Friday, June 4
9:00am-11:00am EST
Quantitative Track
Title: Exploring African American College Students’ Experiences with Racial Microaggressions: The Utility of Critical Race Mixed Methodology
Abstract: Mixed methods has grown in appeal as a research methodology and is frequently used to explore complex problems in education. Likewise, the popularity of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in education research has exploded and has become the theoretical framework most commonly used to exam race-related issues within education. More recently, there has been a movement to combine the use of mixed methodology and CRT. The purpose of this discussion is to explore the combining of mixed methodology and CRT through the explaining of Critical Race Mixed Methodology (CRMM). In order to do so, I will discuss how CRT is used to help frame an explanatory sequential mixed methods design (quant → QUAL). Within such a design, quantitative data is initially collected followed by the qualitative data. The findings from the quantitative component is used to inform the selection of the qualitative data. In addition, the qualitative data is used to confirm (or not) the quantitative data. Specifically, I will focus on a research study examining African American college students’ experiences with racial identity, racial microaggressions, and belonging. Focusing on the CRT tenets of centrality of racism, whiteness as property, and intersectionality, results from the study indicate that racial pride moderates the relationship between racial microaggressions and sense of belonging. The qualitative findings confirm the quantitative findings by revealing how students experience a variety of microaggressions which negatively impact their feelings of belonging. However, the qualitative findings also reveal additional information that cannot be ascertained from the quantitative data. Specifically, students discuss how their experiences impact the way they feel (emotions) and the difficulty of coping with racial microaggressions. The discussion will end by
providing implications regarding the advantages and challenges of using CRMM.
Presenter:
Dr. Jessica T. DeCuir-Gunby
Professor, Educational Psychology
North Carolina State University
Biography:
Jessica T. DeCuir-Gunby, PhD (she/her) is a Professor of Educational Psychology and Department Head in the Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences at NC State University. She currently serves on the editorial board for Contemporary Educational Psychology and is a former associate editor for the American Educational Research Journal. Dr. DeCuir-Gunby’s research interests include race and racial identity development, critical race theory, mixed methods research, and emotions in education. She has served as Co-PI on two National Science Foundation funded grants, totaling over $4.3 million: Nurturing Mathematics Dreamkeepers (NSF DRK-12 Grant) and Peer Mentoring Summits for Women Engineering Faculty of Color (NSF ADVANCE Leadership Award Grant). Her work has been featured in top-tier journals such as Contemporary Educational Psychology, Educational Psychologist, Educational Researcher, and Review of Educational Research, among others. She has also co-authored/co-edited four books.
Dr. DeCuir-Gunby has received numerous awards. In 2012, she was inducted into the NC State University Academy of Outstanding Teachers and received the NC State University Alumni Association Outstanding Teacher Award. In 2013, she was awarded the inaugural NC State University Faculty Scholar award which recognizes academic leadership and achievement. In 2018, Dr. DeCuir-Gunby received the NC State Alumni Association Outstanding Research Award for outstanding research and was inducted into the Research Leadership Academy for leadership and mentoring in research. She was awarded the University of Georgia’s College of Education 2015-2016 Outstanding Educator Award for alumni.
For more information visit Dr. DeCuir-Gunby’s LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and website.
