Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0929-786X
Date Available
4-24-2025
Year of Publication
2025
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College
Education
Department/School/Program
Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology
Faculty
Dr. Kenneth Maurice Tyler
Abstract
Although the impact of racism is well-documented in both conceptual and empirical research on the experiences of Black college students, some scholars have pointed out that many of the negative, race-based experiences these students face on college campuses extend beyond overt acts of racism (e.g., individual racism, institutional racism; Gusa, 2010; Hargons et al., 2022; Ingram & Wallace, 2019; Le et al., 2020; Smith et al., 2011; Tyler et al., 2022). Whiteness has been identified as an overt factor shaping the lived experiences of Black individuals (Leonardo, 2009; Matias, 2016; Tyler et al., 2022) and is, therefore, believed to impact the lives of Black college students. Despite the salience of characteristics of whiteness within institutional spaces (i.e., college and university settings), there are currently no empirical studies investigating elements of whiteness and Black college students’ outcomes (e.g., academic efficacy) and whether their racial identity is a mediating factor. Investigating the salience of whiteness in college and university settings is necessary due to the underpinning and echo of prevailing cultural norms that privilege whiteness. Therefore, this dissertation study assessed whiteness as a contextual factor and its association with Black college students and their racial identity and tested a theorized factor structure (i.e., the Cultural Characteristics of Whiteness Scale) through a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).
The results of the CFA indicated that the proposed four-factor model revealed a poor fit, signifying that the model did not adequately represent the data. While the model had a less-than-ideal fit, denoting further need for psychometric investigation, there were strong alignments for one factor with high reliability (α = .93).
The results of the mediation analysis revealed a full mediation model. More pointedly, the mediation analysis aimed to determine if there was a negative indirect effect of Black racial identity on the relationship between whiteness and academic efficacy.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2025.18
Recommended Citation
Smith, La'Quida Reneé, "The Impact of Whiteness Among Black College Students' Racial Identity" (2025). Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology. 123.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/edp_etds/123
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