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With the 2020 Election nearing, we find ourselves navigating students’ (and our own) complex reactions to the leadership and direction of the country and preparing for what we can say and do to support students in the days leading up to and after Election Day. As college instructors, especially those not in disciplines like political science and law, we may feel relatively unprepared for conversations about the election, uncertain whether to bring it up when it is not linked to course content, and concerned about possible negative reactions to such a discussion. 

In this blogpost and corresponding resource, I describe how this upcoming election can be an identity-threatening event to students. Moreover, I share how we can work to ensure that students experience identity safety— the feeling that they are welcomed, valued, respected, and recognized as having the potential to succeed in the classroom– in the coming weeks and provide specific scenarios that may arise and suggestions on how to implement these tips within them. 

An identity-threatening incident is an event that makes an individual feel unsafe as a result of their membership in a particular identity group, or one that provokes social identity threat — the worry that one will be viewed and treated negatively because of their group memberships. The 2020 Election can be an identity-threatening event to students in many ways. In the classroom, students may be anxious to have conversations with classmates and instructors about the election because they fear biased comments, being asked to speak for their identity group, or having their lived experiences and concerns minimized. 

Identity-threatening events can also occur on campus or in the community and involve individuals making derogatory statements, harassing or threatening harm, or exhibiting symbols that convey prejudice against particular identity groups. Students may also worry about how the election results can directly impact their lives based on their social identities. Although these events may not occur in the classroom, their effect on students’ mental health and ability to concentrate can extend into it by impacting learning and performance.       

To begin preparing for how you might address the election in your course:

• Identify the campus resources where students can access services to support their health and well-being (e.g., university counseling centers) and can build community with other people who share their identities (e.g., identity-based student organizations, campus cultural centers, and offices involved in equity and inclusion efforts). 
• Review your university’s student conduct and freedom of speech policies so that you know how to respond and who to reach out to if a student says something or behaves in a manner that may be against university policy. 
• Prepare what you might say to address election-related identity-threatening events.   

From conversations with students through my work at the College Transition Collaborative and with the Student Experience Project, here are key things to consider when preparing your response to an identity-threatening event:

• Do not make it overly complicated. 
• Acknowledge the incident. 
• Say explicitly that it was hurtful and harmful and affirm that it is not unusual for this incident to lower one’s sense of belonging, feelings of safety, concentration, etc. 
• Connect students with campus resources for support, and if you feel equipped to do so, offer yourself as a resource if students want to talk about it after or outside of class.
• Reiterate your support for students as an ally and a partner in their academic success, and if applicable, communicate what you are doing to address the incident further. 

As you prepare what you might say, it is important to keep in mind the distinction between feeling uncomfortable and feeling unsafe. Sometimes students who are members of majority identity groups may experience discomfort as a result of having conversations about identity or specifically about the experiences or perspectives of socially and structurally disadvantaged identity groups. Being uncomfortable hearing about the experiences of others is not the same as being unsafe in this setting. If students who are members of majority identity groups express discomfort or identity threat when instructors or peers point out or challenge policies, practices, or beliefs that are prejudicial or discriminatory, it is imperative not to equate the discomfort they might be feeling with the impacts of systemic oppression and prejudice for those who belong to minoritized or disadvantaged identity groups.

As an instructor, it is normal to feel some discomfort and anxiety when preparing and addressing identity-threatening events. It is okay that you may not be an expert in the issues students are facing. Practice what you intend to say. Reach out to colleagues about how they speak to these issues. Explore available resources. The resources available to instructors on how to navigate identity-threatening events have grown in visibility and breadth in recent years. I have found campus centers for teaching and learning to be valuable partners in this work and share a few other helpful resources below.  

Instructors are impacted by identity-threatening events too. Look for resources and affinity groups that are available and decide how far to extend yourself when supporting students. For those in leadership positions, it is critical to acknowledge the amount, and oftentimes unequal levels, of emotional labor expended in these discussions and in these times and support colleagues when they discuss identity-threatening events in their courses.

