'Oh Cool, I Don't Fit': Multiracial College Student Experiences in Race-Specific Cultural Spaces on Campus

This research study utilized a critical multiracial theoretical framework to explore the lived experiences of self-identified Multiracial individuals who participated in race-specific cultural spaces while in college. The purpose of this study was to identify how self-identified Multiracial students in traditionally white institutions experience racial identity, othering, and belonging within racial/cultural affinity spaces. This study highlights the racialized experiences of an often-overlooked Student of Color group. This inquiry seeks to understand the ways in which institutions can better support Multiracial students of color to develop a positive sense of belonging within racialized spaces. Purposive and maximum variance sampling were used to select eight self-identified Multiracial individuals who reported parentage different racial identities and who participated in race specific cultural spaces while in college. Data were gathered using one-on-one, semi-structured, narrative interviews with each participant and aimed to center the unique experiences of self-identified Multiracial college students engaging in monoracially defined affinity spaces. Data were analyzed using interpretive and descriptive coding that sought to honor the lived experiences of the participants and tell their stories from their point of view (Brinkman & Kvale, 2018). Primary findings of this study suggest that (a) Multiracial students seek identity affirmation and community within racial/cultural affinity spaces; (b) Multiracial students experience racism and monoracism both inside and outside of racial affinity spaces; (c) Multiracial students experience an internalized sense of othering in racial affinity spaces even when no overt cues are given: (d) the absence of Multiracial identity representation in race and cultural affinity spaces reaffirms a sense of exclusion and othering that Multiracial students experience. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]