Identity Safety and Its Importance for Academic Success

Abstract

While there are many external factors that contribute to the equity students do or do not experience, equally important are the internal or psychological factors that impact student performance. This chapter examines the need for identity safety in the classroom, and how the culture of a classroom (the unspoken messages) can create or inhibit equity of the psychological environment. The intersecting influences of student achievement goal orientations and classroom goal emphasis have a direct and significant impact on student motivation and academic achievement. Additionally, students across the developmental spectrum are actively negotiating who they are as a student and taking cues from the environment regarding their fit and likelihood of success. For students of color, this identity negotiation entails a very specific consideration of their racial self and whether or not that element of their person is welcomed in the academic space. These identity negotiations then interact with students' achievement goals and their beliefs about intelligence and motivation, ultimately impacting their academic performance. Goal-fit and racial identity-fit thereby serve as core elements of belonging for students of color.

The Adolescent Self-System and Academic Achievement: Youth Predictors of College Enrollment

“…Research with White participants has often found a low sense of ERI among White youth (J. S. Phinney & Rosenthal, 1992;Rogers et al, 2021), in addition to less exploration for White youth as compared to ethnically minoritized adolescents (Camacho et al, 2018;Rogers et al, 2021). There is an increased interest in studying the protective factors of ERI for minoritized youth (Lowe, 2020), yet a lack of research investigating long-term educational implications of strong or weak ERI, especially pertaining to college enrollment.…”

Incorporating Identity Safety into the Laboratory Safety Culture

“…The person(s) responsible for assessing the risk associated with this hazard must have input from better versed and trained resources in the diversity, equity, inclusion, and respect space. These people have been trained to view an environment from an equity perspective, which may influence the ability of people to learn, feel included, or perform . Furthermore, applications of critical race theory in these scenarios have shown that higher concentrations of similar but diverse identities in a setting can often remove the perception of stereotypes, judgments, or restrictions for the individual, as they place a value on diversity and inclusion in that space.…”

“…Exposure to identity threats can lead to several outcomes, including increased concerns about belonging, fit, and acceptance; ,, decreased trust; , increased anxiety; − impaired executive functioning; − disparities in job and career satisfaction and career aspirations; − lower job performance and fewer promotions from supervisors; and increased turnover and absenteeism. ,− Diverse persons entering spaces that lack diversity start by asking questions about connecting with others, being valued, and being seen as more than the stereotypes of their identity. ,, Sustained exposure to these threats has been linked to increased self-reliance, acting as less of a team player, overworking beyond exhaustion, increased stress levels, and inability to sleep. In a laboratory setting, these symptoms would lead to depression, burnout, increased sick days, decreased productivity, inability to abide by laboratory protocols, increased hazardous activity, and physically unsafe behaviors with the materials they handle. − Ultimately, these can lead to an increased turnover and, worse, injuries.…”

“Here I can just be myself”: How youth and adults collaboratively develop an identity‐safe community across difference

“…That is, certain cues in community settings can either affirm or devalue youths' lived experiences and social identities (Davies et al, 2005 ; Steele & Cohn‐Vargas, 2013 ). A substantial body of research has found that identity‐safe contexts—settings that acknowledge differences in social identity and treat those differences as valuable—are an important component for development among underrepresented youth (Gamarel et al, 2014 ; Lowe, 2020 ; Purdie‐Vaughns et al, 2008 ). However, less is known about how diverse groups of youth and adults collaboratively develop identity safety in a community setting.…”

“…Identity-safe environments articulate how contexts can promote connection in the face of the isolation that arises from alienating sociocultural stereotypes. Much of the existing empirical research on identity-safety has been conducted within the context of schools, such as the impact of identity-safe cues for Latina students' interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (e.g., Goyer et al, 2019;Lowe, 2020;Pietri et al, 2019). Most of this study has documented the strategies that adults use to create identity safety or youth's experiences with identity safety in the classroom (e.g., Cooper, 2013;Steele & Cohn-Vargas, 2013), with less focus on intergenerational collaboration involved in this process.…”