 

References and resources:

• Bandy (2016). Teaching in response to the election. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2016/11/teaching-in-response-to-the-election/
• Huston & DiPietro (2007). In the eye of the storm: Students’ perceptions of helpful faculty actions following a collective tragedy. In Robertson & Nilson (Eds.) To Improve the Academy: Vol 25. Resources for Faculty, Instructional, and Organizational Development. Bolton, MA: Anker. Pp. 207-224.
• Kite, Case, & Williams (2020). Navigating Difficult Moments in Teaching Diversity and Social Justice. American Psychological Association.
• Locks, Hurtado, Bowman, & Oseguera (2008). Extending notions of campus climate and diversity to students’ transition to college. Review of Higher Education, 31, 257-285.
• Logel, Iserman, Davies, Quinn, & Spencer (2009). The perils of double consciousness: The role of thought suppression in stereotype threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(2), 299-312.
• Major & Schmader (2018). Stigma, social identity threat, and health. In Major, Dovidio, & Link (Eds.), Oxford Library of Psychology. The Oxford Handbook of Stigma, Discrimination, and Health (p. 85–103). Oxford University Press.
• Murphy & Destin (2016). Promoting inclusion and identity safety to support college success. https://tcf.org/content/report/promoting-inclusion-identity-safety-support-college-success/

Author:

Kathryn Boucher, PhD, Assistant Professor, College of Applied Behavioral Sciences, University of Indianapolis, and Principal Investigator,  College Transition Collaborative

Course syllabi are often written with the intention to set expectations and boundaries for appropriate student conduct, and as tools for holding students accountable for their learning. They often are instructors’ first communication with students and, therefore, give students their first impressions about what the course will entail, who you are as an instructor, and whether or not they will succeed in the course. Because syllabi are often updated and revised in response to negative experiences, however, they can become disproportionately punitive, with the policies, practices and messages implicitly communicating to students that the instructor doubts their ability to perform effectively in the course, or assumes that they will act unethically or irresponsibly. This was true before the pandemic, but the switch to different modalities of teaching and greater variability in how and when we are connecting with students have likely brought forth new issues for instructors to consider.

Students tell us that punitive policies and a critical tone can leave them feeling as though they are not valued or respected, and can cause them to doubt whether or not they can be successful in the course. This is particularly true for students from backgrounds that are structurally disadvantaged, negatively stereotyped in society,  or underrepresented in higher education, who, because they are aware of cultural stigmas and stereotypes towards their groups, are disproportionately likely to be vigilant for cues that they don’t belong. In a challenging year marked by many new and intensified existing sources of strain impacting our campus communities and the way we gather (or don’t!) to learn, it’s reasonable to assume that nearly all students are returning to school this year under new stressors, and possibly with heightened concerns around their ability to succeed. 

As part of the Student Experience Project, we’re leveraging learning from social psychology and higher education research to reimagine the task of writing syllabi: to view it as an opportunity to introduce a plan for learning that will support the success of all students, regardless of personal circumstances — one that details ways students can demonstrate their growing mastery of course content, and connects students with the support and resources that will help them thrive. 

Over the summer, and led by SEP Lead Scholar and College Transition Collaborative co-founder Christine Logel, we developed a workshop series to help instructors revise their syllabi in this vision, by drawing on messages, policies, and practices designed to promote equity, belonging and growth in their courses. Here, we’ve outlined three impactful approaches we are using in this process, and share some examples of what we’re hearing from students who reviewed the syllabi from these workshops. For examples of how SEP instructors are implementing these ideas in their courses, click here to view the Three Approaches to Revising your Syllabus with Equity, Belonging and Growth in Mind resource.

Provide a plan for learning that empowers students to respond proactively and productively to difficulty. College students may need to “learn how to learn” in order to be successful in college courses, but they might not realize how common of an experience this is. For example, it’s not uncommon for students, especially those who are first generation, or who are members or negatively stereotyped social groups, to interpret routine challenges – like difficulty navigating an online learning system, or a poor grade – as signs that they don’t belong or can’t cut it in college. This experience can lead to a negative recursive cycle where students retreat academically and stop engaging with the resources that would help them succeed, ultimately leading to even worse experiences and outcomes. Thankfully, instructors do not need to be experts in pedagogy to help students break this cycle. By acknowledging and normalizing this experience for students, communicating confidence in students’ abilities to learn, sharing tips for how students can overcome these challenges, and point them to resources to support their learning, instructors can help students respond productively and proactively to academic setbacks.

What students are saying about this approach: “I feel that as long as I am able to remain organized and on top of my assignments I will be able to be successful in this class because my instructor has made it clear that they are available to help us if we really need it and they have reminded us about the resources that are available to us.”

