Students' of Color and European American Students' Stigma-Relevant Perceptions of University Instructors

In classrooms students of color may experience stigma (i.e., concern about being stereotyped) because negative stereotypes of their intellect are salient. Two studies included African American, European American, and Latina/Latino female and male undergraduates. Study 1 ( n = 86) demonstrated while students of color generally had positive expectations of teachers, their expectations declined when imagining class with a European American instructor who would repeatedly versus never evaluate their work or an ethnically matched instructor across conditions. Study 2 ( n = 136) revealed all students had more positive expectations of culturally tolerant versus culturally intolerant instructors. Students of color more than European American students perceived that intolerant instructors could grade them unfairly. We discuss implications for ethnically diverse classrooms .