant and nativestudents describe theirinteractions with stu-

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7dents from racialand ethnicbackgroundsdifferent fromtheir own(behavioralclimate)?

This project wasconducted as aninterpretive multicasestudy. Case study isparticularly ap-propriate for gainingdeeper understanding ofprocess. Distinguishingthis study as interpre-tive indicates data arecollected and coded tonot only describe, butto support, challenge,or develop theoryabout events,experiences, and out-comes (Merriam, 1998).Multicase studies alsoinclude data collectionand analysis of morethan one boundedsystem, which allowsfor comparison acrosscases and enhancedexternal validity offindings (Bogdan &Biklen, 1998; Merriam,1998). In this study,students are ag-gregated into groups orcases based on theirimmigrant status,facilitatingcomparisons betweennative Blacks andfirst-generation, sec-ond-generation, and2.5-generationimmigrants. We definefirst-generation asforeign-born stu-dents; second-generation as studentsborn in the UnitedStates who have twoforeign-born par-ents; 2.5 generationimmigrants as studentsborn in the UnitedStates who have one

foreign-born parent and oneU.S.-born parent; and nativesas students born in the UnitedStates with both parents alsoborn in the United States (Baum& Flores, 2011; Portes &Rumbaut, 2006).

Study Site

Data were collected fromstudents enrolled at CentralUniversity (pseudonym). Centralis classified by the CarnegieFoundation as a full- time, 4-year, more selective (51% admitrate), lower transfer-ininstitution. The middle 50% ofstudents offered admission havea combined SAT score between1750 and 1990, combined ACTscore between 26 and 30, and ahigh school GPA between 3.52–3.97 (4.0 scale). Ap-proximately 45,000 students arecurrently enrolled at Central;38,000 are undergraduates.Black students comprise 3.5% ofthe population (1,400 students).Enrollment data are not kept onthe number or characteristics ofBlack students from immigrantbackgrounds.

Data Collection and Participants

Data were collected in twowaves. In the first wave, theresearchers aimed to collectdata from Black immigrantstudents. All recruitment ma-


terials noted that participantsmust meet the followingcriteria: (a) be a full-timestudent enrolled at theinstitution, (b) identify asBlack, and (c) either theythemselves or at least one oftheir parents were not born inthe United States. The researchteam identified organizationslikely to include Blackimmigrants among theirmembership (e.g.,ethnic/cultural groups forBlack, African, or Caribbeanstudents) via an online list ofCentral University studentorgani- zations. Organizationpresidents were contacted andasked to disseminate arecruitment email. Flyersadvertising the study were alsoposted in academic andfrequently visited buildings onthe Central University campus. Asnowball sampling (Bogdan &Biklen, 1998) strategy was alsoused. Students participating inthe study were asked to recruitpeers who were eligible basedon the study’s criteria. In thesecond wave of data collection,similar strategies were fol-lowed as in the first wave;however, the goal was torecruit a native Blackcomparative group. Thesestrategies yielded a finalsample of43 students (28 Blackimmigrants, 15 native Blacks).All participants were offered$10 for engaging in the study.Students first completed ademographic questionnaire, whichallowed the research team tocollect information on ac-ademics (e.g., major, highschool GPA), family background(e.g., parents’ countries oforigin, parents’ education andoccupation), residency status,engagement in work and out-of-class ac- tivities, and countryof origin.In the native Black sample,

six students were male and nine

were female. Of the 28 Black immigrantparticipants (21 females, 7 males), eightstudents were first-generationimmigrants (born abroad), 15 were second-generation students (born in theUnited States, parents born abroad), andfive were 2.5-generation students (bornin the United States, one parent boardabroad; Portes & Rumbaut, 2006). Studentsrep- resented a wide range of countries,including Chad, Haiti, Jamaica, Nigeria,St. Vincent, and Zambia. Consistent withthe wider literature documenting thehigher levels of financial and culturalcapital that college-bound Black immi-grants have access to in comparison totheir native peers (Massey et al., 2007),there were some differences in the twosamples in terms of socioeconomicindicators. Ten of the 28 Blackimmigrants were first-generation collegestudents (36%) as compared toeight of the 15

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9native Blackparticipants (53%).Further, there weretwo Black immigrantstudents and no Blacknatives reportingfamily incomes in thehighest income category($100,000 –150,000 ayear). However, theaverage reportedfamily income for bothgroups was between$40,000 – 49,999 and$50,000 –74,999 a year,with modes for bothgroups at $75,000 –99,999 a year.Information in the

questionnaire also pro-vided the interviewerswith points to follow-up on or to clarifyduring the subsequentone-on- onesemistructured (Bogdan& Biklen, 1998)interviews. Six membersof the research team(the supervisingfaculty member, fourgraduate students, andone undergraduatestudent) had anopportunity to conductat least one interview,after completingtraining and discussingthe protocol and datacollection procedurewith the supervisingfaculty member. Allinterviews were audiorecorded fortranscription. Toensure confidentiality,all participants wereassigned pseudonyms.Interviews lastedbetween 60 and 120minutes, dependinglargely on thepartici- pant’s comfortwith the conversationand level ofdisclosure. Theinterview protocol wasde- signed to capture

students’ cultural, familial,and educational experiences.Most relevant to this study,students were asked questionsabout the campus racial climateand environment and wereasked to describe: their per-ceptions of Central Universityand its student body in termsof diversity and inclusion; thefrequency and quality of theirinteractions with others,especially those fromdifferent racial and ethnicbackgrounds; and whether theyhad experienced any kind ofracism or discrimination duringtheir time on campus.

