DEPARTMENT of PSYCHOLOGY
2018-2019 COLLOQUIUM SERIES
presents
Student Choice Colloquium
featuring
Noelle Hurd
Associate Professor of Psychology
“Examining the Nature and Consequences of Online Discrimination and the Role of White Bystanders”
A primary driver of the Black-White college-completion gap may be the discriminatory experiences Black students face at predominantly White institutions (PWIs; McCabe, 2009). Relative to other racial/ethnic groups, Black college students report the lowest satisfaction with campus racial climate at PWIs; moreover, perceptions of negative racial climate may indirectly influence students’ persistence in college and degree completion (Museus et al., 2008). Notably, limited research to date has examined the role of online discrimination in influencing students’ perceptions of campus racial climate even though online social spaces may be the most salient and damaging venues for acts of discrimination among college-aged youth (Tynes et al., 2013). Moreover, the limited research that has been conducted largely has not explored White students as actors and bystanders who are implicated in these online interactions. Thus, the current study was undertaken to 1) document the nature and frequency of racially-discriminatory comments posted on social media platforms commonly used by college students (specific to one university community), 2) better understand how racist posts affect Black students’ perceptions of institutional racial climate, sense of belonging at their institution, and academic performance, 3) better understand how White students experience racist posts, and 4) identify factors that may prompt White students to confront racist posts with the goal of developing a bystander intervention for White students to confront other White students who are engaging in anti-Black online discrimination.
Friday, April 12, 2019
3:30 p.m.
Gilmer 190
Coffee/Cookies at 3:15pm.
Reception will be held after the talk