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Abstract
Racial microaggression, (e.g., subtle slights based on race) are associated with increased poor mental and physical health for Black Americans. For Black American college students attending historically white colleges/universities (HWCUs), these effects may be stronger; many of these institutions carry legacies of slavery, white supremacy, and scientific racism, which Black students must navigate while trying to attain an education. The subtlety inherent to the nature of microaggression may mean that contextual differences have a larger effect on the relationship between microaggression and adjustment, however no quantitative synthesis has yet isolated microaggressions’ effects on Black college students’ adjustment across different US regions and institutional contexts. Therefor this dissertation seeks to expand upon the body of literature that examines microaggression and adjustment for Black students at HWCUs using a meta-analytic framework. Results suggest that Black students’ adjustment is negatively impacted by racial microaggression, and that these effects are more pronounced in the North and South US when compared to the Midwest. Furthermore, these differences extend to Black students’ academic adjustment, indicating that these effects impact multiple aspects of these students’ lives and health. Other contextual factors and methodological differences are tested and considered as moderators using a meta-analytic lens.