Data Analyses

The data collected duringinterviews were the focus ofanalysis. After the interviewswere transcribed, the data wereorganized through a systematiccoding process. Consideringthis study was completed by aresearch team and our desire toexamine data through the lens ofes- tablished theory (the CampusRacial Climate framework), thequalitative analytic strategywas developed based on methodsused in team- based studiesconducted by the Center forDis- ease Control (see MacQueen,McLellan, Kay, & Milstein, 1998,for details). First, oneresearch team member developeddeductive codes based

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GRIFFIN, CUNNINGHAM, AND GEORGE MWANGI

on the interview protocol, theCRC framework (Hurtado et al.,1999), and previous literatureon Blacks and their perceptionsof climate and diversity incollege. A list of inductivecodes was developed by anotherteam member, based on emergingthemes identified through closereviews of students’ narratives.A preliminary definition, rulesfor usage, and example weredeveloped for each code. Twomembers of the research teamheld an initial meeting tocom- bine the inductive anddeductive codes into onecomprehensive codebook. Eachcode was discussed,eliminating duplications,revising defi- nitions, andadding codes to capture missedphenomena.Members of the research team

were then as- signed a subsetof the codebook to apply to allof the interviews in thedataset, increasing thelikelihood of consistentapplication of codes and makingthe coding process more manage-able (MacQueen et al., 1998).During the train- ing, thecodebook was discussed andcoding guidelines wereestablished and shared to pro-mote coding consistency. Eachmember of the team volunteeredto assign one of the codecategories to the data based ontheir individual interests.Team members discussed the codesin their respective categorieswith a partner and practicedapplying codes to the data.These strategies encouraged theestablishment of a sharedperception of a phenomenon amongcod- ers and increased thelikelihood of consistentapplication of codes, making thecoding process more manageableand dependable (MacQueen etal., 1998; Maxwell, 2005).After coding was completed

using ATLAS.ti software, datawere sorted by codes and clus-

tered into themes to determine patternsand connections to the campus racialclimate framework. Further, data werereviewed separately by generationalstatus to identify differences betweengroups. The authors wrote drafts of therespective sections based on emergingthemes, using quotations of data tosupport arguments and interpretations.Written analyses were read and reread byauthors and then edited based on eachperson’s analysis of the data andperceptions of the emerging themes.When the authors disagreed on theinterpretation of a finding, it wasdiscussed with each author presentingdata as evidence to support their claims.Findings were then revised based on thenew understandings the authors formedas they addressed their

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11divergent

understandings of thedata, collabo- ratingto communicate anunderstanding of thenarratives with whichall authors agreed.

Ensuring Trustworthiness

The researchersacknowledge theiridentities and how theymay intersect with thestudy and shapeperceptions ofstudents’ narratives.The research teamincluded sevenindividuals: sixstudents and onefaculty member. Thefaculty member is Blackand a 2.5-generationimmigrant. Five ofthe students alsoidentify as Black; twoare native BlackAmericans, one is afirst-generationimmigrant, one is asecond- generationimmigrant, and one isa 2.5- generationimmigrant. One studentteam member isLatino and a second-generation immigrant.Of the three authors ofthis article, thefaculty member and onegraduate studentidentify as 2.5-generation immigrantsand one graduatestudent as a nativeBlack American.Several steps were

taken by the researchteam to enhance thetrustworthiness of ourfindings. First, theresearch team used arigorous multi- stepstrategy to constructand validate the con-sistent use of thecodebook. We followed

the feedback loop methoddescribed by MacQueen et al.(1998), which directsresearchers to test and refinethe codebook by beginning withlead developers and includingsteps for reviews by the team.Reliability checks wereconducted to reexamine orrefine codes as well as tocreate new ones where needed.Further, the researchers weremindful of establishing a sharedperception of a phenomenonamong coders, or in- terpretivevalidity (Maxwell, 2005).Members of the research teamwere trained to ensureinterpretations of codes anddata were consistent acrossthe group.Efforts to validate data were

also a part of the analysisprocess. Participants’narratives were triangulatedwith other forms of data toenhance validity. Collectingdemographic information via abrief questionnaire providedopportunities for the researchteam to confirm participants’narratives. Further, members ofthe research team were mindfulof recognizing the negative ordiscrepant evidence, engaging indiscussions regarding themesemerging from the data andoffering data-based evidence tosupport interpretations. Teammembers provided detailedfeedback to one another as theydeveloped re-

12


ports of the findings, validating and questioning evidence of emerging themes as appropriate.

