An Examination of Ongoing Associations Between Ethnic/Racial Discrimination and Experiences of Belonging Among Black and Latinx Students Attending a Predominantly White Institution

ABSTRACT Using longitudinal data collected across four years of college among a sample of Black and Latinx students enrolled at a predominantly White Institution (PWI; N = 170; 71% women), the present study investigated how experiences of ethnic/racial discrimination on campus may have influenced students' sense of belonging across their college years. We focused on two distinct dimensions of belonging: school belonging (externally focused) and school identity (internally focused) to assess the extent to which they may have been influenced by ongoing experiences of ethnic/racial discrimination on campus. Time‐varying covariation analyses showed that ongoing ethnic/racial discrimination experiences were associated with lower levels of both school belonging and school identity; however, across the study time points, associations between discrimination and school belonging were more consistent and stronger than associations between discrimination and school identity. Our findings suggest that though experiences of ethnic/racial discrimination on campus may undermine external and internal perceptions of belongingness among Black and Latinx students, internal perceptions of belongingness may be preserved, potentially as a form of resistance to stigmatizing messaging.