Create flexible policies that acknowledge, and take into account the diversity and complexity of students’ lived experiences. Policies that disallow late work or accommodations under any circumstances are commonly intended to hold students accountable for their work, but they also unintentionally and disproportionately disadvantaged students who are balancing school work with other responsibilities, or those who are facing hardships. The ability to always meet course deadlines should not be more important than the quality of the work turned in. Students can show their learning and mastery even when they require some flexibility for when the work is turned in. For students who are facing significant challenges in pursuing their education – like homelessness or food insecurity, they could be even more likely to excel in courses with flexible policies. 

Students tell us that no exception policies can make them feel demoralized, and as though the instructor doesn’t understand, or perhaps doesn’t care about, what challenges they are facing. Policies that instead that acknowledge challenges students may encounter in meeting course expectations, and provide reasonable flexibility for students while also maintaining expectations for student work and accountability (i.e., not changing the content, but allowing for reasonable flexibility for when all work can be done) communicate care and support to students, while also helping to ensure that students’ academic achievement is not undermined by challenges or obstacles outside of students’ control. Such policies are likely to be particularly impactful during the pandemic, when students’ lives may be especially disrupted. 

What students are saying about this approach: “This [policy for quizzes] reflects thoughtfulness on the part of the professor and shows that they care about helping their students learn better and perform better in this class”; “I appreciate the fact that my prof knows STEM textbooks are expensive and is encouraging students to find cheaper options.”

Encourage students to connect with you, and your instructional team. We heard in our conversations with students that they very much want to make connections with the faculty who teach their courses, and we know from prior work that developing connections with instructors and TAs can meaningfully impact students’ learning and academic success. However, we also know that the professor intimidation factor commonly inhibits students from approaching and engaging with instructors and other members of the instructional team. During the pandemic, without having met the instructor in person before, students may perceive it to be (and may indeed be) harder to make that connection virtually. 

While large course sizes can make it difficult to form personal relationships with each student in a class, there are steps that instructors can take to help students feel greater connection to their learning team – even if one-on-one engagement is not possible. Including brief biographies to the syllabus that help students to see the members of the instructional team as real people with lives that extend beyond the classroom, reframing office hours as “drop-in” hours to more clearly communicate that students are welcome during these times, and providing guidance on professional communication norms, are all small examples of ways that instructors can help students overcome the intimidation of connecting with professors, and increase the likelihood that students will reach out when needed.

What students are saying about this approach: “Including a short bio really makes the professor seem easier to talk to!” 

 

Authors:

Kathryn Boucher, PhD, Assistant Professor, College of Applied Behavioral Sciences, University of Indianapolis, and Principal Investigator,  College Transition Collaborative 

 

Krysti Ryan, PhD, Project Director, College Transition Collaborative

 

 

 

At the same time that the COVID pandemic’s health and economic effects have disproportionately impacted our students of color, their families and communities, many Black students are grappling  with what it means to be part of a nation whose institutions are steeped in racism, as we face yet another murder of a Black person at the hands of police.

Despite  the calls for peace and unity and a glimmer of hope for  systemic change, the calls to “get back to normal”,  seem an attempt to ease the discomfort of white people, including on our campuses. We hear  too little about how peace is something that never truly exists for those who must, as a colleague  described, slowly strip away the innocence of their children as they attempt to prepare them for the violence they are all too likely to face in our communities.

“Getting back to normal” in the wake of the COVID is not good enough. We must seize this opportunity for higher education to  step up and build the campuses and communities we contend to be. To  do so, we must acknowledge and address the racial inequities that define our system, by design.

Our policies and practices have made it such that Black students are significantly less likely to be admitted to many of our institutions. Equity gaps in graduation rates of 50% are commonplace. Black students regularly report feeling as if their instructors don’t believe in their capacity to be successful. When you look at the consistent and pervasive inequities in access, experiences and outcomes – it’s clear that we do not value all of our students equally. Is it really any wonder that our Black students may feel as if they don’t belong at our institutions and question our commitment to equity, especially when we maintain policies and practices that enact such inequitable outcomes? If we want Black students to truly feel as if they belong at our institution, we must we must acknowledge the current reality and our role in its creation, and commit to real, systemic changes.