Limitations

While using rigorousqualitative methods en- hancesconfidence in our results, thereare limitations of this studythat must be acknowl- edged. Asa qualitative study, these dataare not meant to begeneralized; however, weencour- age researchers toconduct similar research atmultiple institutions todetermine whether thesefindings are transferrable toother contexts. The institutiondoes not disaggregate data onBlack students and we do notknow how many Black studentsfrom immigrant backgrounds areen- rolled at Central. Withlittle to no sense of theproportion of the population towhom we spoke, it is difficultto determine whether or not weare hearing an accuraterepresentation of the voices ofBlack immigrants on campus.Also, these data were collectedat one predominately Whiteinstitution with a relativelysmall Black student population.It is unclear whether a sim-ilar study at a more diverseinstitution would yielddifferent results, especiallyconsidering that structuraldiversity has an influence onper- ceptions of climate(Hurtado et al., 1999). Fi-nally, the sample has relativelylarge popula- tions of nativeBlacks and second-generationimmigrants, with fewer first-and 2.5-generation students.Thus, we may have a clearersense of the race and diversityrelated perceptions of nativeBlacks and second-generationimmigrants than their peers.

Findings Structural

DiversityNot racially diverse. Black

immigrants and natives expressed moresimilarities than differences whendescribing their perceptions ofstructural diversity, or therepresentation of in- dividuals fromdiverse backgrounds on campus. Bothgroups agreed that there was littleracial diversity on campus. For example,Brittany and Mary, both 2.5-generationimmigrants, spoke about the prevalenceof White students in comparison toracial minorities at Central. Andrew, asecond-generation immigrant, came torealize that “there [were] less minoritystudents here than I expected.” Olive, afirst-generation im-

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13migrant who was born in

Nigeria, shared, “Idon’t think there’sthat much diversity.Like, okay, let’s saythere’s two hundredBlack people or twohundred whateverpeople. Two hun- dredis a big number, butwhen you compare it to40 thousand people,it’s not that big.”Harold, another first-generation immigrant,described Central asrelatively homogenousracially: “Thistown... at leastschool is not verydiverse. . . there’s a lot of differentaspects to diversity. . . So racially the

school is not verydiverse.” Native Black

students were lessinclined to make thesame distinctions as

first-generationimmigrants when

addressing diversity oncampus. For example,

when asked whetherCentral was diverse,

Ellie simply answered,“not re- ally.” Others

shared similarsentiments, withDiedre providingperhaps the most

elaboraterepresentation of

Black nativestudents’ per-

spectives on Central’sdiversity,

I don’t think it’s verydiverse at all. Like, Ifeel like— ok you have apizza with eight slices .. . Five of the slicesare White, and like twoand a half are Asian andthen you have like halfof a slice. That’s Blackpeople . . . That’s how

I see it. When I walk through campusso I don’t think it’s verydiverse.

Thus, much like her peers, inDiedre’s mind, “diversity”means race, and she perceivesCen- tral as significantlylacking in racial diversity.Ethnically diverse, but only

to immigrants. Although bothimmigrant and native studentsmade note of the lack of racialdiversity at CentralUniversity, students fromimmigrant backgrounds appearedmore likely to broaden theirdefinitions, including ethnicityin their perceptions ofstructural diversity. Nester, asecond-generation Africanimmigrant, illustrated thisperspective:

This school is predominantly White, but when it comes to like a minoritygroup, I think it’s very diverse . .. like the Black population, there’sa good chunk of it that’s Americans,you have a good chunk that’s Carib- bean, and a good chunk that’s African.

In stating that the school ispredominantly White, Nesteracknowledges that race providesa lens through which to viewdiversity; however, he alsonotes the within-groupdiversity found in the Blackstudent population by ac-knowledging ethnicity.Christina, a first- generationstudent, explained that theuniversity represents diversitythrough the varied culturespresent on campus, “This campusis diversity,

14


[be]cause there’s like everybodyand every person here. It’sdiverse in the sense [that]there’s many people or manycultures.” Kameron, a 2.5-generation immigrant provides asimilar perspective when askedto describe general diversityon campus, “We have a lot ofpeople of differentdiversities, differentnationalities and like culturesand stuff.” Although not allimmi- grant participants adoptedthis more inclusive definitionof diversity, immigrant studentswere the only students to referto it; none of the native Blackstudents described diversity inthis way or responded thatCentral University was adiverse campus community in anysense.

Behavioral ClimateDiverse, but separated.

