MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE: A CRITICAL CASE STUDY OF SELECT HISPANIC FEMALE COLLEGE STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES WITH ACADEMIC RACIAL BIAS AT A 4-YEAR TEXAS UNIVERSITY

This study is in response to a 2019 survey indicating that students of color often experience racism in higher education, but that such experiences are under-researched, particularly qualitatively. Utilizing a critical case study approach, four Hispanic female students provided examples of racial and gender biases they experienced in academic settings within the past 2 years. The narrative testimonios provide evidence of ongoing racism in academic and co-curricular settings, how these students responded, and the impacts on the students personally and academically. The use of critical race theory, Chicana feminist theory, LatCrit theory, and microaggression theory coupled with the students’ testimonios, provided examples that challenge the dominant view that racism is not a current issue. Results of the current study include the four students experiencing 28 separate instances of microaggressions. Of the 28 experiences, 11 of them were micro-assaults, 10 were micro-insults, and 7 were micro-invalidations. Examples include, the students’ being questioned about their patriotism, being told that they will struggle to succeed, being told how to act or what to believe, being falsely accused of flirting, and that their experiences with racial biases were dismissed. Of the 10 offenders, four were professors, four were other students, one was a university staff member, and one was a community member. By gender, the offenders were six males and four females. Nine of the offenders were White and one was a person of color. Though these negative experiences occurred, three of the four study participants indicated that they were not the norm.

Author dc:creator

• Chaddick, Lisa

Contributors dc:contributor

• Eaton, Paul W
• Montelongo, Ricardo
• Roper, Emily A

• Higher Education
• Hispanic Female Student Experiences

Language dc:language

English

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11875/5245

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:tdl-ir.tdl.org:20.500.11875/5245