This level of change will require us to become anti-racist institutions. In his most recent book, Dr. Ibram Kendi outlines how institutions’ policies and practices are either racist or anti-racist – they either actively combat racial inequities or  they perpetuate inequity. There is no such thing as “not-racist”. We must stop allowing racism to be defined at the individual level and define it systemically, as policies and practices that maintain the power and privilege associated with whiteness in our society.  To be anti-racists, we must engage in authentic efforts to improve access, experience and outcomes for minoritized students of color on our campuses. These efforts require leadership from senior level administrators with the authority to make critical decisions, adequate staffing, university-wide buy in and support from the top of the institution. Anything less will rightly be seen as toothless efforts to appease our collective conscience or the voices who call on us to “do something” in the face of the latest racial injustice.

We must uncover and challenge what McNair, Bensimon and Malcom-Piqueux call the omnipotence of whiteness in academia. We espouse higher education as a meritocratic system equally accessible to all while continuing to use criteria for admission that decades of research have shown to be racially biased. We design academic experiences  that may have worked for our largely white, middle and upper-middle class faculty, staff and administrators , but do not meet the needs of  the diverse students we espouse to serve.

And then we  excuse the inequitable outcomes we achieve by labeling students “underprepared,” blaming their families or cultures of origin for not being “academically-oriented” and viewing their  responsibilities outside of school  as impermeable obstacles to success. As Anthony Carnevale concluded last year, “The system is worse than broken. It’s fixed.”

To become an anti-racist institution we must stop making excuses and start taking responsibility for eliminating gaps in access and outcomes for our minoritized students of color through our systems, structures, policies and practices. When we see disparate outcomes, we must accept that is a reflection of institutional choices, not of our students.

A team at University of Toledo, has spent the past year – in collaboration with other institutions of higher education through the Student Experience Project – working to create equitable learning environments and increase retention and degree attainment through policies and practices that support sense of belonging and identity safety for underrepresented students. This work, to mitigate the impacts of stereotype threat, discrimination and bias, is critical to support the success of students marginalized by our educational system. But we need to ensure that these efforts do not substitute for changing the actual system that makes such efforts necessary.

Becoming an anti-racist institution will require us to learn about and  value the tremendous assets that our historically marginalized students bring to the college experience.  We must stop judging students’ capacities based on narrow metrics that align with our own experiences and the existing culture of higher education and build an educational experience that capitalizes on our students’ diverse assets.

Becoming an anti-racist institution will require fundamental changes to how we align resources to students, providing them support commensurate with need and what is required to achieve equity. We must ensure that programs supporting historically marginalized students (e.g., summer bridge programs, need-based aid) are resourced at levels surpassing those of programs that support largely white, higher income students (e.g., honors programs, merit aid). We must support participation in high-impact educational experiences that improve learning, persistence and career placement at rates equal to white students, including removing barriers to access such as GPA thresholds  and  financial support for lower income students to complete unpaid experiences.

Becoming an anti-racist institution requires ensuring that every student who enrolls at our institutions learns about the history of systemic racism in the U.S. and its impacts on the lived experiences of marginalized populations and on our society, in the past and in current times. Our students must learn how to critically examine racism, meritocracy and equality and develop the skills needed to effect change at all levels of the system. If higher education truly serves the public good, that broader good cannot be achieved until systemic racism is widely understood and recognized, and we equip our students with the tools needed to dismantle it.

Becoming an anti-racist institution will require changing the criteria for hiring, tenure and promotion so that equity-informed, racially-literate, high-quality teaching is sought after, required and rewarded at the same level as research grants and impact factors. We must ensure that the faculty population accurately reflects the racial and socioeconomic profile of the students we serve. We need to provide adequate support for faculty so that they can practice equity-minded and racially conscious pedagogy.

Finally, becoming an anti-racist institution will require consideration of racial equity in every decision we make on campus. For every practice and policy under consideration, we must answer key questions: Who, by race or ethnicity, will benefit most? How will it impact minoritized students of color? Are we seeking to “fix” the students of color, or the conditions we’ve created that marginalize them? If the policy or practice marginalizes students of color, it is not enacted. Period.

Becoming an anti-racist college or university will require us to hold ourselves accountable, not just for our efforts around racial equity, but for the outcomes we achieve. These actions will require courage on the part of administrators, board members, faculty, staff and students, especially in the face of backlash from those who would prefer to maintain the status quo and the discomfort that will be created.

