Social Networks of Students of Color: A Qualitative Study of Black, Latino, and Asian Undergraduate Interracial Interactions and Close Friendships

The college experience serves as a mechanism for distributing social capital, or beneficial interpersonal connections, creating lasting impacts beyond college in terms of social support, opportunities for upward mobility, and solidarity between groups. This study seeks to center college social network research on students of color (SOCs) and answer the questions of (1) how undergraduate SOCs perceive and experience casual interracial interactions and close friendships, (2) what challenges may exist for the development of connections between undergraduate SOCs, and (3) what role, if any, Greek and cultural student organizations play in shaping the racial makeup of SOC’s social networks. Taking a qualitative approach, 12 in-depth semi structured interviews were conducted with Black, Latino, and Asian students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Thematic analysis was conducted in Dedoose without imposing a priori hypotheses. Findings are organized into four overarching themes aligning with the study’s research questions: SOC casual interracial interaction, SOC close friendships, challenges to interracial connections, and college organizations. This research suggests that SOCs at UNC have mostly positive, but limited experiences with other racially minoritized groups on campus. SOC social networks could potentially be strengthened through intentional student organization programming, and future research should investigate SOC interracial collaboration in regards to social justice.