Participants gen- erallyperceived low rates ofinteraction across racial groupson campus, often using the sameword to describe CentralUniversity: cliquish. Studentsdefined cliquish as having peergroups primarily comprised ofone’s same race or ethnicity.According to Francine, asecond- generation Haitianstudent, “everybody has theirown little cliques. So, it’sdiverse, but it’s still . . .I think it’s still a little racesecluded, basically.” Harold,who was born in St. Vincent,also observed same-race andsame-ethnicity cliques, “I feellike people are generally segre-gated without wanting to be orneeding to be. And people ofdifferent racial and ethnicbackgrounds tend to cling moretoward themselves, becausethat’s what they know.” Paul, anative Black student, saw campusin a similar way, commenting onthe diversity present on cam-

pus, but lack of interactions acrossdifference: “Campus is diverse, but it’snot together... you can pour out awhole thing of M&M’s and separate thecolors and put them all next to eachother. You have a diverse group, butthey’re still separated. They’re stillnot interacting.” Thus, althoughdiversity was present on campus, stu-dents perceived race-based cliques aschalleng- ing students’ ability todevelop interracial friendships andengage across difference, weak- eningopportunities to benefit from theirdiverse campus environment.Going beyond the cliques. Although some

participants sought relationships withothers of similar racial or culturalbackgrounds, others expressed the desireto develop interracial and interethnicfriendships. Some participants inten-

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15tionally sought out

interracial andinterethnic friendshipsby joiningpredominantly Whiteor- ganizations.Victor, who is a nativeBlack student,expressed interest injoining a “majorityWhite organization . .. because I didn’twanna feel like justbecause I came tocollege and [am] tryingto meet new Blackpeople that I shouldonly be meeting newBlack people.” Jasmine,a native student, foundthat because her majorwas predominantlyWhite, she developedfriendships with Whitestudents whom she stud-ied with andparticipated with inacademic ac- tivities.Stacy, a first-generation immigrant,en- joyed being theonly Black student inher organization andsaw it as a means ofgaining positiveattention andopportunities for net-working. Studentsacknowledged thatlearning how tointeract with othersdifferent from them-selves is an importantskill. For Andrew, asecond-generationstudent, attending apredomi- nately Whiteinstitution was part ofthis process, “it helpsme to prepare for whenI get out intocorporate America,which will also bepredom- inantly White.”Students also valued

the opportunity to en-gage in relationship

building with other students ofcolor such as Asians andLatinos, and engaging withBlack students of ethnicitiesdifferent from their own.Isabelle, a second-generationimmigrant from Nigeria,appreciated the oppor- tunityto forge friendships withJapanese students who sharedher interest in Dance DanceRevolution, and soughtopportunities to do so throughher participation in campusorganiza- tions. Gayle, asecond-generation student ex-plained that through joining adiverse student organization,she realized she could developfriendships both within andoutside of her race:

And then toward the end of thesemester like meeting more of thegirls that were in the organizationthat were Black and like Hispanic.So I got to know them. And I waskind of like, ‘Oh we’resimilar.’... that was kind of likethe turning point for me.

Gayle saw that she did nothave to choose between groups,which suited her, “Cause I fitin with both crowds . . . so Ijust know a lot more peoplenow, so it’s fun.”Seeking similarity and sense

of belonging. Althoughparticipants appeared toperceive cliques as negative,most appeared to spend a goodbit of time in friendship groupswhere they shared key socialidentities with the other mem-

16


bers. Brittany (2.5-generationstudent) simply stated, “I hangout with a majority of Blackpeople.” Victor, a nativestudent, expressed his surpriseafter realizing his closefriends were almost exclusivelyBlack,

I just noticed they [my closestfriends] all were Black, which iskind of funny because I expectedcoming to an all-White university Iwas about to have all White friends.I mean, like, I do have Whitefriends here on campus, but Iwouldn’t call them my closest.

Victor and others suggestedthat developing friendshipswith same-race peers was notnecessarily intentional, butwas a form of attractingfriends who resembled precollegepeer groups or gravitatingtoward people who had charac-teristics in common. Kameron, a2.5-generation student,expressed that cliques wereeasily formed because, “peopleusually tend to gravi- tatetoward who they look like andwho they act like.” Thus, thelack of diversity and thedesire to develop relationshipswith students similar tothemselves led students to formsame-race peer groups.

Although immigrant studentshad friendships and frequent

interactions with Blackstudents, they also expressed

engaging with students whoshared their immigrant identity.

Thus, in addition to race,perceiving someone as “similar”

included a match based onethnicity or immi- grantidentity. Olive, a first-

generation immigrant, foundthat being Nigerian brings her

into contact with other Nigerianstudents with whom she develops

friendships: “Because of myback- ground, I’m friends with

like you know, these people[Nigerian students]. And then we

kind of have [been] brought up the sameway . . . And we know what it’s [growingup Nigerian] like.” Olive intentionally

created networks with other Nigerianstudents due to shared ethnic heritage.She and other immigrant students also

participated in ethnically basedorganizations, which appeared to provide

support for Black immigrant students.Gladys, a first-generation student

described that she, “joined the [organi-zation for Caribbean students]. You know

I felt very comfortable because therewere kids from the Caribbean. I could

relate to them.” The shared similarfamily upbringings and cultural

backgrounds of immigrant students helpedthem create a unique form of comfortand sense of belonging on campus,

connecting her to stu-dents who shared her ethnic background.

