Adverse bias experiences: mechanisms of racism, sexism, and heterosexism in the university context

ABSTRACT Pierce (1970) originally conceptualized microaggressions as incessant “subtle and stunning” assaults on Blacks which function to emphasize their presumed lesser status relative to Whites. Recent scholars have expanded and applied the concept to domains other than race, such as gender and sexual identity. This research indicates a lack of consensus regarding the type of bias-based behavior to which the concept applies. I situate microaggressions within a larger phenomenon termed adverse bias experiences that range on a continuum of severity from microaggressions to hate crimes. Most studies examine microaggressions experienced in one domain. This singular focus obscures the experiential and theoretical commonalities of bias-based behavior across multiple domains. To address these gaps, I present a model of adverse bias experiences which covers a range of bias-based behavior occurring across multiple domains, specifically race, gender, and sexual identity. I illustrate the model using data from a mixed-methods study utilizing a stratified random sample from a large public university in the southeastern United States in which students describe their on-campus experiences with bias. This study enables us to recognize adverse bias experiences as mechanisms of power deployed in domain-specific patterns which function to achieve the same goal – the oppression of subordinate social groups.