DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS

Kris Smith
(1992)

Gender differences and the impact of college on
White students' racial attitudes.

Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, School of Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

ABSTRACT: The negative effects of campus racism on minority students are well documented but little attention has been given to the effects of this racism on white students. The conceptual model for this study is based on a social-psychological, developmental perspective which considers the ways student background characteristics and entering beliefs are mediated and moderated by the institution to affect students' racial attitudes as measured by their support for affirmative action practices within a university setting.

The data are drawn from a longitudinal study at a major research university and include white students who responded to the first two panel surveys (n = 485). Analysis techniques include hierarchical regression and path analysis.

Major findings indicate differential influences by gender. Male attitudes toward university affirmative action practices for students of color became less supportive during their first year of college and were influenced more by their perception of racial group differences and the campus racial climate. Females became more supportive and were influenced more by their level of attributional complexity and their class exposure to racial issues.

While the findings support the moral development theories of Kohlberg and Gilligan, they go further to support racism theories that indicate that cognitive complexity is necessary to enhance an individual's support for affirmative action. Other findings indicate that the institution not only mediates students' background characteristics and entering beliefs, but that the institution's racial climate serves to moderate the relationships between the individual factors and their end of the year attitudes toward affirmative action.

The study provides a framework within which to consider the development of racial attitudes and the more general issue of moral development, especially for women. The study also offers practical implications for institutions that wish to promote a multicultural agenda which encourages an understanding of other racial groups.