On the impossibilities of advancing racial justice in higher education research through reliance on the campus climate heuristic.

Abstract

Campus climates are often described as "hostile" for racially minoritized populations. However, growing recognition of complexities associated with intersecting and interwoven systems of social oppression compel the field of higher education to move away from overly simplistic portrayals of postsecondary environments as "welcoming/chilly" or "positive/negative." More than this, there is a need to engage in a broader discussion of the field's reliance on the metaphor of meteorological climate itself as a heuristic for characterizing the nature of college learning environments. The central argument presented in this theoretical article is that racial justice is impossible when operationalized through a lens of campus climate because this lens offers no theory of power or race to accomplish this purpose and instead, embodies logics and assumptions that fundamentally delimit the centralizing of students' ontological experience of the race. We propose that the field move away from the campus climate heuristic to generate new frames that can engage with physiosocially situated subjective experiences of race and more complexly interrogate the dimensions of race, ethnicity, power, and culture that differentially shape students' experiential realities.

Does race matter? An experimental vignette study on harm severity, college student discipline, and restorative justice.

“…Further, as noted by Abrica et al (2021), the dimensions of race, ethnicity, power, and culture differentially shape students' experiential realities in college learning environments. It would thus be important that conversations on restorative justice occur in a way that does not undermine student's identity and subjective experiences following incidents of harm and wrongdoing.…”

The racial politics of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work.

“…For example, our assumption that "students of color" must be provided with more "inclusive" environments effectively reifies a higher education imaginary in which it is assumed higher education is comprised of "good people" who, if provided with enough information about the campus experience of "diverse populations," "would enable that population to 'be included' in our field of research and concern" (Stein, 2019, p. 8). Abrica et al (2023) leverage an argument against the practice of assessing campus climate, arguing campus climate surveys superficially advance amorphous social justice aims and often do more harm than good by requiring students of color to provide further evidence of racial trauma. The illusion of racial progress (Seamster & Ray, 2018) and assumptions of the benevolence of White people (Matias, 2014(Matias, , 2016(Matias, , 2020Morales et al, 2019) play an active role in perpetuating, not dismantling, Whiteness and neoliberal interests (Stein, 2016(Stein, , 2018(Stein, , 2019(Stein, , 2021.…”

Exploring racial solidarity within and across ethnic college student organizations.

“…Continued scholarship on this topic has explored students' varied experiences of racial climates (Harper & Hurtado, 2007), categorized the types and quality of interactions within campus contexts (Gurin et al, 2002), and expanded climate assessment metrics (Bensimon, 2004;Chavous, 2005). Given the ongoing hostilities faced by racially minoritized college students (C. Stevens et al, 2018;Suarez-Balcazar et al, 2003), however, additional scholarship that contends with the racerelated conditions of higher education institutions is needed (Abrica et al, 2023). Central to evaluating racial campus climates-particularly the psychological and behavioral dimensions-is intergroup contract (Chavous, 2005;Hurtado et al, 2008;Park et al, 2013), a theory to which we now turn.…”

“…Given the ongoing hostilities faced by racially minoritized college students (C. Stevens et al, 2018; Suarez-Balcazar et al, 2003), however, additional scholarship that contends with the race-related conditions of higher education institutions is needed (Abrica et al, 2023). Central to evaluating racial campus climates—particularly the psychological and behavioral dimensions—is intergroup contract (Chavous, 2005; Hurtado et al, 2008; Park et al, 2013), a theory to which we now turn.…”