Black African international students in the United States are vulnerable to increased microaggressions because of their minority statuses. In addition to being Black and speaking with non-native accents, African students must contend with Afropessimism which in this study refers to the Western world’s negative perception of Africa. The study is a mixed methods study that seeks to understand how the Afropessimistic attitude impacts the way Black African international students are perceived and interacted with, within the academic spaces. The findings indicate that African international students consistently encounter the Afropessimistic attitude, and it impacts their academic engagement. The findings also suggest that striving harder for academic success is one way these students counter the Afropessimistic attitude. Implications of the study are discussed.
","abstract_html":"<p>Black African international students in the United States are vulnerable to increased microaggressions because of their minority statuses. In addition to being Black and speaking with non-native accents, African students must contend with Afropessimism which in this study refers to the Western world’s negative perception of Africa. The study is a mixed methods study that seeks to understand how the Afropessimistic attitude impacts the way Black African international students are perceived and interacted with, within the academic spaces. The findings indicate that African international students consistently encounter the Afropessimistic attitude, and it impacts their academic engagement. The findings also suggest that striving harder for academic success is one way these students counter the Afropessimistic attitude. Implications of the study are discussed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Sergon, Margaret"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Community Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Bradley Olson","Judah Viola","Erika Mingo"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:12Z","subjects":["Black African international students","Afropessimism","microaggressions","striving harder","academic engagement.","International and Area Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/703","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Bradley Olson","Judah Viola","Erika Mingo"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Sergon, Margaret"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-10-14T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Community Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Black African international students","Afropessimism","microaggressions","striving harder","academic engagement.","International and Area Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/703"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Black African international students in the United States are vulnerable to increased microaggressions because of their minority statuses. In addition to being Black and speaking with non-native accents, African students must contend with Afropessimism which in this study refers to the Western world’s negative perception of Africa. The study is a mixed methods study that seeks to understand how the Afropessimistic attitude impacts the way Black African international students are perceived and interacted with, within the academic spaces. The findings indicate that African international students consistently encounter the Afropessimistic attitude, and it impacts their academic engagement. The findings also suggest that striving harder for academic success is one way these students counter the Afropessimistic attitude. Implications of the study are discussed.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["They Don'y Expect You To Know Much: Black African International Students Encountering And Countering The Afropessimistic Attitude Within Academic Spaces"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Bradley Olson","Judah Viola","Erika Mingo"],"dc:creator":["Sergon, Margaret"],"dc:date.available":["2022-10-14T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Black African international students in the United States are vulnerable to increased microaggressions because of their minority statuses. In addition to being Black and speaking with non-native accents, African students must contend with Afropessimism which in this study refers to the Western world’s negative perception of Africa. The study is a mixed methods study that seeks to understand how the Afropessimistic attitude impacts the way Black African international students are perceived and interacted with, within the academic spaces. The findings indicate that African international students consistently encounter the Afropessimistic attitude, and it impacts their academic engagement. The findings also suggest that striving harder for academic success is one way these students counter the Afropessimistic attitude. Implications of the study are discussed.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/703"],"dc:subject":["Black African international students","Afropessimism","microaggressions","striving harder","academic engagement.","International and Area Studies"],"dc:title":["They Don'y Expect You To Know Much: Black African International Students Encountering And Countering The Afropessimistic Attitude Within Academic Spaces"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Community Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:12Z"}