The worst of times: Using a transformative mixed-methods study to name and describe school-based adverse racialized experiences (AREs) in the K-12 retrospective accounts of university students

Psychol Trauma. 2024 Nov 21. doi: 10.1037/tra0001818. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Objective: This transformative multiphase mixed-methods study aimed to identify the thematic structure of school-based adverse racialized experiences (AREs), their prevalence, and perpetrators in the retrospective K-12 accounts of a sample of racially diverse undergraduate students aged 17-22.

Method: Interpretative analysis of interviews in Phase I informed the design of a vignette survey in Phase II. Qualitative and quantitative methods identified convergent patterns of school-based AREs under the three themes: racial discrimination, racial microaggressions, and racial harassment.

Results: Results reveal that participants' school-based AREs mainly fell under the broad theme of racial discrimination and referenced high school and peers more frequently.

Conclusions: The study names school-based AREs and discusses the implications of school-based and clinical-based interventions supporting racially marginalized youth navigating the U.S. education system. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).