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17You are not welcome.

Although some stu-dents wanted to engagewith diverse peers andhad meaningfulinteractions acrossdifference, some weredissuaded from suchinteractions anddescribed theirexperiences withexclusion. In somecases, this ultimatelyled students to leaveor avoid various campusgroups and organiza-tions they associatedwith White students.For example, Tiffany, asecond-generationimmigrant expressed,

When me and my friend, mybest friend had joined [aparticular campusorganization], they wereso used to always seeingthe same people, andthey’re predomi- nantlyWhite, that they didn’treally accept us comingin. Like they kind ofpushed us out.

After an incidentsimilar to Tiffany’s,Fran- cine, a second-generation immigrant,stated she neverreturned to thepredominantly Whiteor- ganization whereshe experiencedrejection. Tanisha, anative Black student,explained, “I won’tput myself into fratrow or situationswhere I’m going to belike, I’m [going] tofeel awkward.” Francineand Tanisha’s avoidanceof predominantly Whitespaces illustrates acoping strategy for

race-based rejection, yet it mayalso dissuade students fromengaging in future pos- itivecross-cultural interactions forfear of rejection orexclusion. One second-generationstudent, Patricia, expressedthis fear in stating, “I wantto hang around with Africans, Iwant to hang around withCaucasians, I want to hangaround with Indians . . . I’mjust, I’m now worried, are theygoing to accept me the way I’mwilling to accept them?”Overall, students’ feelings ofrejection from peers ofdifferent racial groups led tofear of future occurrences andgeneral avoidance of perceivedunwelcome spaces. Interestingly,although second- and 2.5-generation students expressed asense of discomfort that wassimilar to their native Blackpeers, there were few similarcomments from first-generationimmigrants, which suggests theydid not sense this type ofexclusion or have as manyconcerns in this regard.In addition to experiencing

marginalization in predominantlyWhite groups, immigrant par-ticipants experienced some levelof exclusion and discomfort asthey interacted across ethnic-ity. For example, althoughfirst-generation immigrantsperceived groups who addressedeth- nic identity as almostuniformly positive, somesecond-generation immigrantsand 2.5-genera-

18


tion immigrants perceivedorganizations ex- pressly forAfrican or Caribbean studentsas exclusionary andunwelcoming. One 2.5-generation student, Mary,expressed,

I did join the [organization oncampus for Caribbean students], but. . . that wasn’t good at all. Iwasn’t Caribbean enough . . .Because I wasn’t born there. And,you know, just one of my parents areCarib- bean. At that time I onlywent to St. Vincent one time . .. So, yeah, definitely, definitely Istopped going there.

Tiffany, whose parents wereborn in Eritrea, recounts howshe proved her identity in orderto be a part of the Africanstudent organization,

Yeah, like, like I said, [theorganization on campus for Africanstudents], I was able to get intothat because I was of my background.Even though when I did try to join,they told me no at first, cause theythought I was Dominican or Indian.So they’re like, “You’re notAfrican.” I’m like, “No, I amAfrican.” They wouldn’t believe it.They had to ask my friend.

Although eventually acceptedby the organization forCaribbean students, second-generation immigrant Robertawas called a “fake Hai- tian”by Haitian students because ofher limited fluency in Creole.The experiences of Mary,Tiffany, and Roberta parallelthe challenge of developinginterracial relationships byillustrat- ing the limitationsin creating interethnic rela-tionships between immigrants ofvarious gener- ations, and thesense of validation necessaryto be perceived as “authentic”in those spaces.Psychological ClimateDifferent perceptions of

racism. There were somedifferences across thegenerational groups in terms ofperceptions of psychological

climate and experiences with racism,marginalization, and hostility. Forexample, of the eight first-generationstudents, only one described ex-periencing racism or any sort ofprejudice. Ol- ive, a first-generationimmigrant from Nigeria, talked aboutmedia coverage portraying Nigeri- ans asterrorists or scam artists, explaininghow her peers would tease her or makefun of her background. Reflecting on herexperiences, she shared, “The first timeyou just kind of laugh. The second,third, fourth, it’s like, ‘Okay you canstop now. It’s not funny.’”Olive’s narrative was a relative

anomaly among her first-generationpeers. Gladys, a first-generationstudent noted that she had not, “hadany real significant racialexperiences.”