If we can redefine our worth as an institution in terms of how much we reduce racial inequity in educational outcomes, we can become part of the solution in the fight for racial equality. Doing so will allow us to not just survive the current reckoning in higher education but thrive as our students and communities join with us to create a more just society.

Denise Bartell is the Associate Vice Provost for Student Success at the University of Toledo. She leads the University’s work to build equitable learning environments on campus through the Student Experience Project.

We are saddened and outraged by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and too many others. Their tragic deaths and the ensuing events, compounded by the disproportionate impact of the COVID crisis, shine a spotlight on the deeply-rooted racist and oppressive systems that continue to inflict trauma and violence on communities of color. We stand with those protesting racism and violence in our country and condemn the violence perpetrated against them.

Anti-Blackness continues to pervade every aspect of our country – healthcare, housing, the economy, and education; colleges and universities are no exception. We bear witness to the suffering, pain and anguish of our Black students and colleagues and commit to anti-racist action, individually and collectively. The SEP is committed to self-examination to understand and address our own biases, and to dismantling structural racism by transforming policy, practice and culture to support equitable student experience and success.

On November 11, 2019, a collaborative of university leaders, faculty, researchers, and national education organizations launched the Student Experience Project (SEP), aiming to help universities provide supportive and equitable learning environments to foster a sense of belonging on campus. Working with six public urban universities, the SEP will put into practice more than a decade of social psychology research demonstrating positive experiences of community, belonging, and support on campus and in the classroom can increase a student’s likelihood of persevering through academic challenges toward graduation.

As institutions of higher education enroll more diverse student populations than ever before, national data on college student success reveals the urgent need to design campus environments to foster equitable learning and achievement. While institutions are testing, implementing, and scaling innovative practices, they know that student experience must be transformed to ensure every student has an equal opportunity to graduate. At four-year institutions, 56.4 percent of students graduate within six years. Another 11.4 percent transfer to another institution and graduate within six years. Completion rates remain significantly lower among students of color, students from low-income households, and those who are the first in their family to attend college, who face barriers to entry into college.

“Every student deserves an equal opportunity to graduate. The six universities involved in the Student Experience Project are stepping up to advance a promising and bold new avenue for helping every student achieve a post-secondary degree,” said Shari Garmise, Executive Director of the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities and Vice President for Urban Initiatives at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, which are jointly providing support for the initiative. Research shows that when students experience a sense of belonging and schools provide support in and out of the classroom, they’re more likely to persist through academic challenges and earn their degrees. >We have emerging tools and the will to take action to change this.”

The Raikes Foundation is supporting the SEP and helped bring six higher education organizations together to advance the initiative.

“All young people deserve an education that prepares them for success in their careers and beyond. However, in our education system, race, class, gender, and ability-status too often predict students’ chances of earning a college degree. The Raikes Foundation is proud to support research-based efforts like the Student Experience Project to create a more equitable path forward for students, in this case, by working to foster a sense of belonging, community and support on college campuses,” said Jeff Raikes, co-founder of the Raikes Foundation. “We’re excited to see the innovative practices colleges and universities develop while working collaboratively to redesign the student experience.”

The six participating universities, which were selected from a national competition, are:

• Colorado State University
• University of Colorado Denver
• The University of New Mexico
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte
• University of Toledo
• Portland State University

The institutions will collaborate on testing, implementing, and scaling innovative practices to transform the college student experience and support student success.

The SEP will first launch with a focus on improving equity in students experience in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Significant data show that students in STEM fields face unique challenges to feeling a sense of belonging and staying on track academically. Once piloted among students in STEM disciplines, leaders will create replicable models that can be applied more broadly on campus, for students studying in all fields.

“As educators, we have a role to play in ensuring students feel connected and supported, which we know is a challenge in STEM fields,” James Hook, Associate Dean of the Masseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science at Portland State University. “The SEP gives us an opportunity to learn from each other, become more effective educators, and train the next generation of academics to contribute to our field—starting with putting student experience at the center.”

The SEP is a partnership between six national education organizations committed to tackling inequities in college education:

• Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
• Coalition of Urban Serving Universities
• College Transition Collaborative
• Education Counsel
• PERTS
• Shift