Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Racial Battle Fatigue Among Latinx and Black Community College Students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Disciplines: A Quantitative Perspective

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  • The role of community colleges as open-access institutions that bring racial diversity to careers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is essential (Musante, 2012; Reyes, 2011). Yet, the opportunity to attend postsecondary institutions is not enough to guarantee the success of People of Color as they navigate hostile academic environments (Franklin, 2016). Community colleges must be willing to ensure that students are welcomed in their classes and that they are promoting positive academic environments that are sensitive to racially marginalized and stigmatized groups. The influence on racially marginalized and stigmatized groups is underscored by findings in the literature on how hostile academic environments have led to “alienation, dissatisfaction, academic disidentification, disengagement, and blocked academic aspirations” (Smith, Allen, & Danley, 2007, p. 552). Smith (2004), a professor at the University of Utah, coined the term racial battle fatigue (RBF) to describe three major stress responses (physiological, psychological, and behavioral) from the accumulation of racial microaggressions and the energy expended on coping with and fighting against it (Yosso, Smith, Ceja, & Solózano, 2009). Microaggressions are everyday subtle or ambiguous racially related insults, slights, mistreatments, or invalidations (Torres-Harding & Turner, 2015). A racial battle fatigue scale (RBFS) was later developed by Franklin, Smith, and Hung (2014) and quantitatively tested in a college classroom using the RBF framework to assess psychological, physiological, and behavioral stress. The purpose of this study was to use this RBFS to quantitatively measure racial battle fatigue (RBF) for Latinx and African American students enrolled in STEM courses across multiple community college classrooms and campuses. An online questionnaire was administered to 536 students from community colleges in Oregon, Washington, Illinois, and California. The study spanned one term or one semester of an introductory chemistry course intended as a transfer course. Each institution had the same prerequisites, including College Algebra, and similar student learning outcomes. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed to test the four statistical hypotheses of the three research questions of this study. Three dependent variables included the three RBF domain scores of (a) psychological, (b) behavioral, and (c) physiological. Two independent variables were included in the model. The study findings revealed a significance for the race of the student when responding to questions regarding RBF. White students had a significantly lower score than Latinx and Black on the behavioral, physiological, and psychological domains. Black and Latinx did not differ from each other on any of the three domains. Maltese and Tai (2011) asserted that classroom environments play a large role in student retention in STEM. Understood in this context, measuring RBS is a crucial first step to raising consciousness within the community college setting for more retention of Latinx and African American students. The findings of this research will be useful to administrators and faculty when considering how to address microaggressions on their campus and how it impacts students, their health, and sense of belonging as a STEM student. The findings of this research will also help guide instructional pedagogy at PWIs, HSIs, and PBIs regarding group work, especially in STEM courses. Most importantly, the results of this research can help identify, disrupt, and dismantle the racism that marginalizes, subordinates, and excludes students in STEM even within the community college environment. Keywords: racial battle fatigue, critical race theory, STEM, community college, microaggressions, stress
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  • 2019-09-05 to 2021-10-05

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