Moments that Matter: The Role of Micro-affirmations in the Ability of Students of Color to Thrive in College

20-Minute Presentation

Laurie Schreiner, Ph.D., Higher Education

Christine Guzman, Graduate Student, Higher Education

This sequential, explanatory mixed-method study used structural equation modeling to determine the campus experiences that predicted thriving in 367 students of color on seven campuses. We interviewed 14 students of color in the explanatory qualitative phase of the study to elucidate the themes evident in the quantitative phase. Quantitative results indicated that the major contributors to the variation in thriving in these students were their psychological sense of community on campus, satisfaction with faculty interactions and sensitivity to diverse students and perspectives in the classroom, perceptions of institutional integrity, levels of spirituality, certainty of major, frequency of interaction with faculty, and levels of campus involvement. Qualitative findings indicated that small affirming moments termed micro-affirmations (Rowe, 2008) appeared to contribute meaningfully to the thriving reported by these students of color.