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19Stacy, another first-

generation student, also from Nigeria, noted that she “never knew any- thing about slavery until [she] got here,” and perceived no racial tension or discomfort as she engaged with herpeers in predominately White organizations. When asked if her race or ethnicity had a significant role in heracademic experience, Gayle shared, “I feel like it doesn’t . . . when I go to class, I just sit in the front row. Like I’ll be the person to sit in the front row, and the professor knows who I am.” Gayle’s “I” statements appear to have no racial or ethnic undertones. While she is in class, she sees her- self as an individual and nothing more.Marginalization in

the classroom. Therewas some variation inhow second- and 2.5-generation immigrantsperceived the campusclimate. Alexis andDaphne were more liketheir first-generationpeers and noted thatrace did not play alarge role in theirexperiences and theydid not experienceracism or marginaliza-tion. However, severalother studentsdescribed encounterswhere they faced racialstereotypes,particularly in theclassroom. Roberta, asecond- generationimmigrant whose parentsare from Haitidiscussed her

transition from high school tocollege,

In high school, nobody cared ifyou were Black or White or whatever. . . I didn’t feel like I was atoken Black person. But up here Ido feel that way. I mean likethere’s like a lot of subtleracism . . . In class, they’re[professors] always like, ‘Don’tfeel like you have to speak onbehalf of your race, but we’re goingto ask you.’ I was just like,‘Okay.’

The lack of structuraldiversity on campus led to amore negative psychologicalclimate for Roberta, making hermore visible to faculty, andperhaps more subject to thepressure to speak for hercommunity, which in this case,was racial.Barbara, Nester, and Quinn

were second- generationimmigrants who all describeden- countering stereotypes inthe classroom, and theirpersonal commitment todisproving them. Barbarashared, “Academically I do feellike I need, I always feellike I need to prove some-thing that I need to beat astereotype.” This was similarto a story shared by Nester, whospoke of negative experiences hehad with a teaching assistantin his course. He never reportedthese experiences asdiscrimination, but wonderedwhether he should have. In hiscomments, he connects his raceto being an “outlier” and “out-

20


cast” in the classroom. Insteadof addressing the discriminationhe felt, he decided to focuson doing perfect work anddecided not to report histeaching assistant to any kindof authorities. Quinn added,

Some people here they’ve never seenminorities or Black people, ingeneral. And like some White peoplethey have their misconceptions andtheir stereotypes. It’s like youhave to prove them wrong and thenwhen they annoy you, you just tellsome of them off.

Marginalization outside of theclassroom. Although second and2.5-generation studentsreported some issues withstereotyping and neg- ativeperceptions of Black students,largely in academic settings,students in the native Blackcategory appear to perceive thecampus climate most negativelyand highlighted more occur-rences outside of the classroom.For example, Paul recalledexperiences walking back to hisapartment, such as “being calledthe N-word from the balconiesof the drunk kids when you walkdowntown,” and being called a“spook” by one of his Whiteroommates. Black natives alsodescribed subtle or generalfeelings of being different,excluded or “the other.” Otisnoted that while walking oncampus “nobody like clutchestheir purse, but I don’t know Istill get that feeling and thelike looks and stares andstuff.” Ilijah shared a similarexperience commenting, “likeWhite girls at night. Theystart walking faster when theysee you.” Diedre spoke ofstereotypes, but focused on howthey shaped her socialinteractions with her peers. Shenoted that they asked herquestions about her hair andthe way that she talked, leading

her to assume that her peers grew up inneighbor- hoods where they did not knowmany Black people. Similarly, Elliefound out one of her White friends heldsome early misconceptions about who shewas and how she would act until she gotto know her, “Like even one of my closefriends, she said initially she thought Iwas like this ghetto girl that was rudeand loud and she said she found outthat I’m totally opposite.” Therefore,native Black students described thepsychological climate as moreuncomfortable based on social stereotypesand interactions with peers outside ofthe classroom, as compared to theirimmigrant peers, who more oftendescribed experiences with faculty andacadem- ically based stereotypes.

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21Disc

ussion

Scholars note theestablished andgrowing presence ofBlack immigrantpopulations on collegecampuses (Kent, 2007;Massey et al., 2007),yet more work must bedone to under- standthese students’narratives as we aim tocapture a more completeunderstanding of howBlack studentsexperience college.This study begins tocontribute to thediscourse on Blackimmigrant students,examining thesimilarities anddifferences in howBlack first, second,and 2.5-generationimmigrants perceivecampus racialclimate, particularlyin comparison to theirnative peers who havefamilies with longerhistories in theUnited States. Based onthe findings of thisstudy, we argue thatthere are subtle, yetimportant, distinctionsby ethnicity and na-tivity in how Blackstudents view diversityon campus, influencingtheir perceptions ofclimate and the ways inwhich they engageacross difference.The findings suggest

that Black immigrantstudents participatingin this study,particularly those whowere in the second or2.5 generation,experience and perceiveCRC in ways similar to

native Black participants.Consistent with previousresearch noting thedissatisfaction of Blackstudents with structuraldiversity on campus (Harper &Hurtado, 2007; Park, 2009;Rankin & Reason, 2005), native,second-, and 2.5-generationBlack participants observed andcritiqued the lack of racialdiversity on theirpredominantly White campus.Although many institutions arerightfully embracing broad def-initions of diversity, thisfinding highlights thecontinued significance of raceand its potential to factor into the ways in which studentsper- ceive diversity andclimate. Structural diversitycan be understood as thefoundation of the CRC framework(Hurtado et al., 2008); acatalyst for facilitatinginteractions across difference,en- couraging sense of belongingand satisfaction among studentsfrom underrepresented groups,and promoting more positiveperceptions of the CRC overall(Bonous-Hammarth & Boatsman,1996; Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, &Gurin, 2002; Hurtado et al.,1999; Milem, 2003; Milem et al.,2005; Park, 2009).Structural diversity

ultimately influences thepsychological and behavioraldimensions of climate. Lowlevels of representation canincrease the likelihood thatpeople of color will be sub-

