Running Head: Race on College Campuses

Race on College Campuses:

What are the different ways we frame our opinion of our fellow classmates
Melissa Corts
Dr. Corbin Campbell
October 2014

By 2050, less than half of Americans will be whitejust 47%having become

the minority race within our country. This shift will eventually level the playing field,
leaving no majority race to feel superior. As much as we would like to think that racial

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prejudice is behind us, the sad truth is that minorities still struggle with this racism. But
what is race, and how is it interpreted? This literature review will discuss the theories
from notable contributors in the field of diversity. It is important that we understand the
theories of the experts so that we can come up with realistic and applicable solutions for
ridding students on college campuses of negative perspectives of race.
Regardless of the fact that most people will agree that the idea of race is a social
construct, there still exists the notion that biological influencers determine race. Omi
stated, innate racial differences haunt the ongoing debate about the political and social
meanings of race. (p.349) Later, Markus explained that it was this idea that race was
determined biologically is what let to psychological responses, such as pride in who you
were or prejudice against other racial groups. Reviewing anthropological and historical
uses of race, Smedley and Smedley (2005) clarified that even though biologically based
racial groups are fiction, contemporary racialized science continues to perpetuate
notions of immutable racial groups based on perceived biological or genetic factors
Williams and Eberhardt (2008) explain, there are two general ways of thinking
about these concepts of race: that race is a definite difference in our biological make-up
the essentialist theoryor that these ideas began as a social construct in order to place
certain groups at a hierarchal disadvantage. Experts agree that the idea of race is just a
social construct; that biologically there is no real difference across different racial groups
(Smedley & Smedley, 2005). However, they are also aware that there are in fact these
innate differences that we are born into the world with andwhile they may only be
physicalthese differences will often lead to racial groupings and differing social
outcomes (Johnston, 2014).
This is not to say that we have not come a long way from where racial prejudice
used to be. It is true that in some areas racial diversity is actually encouraged and

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welcomed. For example, Johnston (2014) notes that while we may not specifically
understand what constitutes these racial conceptions, when used properly they present us
with a variety educational benefits for the students. In order to determine the scope of
what these benefits can be, Johnston (2014) conducts a study to try and understand
students conceptualization of race. He believes that if we can understand what students
are thinking and how they come to these conclusions about race, then we can utilize these
findings in higher education in order to minimize the negative attitudes that are often
linked to racial diversity.
Hurtado (2007) points out that it is important to understand these underlying
conceptualizations that the students have because they can either strengthen or undermine
the goals of an institution to create socially responsible citizens in a democratic
multicultural society. As higher education professionals it is our responsibility to gather
this information so that we can use it effectively.
According to Williams and Eberhardts (2008) Race Conception Scale (RCS)
students who subscribe to the essentialist way of thinkingmeaning that they felt that
race differences were biologically determinedwere more likely to succumb to
stereotypical ways of thinking and less inclined to remove this idea of racial disparities.
Williams and Eberhardt also found that these students were less likely to socialize across
racial barriers where as those who felt that race was a social construction were more
likely to have a racially diverse group of friends. So thanks to past research we can
assume how conceptions of race will impact a students behavior. However, there was a
lack of research that showed what these underlying conceptions of race actually were.
The common thread within much of this paper is the class of biological and nonbiological conceptions of race. For example, Williams and Eberhardt (2008) outlined race
conceptions as either (a) biologically essentialist, where race is understood to be a

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fundamental and stable source of division among humankind that is rooted in our
biological makeup, or (b) socially constructed, namely, understanding that race was
initially created for purposes of maintaining a hierarchical social order but now [is] a
meaningful marker of cultural orientation, social identity, and experiences with
discrimination (p. 1033). Distinguishing racial conceptions in either/or terms create the
possibility of potential for binary thinking that may limit our understanding of more
complex and nuanced notions of race. For instance, students may understand race outside
of this biological-versus-social question of conceptions(Williams & Eberhardt, 2008),
or they may simultaneously hold multiple racial conceptions. To capture this potential
phenomenon, Morning (2009) thought that individuals may have a tool kit or repertoire
of resources (e.g., symbols, stories, rituals) to pull from when constructing strategies for
action. Morning suggested the idea of a specific tool kit for race, one in which students
might carry multiple racial conceptions and engage them depending on their reading of
the situation to be deciphered (p. 1186).
Exploring the various ways students conceptualize race is important for better
understanding how different racial conceptions may relate to various attitudes and
behaviors. In their review of studies related to underlying conceptions of race or what
they termed lay theories of race, Hong et al. (2009) outlined important differences
when comparing individuals who endorsed an essentialist theory of race (i.e., attributing
biological or genetic essences to determining race and related group-based traits) to
those who held a more social constructionist view of race. Essentialist lay theories are
related to thinking of racial and ethnic group categories as more rigid, displaying
increased likelihood of stereotyping and prejudice, and demonstrating less flexibility in
switching between different cultural frames (Hong et al., 2009).

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One prominent example of this research comes from Williams and Eberhardts
(2008) series of studies using their validated Race Conceptions Scale (RCS). The authors
demonstrated that students who conceptualized race biologically were more likely to
endorse African American stereotypes than students who held a socially constructed view
of race. Williams and Eberhardt found that biological racial conceptions, in addition to
influencing stereotypes, related to attitudes that racial disparities were insoluble and
feeling less moved by racial disparities, when compared to students with socially
constructed racial conceptions. These attitudes may influence behavior by limiting ones
motivation to take action toward ending racial disparities. Also suggesting the influence
of racial conceptions on behavior, Williams and Eberhardt found that students with
biological racial conceptions had less interest in cross-racial social interactions and had a
less racially diverse group of close friends than those students with socially constructed
racial conceptions.
These works evidence demonstrate that underlying racial conceptions are
important to investigate in higher education, as they influence a number of outcomes
important for higher educations goal of educating students to become citizens in a
democratic multicultural society (Hurtado, 2007). To further study how these
perspectives on race are present on college campuses, it would be useful to study (1) are
these conceptions worse in a certain generation/better in another?; (2) what are the
underlying conceptions of race that college students have?; and (3) what are the factors
that contribute to these negative views of race?

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References
Johnston, M. P.(2014). The Concept of Race on Campus: Exploring the Nature of
College Students Racial Conceptions. Journal of College Student
Development 55(3), 225-242.
Hirschfeld, L. A. (1996). Race in the making: Cognition, culture, and the childs
construction of human kinds. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Hurtado, S. (2007). Linking diversity with the educational and civic missions of higher
education. Review of Higher Education, 30(2), 185-196.
Hong, Y., Chao, M., & No, S. (2009). Dynamic interracial/intercultural processes: The
role of lay theories of race. Journal of Personality, 77, 12831309.
Morning, A. (2009). Toward a sociology of racial conceptualization for the 21st century.
Social Forces, 87. 1167-1192.
Omi, M. (2010). Slippin into darkness: The (re)biologization of race. Journal of Asian
American Studies, 13(3), 343-358.
Passal, Jeffrey S., & Cohn, DVera. (2008). U.S. Population Projections: 2005-2050. Pew
Research Center. Washington, DC. 10-18.
Smedley, A., & Smedley, B. D. (2005). Race as biology is fiction, racism as a social
problem is real: Anthropological and historical perspectives on the social
construction of race. American Psychologist, 60, 16-26.
Williams, M. J., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2008). Biological conceptions of race and the
motivation to cross racial boundaries. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 94, 1033-1047.