Date Awarded

1992

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Education

Advisor

Thomas Ward

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to document the racial attitudes and racial identity development scores of White students in a liberal arts environment. of particular interest was gender differences, classification differences, and Greek/nonGreek affiliation differences. Furthermore, an effort was made to predict the racial attitude and racial identity development scores using self-report biographical variables.;The College of William and Mary, a public liberal arts university was the institution studied for this project. A stratified random sample was obtained of all White students attending the College. Participants completed the White Racial Identity Attitude Survey (WRIAS), the Racial Attitude and Opinion Scale (ATTW), and a personal data sheet.;It was hypothesized that there would be a significant difference in scores between those with a Greek affiliation and those without a Greek affiliation, males and females, and freshmen and seniors. More specifically, Greeks, males and freshmen would score higher on the ATTW and lower on the WRIAS than would nonGreeks, females, and seniors, respectively. This would signify more negative attitudes toward Blacks and a less healthy racial identity.;The results indicated five of the six hypothesis to be supported to a certain extent. Even though the total population reported positive racial attitudes, Greek males and freshmen may need to be provided with additional educational opportunities concerning race to bring them closer to the same level as the other groups.;It was also concluded that colleges need to address the issue of race and racism. High scores on the lowest stage of the racial identity development model indicated that respondents were naive about the topic of race in general.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25774/w4-c4g8-tx90

Rights

© The Author

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