22


jected to stereotypes andmarginalization (Thompson &Sekaquaptewa, 2002), leading tomore negative assessments of thepsychological climate. This workadds nuance to understand- ingsof how Black students fromdifferent ethnic backgrounds mayexperience marginalization andthe environments in which theyare most likely to perceivechallenges. Participants gen-erally shared their awareness ofstereotypes about Blackstudents, which sometimesshaped the ways in which theywere treated and how they inturn engaged. However, in ourstudy, native Black studentsdescribed marginalization moreoften in social situations,whereas students from immigrantbackgrounds spoke more of thestereotypes they faced inacademic contexts. Theirresponse was to prove that Blackstudents were able through theirown strong academicperformance.This finding is consistent

with previous research on the“proving process” in which highachieving Black students engage,highlighting their awareness ofbroad social stereotypes sug-gesting Black students are poorstudents or less academicallycapable. Consistent with theste- reotype threat hypothesis(Steele & Aronson, 1998) andthe work of other researchers(Fries- Britt & Griffin, 2007;Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002;Harper & Hurtado, 2007; McGee &Mar- tin, 2011), students facingthese stereotypes may workdoubly hard and expendadditional cognitive energy inan effort to disprove them,potentially distracting themfrom their work and diminishingtheir motivation over time. Al-though several scholars haveuncovered these phenomena, it isunclear whether different di-mensions of students’ identitiesmay make them more or less

likely to be motivated to try todisprove stereotypes with their ownachieve- ments. Future work can andshould continue to explore whether andhow this “proving process” may beengaged differently by Black immigrantstudents as compared to their nativepeers, examining how both ethnic andracial identity may relate to howstudents engage academically basedstereotypes, and whether these studentsexperience the negative implicationsassociated with stereotype threat.Further, the findings of this work call

into question whether and how differentstudents think about in and outside ofclassroom experiences. It isinteresting to note that as compared totheir native Black peers, Blackimmigrants in

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23this study were less

inclined to discusstheir experiences withor exposure to racialstereotypes andquestions from peers innonacademic settings.Although literaturelargely frames thenarratives andexperiences of Blackstudents as negative,Black immigrantsparticipating in thisstudy saw their campusenvironment as lessnegative and moremixed. Participantsarticu- lated aninterest in engagingacross difference, butwere uncertain thatthis interest wasrecip- rocated. Despitenot describing thepsychological climateoutside of theclassroom in whollynegative terms, second-and 2.5-generation im-migrants acknowledgedthat they were not al-ways completelycomfortable whenengaging with Whitestudents. For some,there was dis- comfortengaging inpredominantly Whiteorga- nizations andsocial spaces, whichwas consistent withthe extant body ofliterature on thesocial isolation andlimited opportunitiesBlack students oftenhave for socialengagement onpredominantly Whitecampuses (Hurtado,Grif- fin, Arellano, &Cuellar, 2008; Harper &Hur- tado, 2007).Students consistentlyperceived thebehavioral climate atCentral as one where

students did not have stronginterest in engaging acrossracial lines, using the wordcliquish to describe the nature oftheir campus community, notingthat it was a reflection ofpeople doing what wascomfortable.This finding raises several

questions about who should bearthe burden of facilitating in-teractions across difference.Some scholars express concernthat increasing diversity oncampuses will only exacerbatestudent patterns of self-segregation, allowing students(particularly students ofcolor) to focus on engagingthose who share their racial orethnic background (Afshar-Mohajer & Sung, 2002; D’Souza,1991). However, students ofcolor generally and Blackstudents specifically reporthigh rates of cross-racialinteraction that often exceedtheir White peers, even ascampuses become increas- inglydiverse (Antonio, 2001; Chang,Astin, & Kim, 2004; Saenz, Ngai,& Hurtado, 2006). In this work,Black immigrant and nativestudents appreciated and soughtopportunities to interact withthose who shared their ownbackground and identity;however, over halfsimultaneously described theirintentional strategies toengage with their peers frommultiple racial and ethnicgroups and the value they placedon the skills they learned andrelationships they developed.

