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Date of Award
Spring 2022
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Major
Educational Studies
First Advisor
Daniel Douglas
Abstract
This qualitative study examines Black students’ experiences at Trinity College, a predominantly white institution. It seeks to address two questions: “What factors contribute to or impede Black students’ classroom participation at Trinity College, a predominantly white institution, and how does this change when the student attended a majority white school before enrolling in college?” From nine semi-structured interviews, the study revealed that levels of diversity in the classroom, the desire to achieve, fear of judgment from their peers, racism, and their professors’ race impacted participants’ decisions to actively participate in class. To address the second part of the question, I found that generally, there was a high level of convergence in how the racial demographics of the classroom, professors’ identities, curriculum, etc., impacted participants with different schooling backgrounds. Nevertheless, participants’ backgrounds also revealed moments of divergence in how elements such as the curriculum, a professor’s identity, classroom demographics, etc., impacted their participation—often in distinct ways.
Recommended Citation
Platt, Ayanna, "Immersed in a Sea of Whiteness: How Black Students Describe their Participation at Trinity College". Senior Theses, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 2022.
Trinity College Digital Repository, https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/theses/976
Comments
Senior thesis completed at Trinity College, Hartford CT for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Educational Studies.