Despite frequent expressions of a commitment to fostering campus diversity, research on campus climates at predominantly white institutions has revealed that students of color continue to experience discrimination. Some Black student leaders participate in organizations to challenge the discriminatory practices that produce campus inequalities, but they also experience conflict and separation from others in the university community. Jones seeks to understand how the perceptions and actions of Black youth, administrators, faculty, and staff differ with regard to their efforts to reduce campus inequalities. Jones will conduct a case study of a Southern PWI in which Black students constitute roughly 5 percent of the student body. Jones will conduct interviews with Black student leaders to better understand how they frame issues around the inequalities that they wish to address. She will also conduct interviews with a mix of administrators, faculty, and staff to understand how they use institutional programs and their own individual strategies to support student engagement efforts. To better understand the shift from individual to collective action, Jones will also conduct focus groups with representatives from the larger Black student community to understand how they envision change and become engaged with social justice efforts.
How do Black college students at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) seek to reduce campus inequalities?