24


In many ways, this finding issimilar to antonio’s (2001)research, which suggests thatal- though students perceivedtheir campus as seg- regated,their own behaviors indicatedthat they were activelyattempting to engage across dif-ference. Thus, the findings ofthis study remind thatengagement across difference maynot be a matter of whetherstudents of color are engagingwith those in their own ethnicgroup or not. Rather, it seemsmore likely that students areboth engaging with those theyperceive as shar- ing theiridentities, as well asinteracting across difference.This work also revealed some

notable distinctions betweennative and immigrant Blackstudents, particularly betweenfirst-generation immigrants andtheir peers with longerhistories in the United States.First, although their nativeBlack peers described diversityin terms of race, Blackimmigrants participating in thisresearch tended to embrace broaddefinitions of diversity thatincluded race, ethnicity, andother cultural forms ofdifference. These distinctionswere particularly evident asparticipants described theirexperiences with behavioral andpsycho- logical climate. First-generation immigrant par-ticipants were more likely toidentify with their ethnicidentities than their racialidentities, and may feel lessof a connection to what itmeans to be African American orBlack in college. They did notdescribe the psychologicalclimate as hostile ordiscriminatory, and generallydid not perceive their racialbackground as having a negativeinfluence on their experiencesat Cen- tral. One first-generation student notedfeeling marginalized in the

campus community, and she connected thismarginalization to her ethnic ratherthan her racial identity.These findings resonate with research

on Black immigrants and identity,connecting perceptions of racism andprejudice to nativity and generationalstatus, but also highlight the nu- ancesof how race and racism can be perceivedwithin a college context. The connectionsone feels to their ethnic identity do notnecessarily inhibit understandings ofrace and racism; however, it seemsthat those who are newer to thecontext are less likely to perceive theirexperiences in racialized ways. Fries-Britt, George Mwangi, and Peralta (2014)shares similar findings, highlightingthat foreign-born students of color didnot initially feel connected to the U.S.racial climate, but this began to change

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25over time and with a

number of racialincidents experiencedon their campuses.Wiley, Perkins, andDeaux (2008) suggestedfirst-generationimmigrants differ fromsecond-generation im-migrants, noting thatthe second-generationwas more likely tothink others perceivetheir group negativelyand do not hold them inhigh regard. Hall andCarter’s (2006) studyof immigrants who werebetween the ages of 18and 65 also suggeststhat second-generationimmigrants are morelikely to perceivediscrimination thanfirst-generationimmigrants. Thefindings of this workare consistent withthese studies and sug-gest first-generationstudents may feel theyare less subject toracism anddiscrimination thantheir peers.

Implications

As institutionalleaders strive to findways to supportstudents it may be hardto reconcile the factthat students who sharea racial identity andlive in the sameenvironment would havevastly differentexperiences with raceand racism; it is alsoquite possible thatthey are havingsimilar experiences butinstead perceive themdiffer- ently. Thus, asinstitutional leadersand policy- makersassess climate, they

must be mindful of asking aboutspecific experiences, as wellas perceptions of theenvironment. These findingsfurther support the importanceof disaggregat- ing data notonly by race but also byethnicity. Not all Blackstudents are going to perceivethe environment in the same way,and a lack of disaggregationcould imply that the climate iseither more hospitable orhostile. In addition, asinstitutional stakeholders seekto create diverse campuscommunities, efforts to attractand re- tain students whoembrace different racial andethnic identities must continueto be incorpo- rated in campusdiversity strategies. Institu-tional leaders must be mindfulof whether Black students seethemselves reflected in thestudent body, assessing whetherthe environment is per- ceivednot only as a generally diversespace, but a racially andethnically diverse space.Further, exploring whether or

not Black students feelwelcomed as they engage in morediverse or predominantly Whiteenvironments is crucial asfeeling comfortable and welcomewere shown to be of primaryconcern. For example, not allimmigrants felt welcome in eth-nically focused organizationsand limited their

26


participation despite having ashared identity. They insteadsought other environments inwhich they were validated. Asscholars and student affairsprofessionals consider how toencourage engagement in thecampus community and withstudents from different back-grounds, they must pay attentionto the assess- ment anddisaggregation of datadocumenting sense of belongingand whether students feelwelcome in various campus groupsand organizations, even theones we may assume would be themost welcoming. Thus, it isimportant that scholars andpractitioners acknowledge andex- amine student dynamics notonly across, but also withinracial groups. Understandingthese distinctions canfacilitate better measures andassessments of campus racialclimate, as well as foster moreeffective means of supportingstu- dents as they navigatetheir university environ-ments.Finally, scholars suggest that

Black immigrants becomeincreasingly aware of theirracial identities and race-basedexperiences over time (Fries-Britt, George Mwangi, & Peralta,2014; Rong & Brown, 2001;Waters, 1999). These students’campus experiences, both insideand outside of the classroom,act as catalysts in their racialidentity development. Thus, itis impor- tant to acknowledgethat perceptions are notstatic, and professionals mustbe willing and able to helpstudents understand theirevolving identities, the ways inwhich people who share their

identity may be perceived, and sourcesof support in more challengingenvironments.

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antonio, a. (2001). The role of interracialinteraction in the development ofleadership skills and cultural knowledgeand understanding. Research in Higher Education,42, 593– 617. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1011054427581

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Received May 4,2014

Revision received March 13, 2015Accepted March 16,

2015 •

Defining Diversity Ethnic Differences in Black Students Perceptions of Racial Climate

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