Community College Freshmen's Perceptions of In-Class Faculty Microaggressions and Their Intent to Persist
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Authors
Ramsay, Sandra
Issue Date
2019-12-15
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
College student persistence , Community college persistence , Faculty-student interaction , Microaggression , Mixed methods
Alternative Title
Abstract
Faculty microaggressive behavior was reported to be pervasive in the community college classroom (Casanova, McGuire, & Martin, 2018; Suarez-Orozco et al., 2015). However, not much research focused on how community college freshmen’s perceptions of faculty’s microaggressive behaviors related to their intent to persist in the college environment. The study’s purposes were to: (a) examine any relationship between community college freshmen’s perceptions of in-class faculty racial and gender microaggressions, and their intent to persist beyond the second semester of their freshman year, (b) examine whether differences existed in the racial and gender groups’ intent to persist, and in their perceptions of faculty classroom microaggressions, and (c) explore students’ perceptions of their experiences with classroom faculty-student interactions. The study used a convergent mixed-methods approach to inquiry; Tinto’s (1975) interactionalist model of student persistence as a theoretical foundation that has been widely validated and tested by others; and Sue’s (2010) microaggression taxonomy and themes as a conceptual framework that connected ideas in the study within the theoretical framework. Surveys were administered to 311 eligible participants, and quantitative results were analyzed at a significance level of alpha .05. Qualitative data collected from three open-ended survey questions were coded for emergent themes related to faculty microaggression, using Sue (2010) as a guide, and disconfirming results were analyzed and resolved. Key results at alpha .05 included: (a) no statistically significant difference in intent to persist in the college environment for all racial and gender student groups; (b) statistically significant differences in perception of faculty in-class racial microaggression between non-White and White freshmen; (c) no statistically significant difference in perception of faculty in-class gender microaggression between females and males; and (d) statistically significant relationships between perceived microaggression and intent to persist for Asian/Pacific Islander and female freshmen. Non-White and female participants also reported feeling demeaned and/or ignored by faculty, and White and male participants largely did not perceive faculty microaggressions. Examining coping mechanisms used to blunt the effects of perceived faculty classroom microaggressions, and supporting positive classroom environments were identified as important for student success.
Description
Citation
S. Ramsay, "Community College Freshmen's Perceptions of In-Class Faculty Microaggressions and Their Intent to Persist", Ph.D. dissertation, School of Education, Univ. of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT, 2019.