The Impact of Discrimination beyond Sense of Belonging: Predicting College Students' Confidence in Their Ability to Graduate

Data from the Healthy Mind Study were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression analyses to determine the role of discriminatory experience in students' confidence in their ability to persist through graduation, controlling for age, extracurricular activity participation, housing, years in their degree program, and their sense of belonging. The final sample consists of 4,708 college students--57.1% women, 70.8% Whites, 7.4% Blacks, 10.4% Asians, and 10.4% Latinx. A final hierarchical multiple regression with discrimination and covariates revealed an overall model that explained 15.5% of the total variance of confidence to persist (F [12, 4574] = 76.762, p < .001). The frequency of discriminatory experiences explains a statistically significant percentage of the variance in students' confidence in their ability to persist. Thus, efforts to minimize students' discriminatory experiences need to be increased. This study offers an initial step that institutions can implement to serve and retain their students better.