Race Ethnicity and Education
ISSN: 1361-3324 (Print) 1470-109X (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/cree20
How racialized students navigate campus life in a
mid-sized Canadian city: ‘thrown against a white
background’ but ‘comfortable enough to laugh’
C. Susana Caxaj, Shirley Chau & Ilya Parkins
To cite this article: C. Susana Caxaj, Shirley Chau & Ilya Parkins (2021) How racialized students
navigate campus life in a mid-sized Canadian city: ‘thrown against a white background’
but ‘comfortable enough to laugh’, Race Ethnicity and Education, 24:4, 503-522, DOI:
10.1080/13613324.2018.1511528
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2018.1511528
Published online: 03 Sep 2018.
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RACE ETHNICITY AND EDUCATION
2021, VOL. 24, NO. 4, 503–522
https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2018.1511528
How racialized students navigate campus life in a mid-sized
Canadian city: ‘thrown against a white background’ but
‘comfortable enough to laugh’.
C. Susana Caxaj
a
, Shirley Chau
b
and Ilya Parkinsc
a
School of Nursing Faculty of Health and Social Development, University of British Columbia Okanagan,
British Columbia, Kelowna, Canada; bSchool of Social Work Faculty of Health and Social Development,
University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada; cGender and Women’s
Studies Department of Community, Culture and Global Studies Irving K. Barber School of Arts and
Sciences, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
ABSTRACT
ARTICLE HISTORY
We studied how racialized students navigate and cope with campus
life amidst a context of discrimination in a midsize Canadian city.
Using a situational analysis approach informed by participatory
action research principles, our analysis revealed two overarching
themes: (1) Thrown Against a White Background, representing frequent encounters of White normativity and supremacy often experienced through racially-based social stigma, marginalization and
tokenism and; (2) [I am] Not at Home But I Feel Comfortable
Enough to Laugh: students’ struggles to build a sense of home
constrained by limited infrastructure and supports to sustain their
efforts. This research points to the need for service providers to
explicitly acknowledge cultural differences as opportunities to build
rapport with racialized students, and, to consider normalized and
overt racism as key determinants of students’ progress and wellbeing. Ultimately, policies that build on racialized students’ efforts
and vision for a more inclusive community must be fostered.
Received 22 January 2018
Accepted 9 August 2018
KEYWORDS
Racism; university well-being;
coping; resilience; equity;
people of colour
Introduction
Universities are key players in the development of young minds, and are increasingly
considered a necessary milestone for various career pathways (Shan 2009). A diverse
professional workforce is an essential ingredient to culturally relevant health and social
services for the ever-changing demographics of Canadian society (Etowa, Foster, Vukic,
Wittstock & Yuden, 2005). Yet racial identity continues to be a critical factor in
determining experiences of exclusion as well as various complex factors that can
threaten or exacerbate individual’s physical and mental health status (Williams and
Mohammed 2013). Consequently, universities are responsible to foster understanding
across ethno-cultural differences in their student body, and to support both the success
and well-being of racialized students.
Both domestic and international students may identify as ‘visible minorities’1 and
represent a significant percentage of racialized students and the student body at large.
CONTACT C. Susana Caxaj
Susana.caxaj@ubc.ca
© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
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C. S. CAXAJ ET AL.
In the 2016/2017 academic year, the University of British Columbia (2016) reported the
enrolment of 14,430 international students from 162 countries, roughly 23% of the total
student population. At the University of Toronto (2016) roughly 19% of the total
student population were international students from over 168 countries, and at
McGill University (2016), 33% of the students were international students. Notably,
33.6% reported a mother tongue other than English and French. These numbers suggest
that Canadian campuses reflect the wider society, which encompasses a great deal of
ethno-cultural and racial diversity.
University students as a whole face several challenges adapting to university life, such
as feeling homesick (Thurber & Walton, 2012), and navigating new institutional and
socio-cultural environments (Wintre et al. 2011). A strong identity is central to these
adjustments in the post-secondary context because it is foundational to well-being,
belonging and academic achievement (Perreira, Fuligni & Potochnick, 2010). One’s
racial and cultural identity in particular, is a key resource for resilience, well-being, and
community building (Caxaj and Berman 2010; Caxaj 2015) and significant in predicting
a positive experience of a campus climate. While extensive research exists on racialized
students in the United States, few studies have been conducted in metropolitan regions
of Canada, and even less research has been carried out in academic settings in mid-size
cities, environments in which racialized students may encounter unique health
challenges.
Within a Canadian context, mid-size cities can be defined as cities with populations
between 100,000 and- 1 million people (Government of Canada 2017). There is a need for a
nuanced analysis of the unique factors that contribute to racialized students’ well-being and
sense of self in mid-size city university environments. Examining the processes by which
racialized students navigate campus life, given their particular identities, and, how these
experiences impact their overall wellbeing, has the potential to highlight unique strategies
for health promotion within these contexts. Given the growing mental health challenges
documented in universities throughout the Western world (Ibrahim Kelly, Adams &
Glazebrooke, 2013), it is imperative to develop culturally relevant, context-driven
approaches that account for unique student identities and backgrounds. This research is
highly relevant to many university settings because these learning environments are
typically characterized as high-pressure, isolating and a time of great transition (Thurber
& Walton, 2012).
This article reports on our findings from interviews with 14 students who identified
as racialized or ‘person of colour’ (POC) and/or immigrant or refugee in a midsize city
in British Columbia. This city has a population of 194,882 with eight per cent selfidentifying as visible minorities.2 With a long history of political and social conservatism (Young, 1978), Christian missions, and discourses of White dominance (Tedesco
and Bagelman 2017); the region is experiencing transition, through a great deal of
development, gentrification and pockets of progressive/liberal movements. A touristic
destination unusual for a city its size, notions of the area as quintessentially White are
reified through marketing tactics that appeal to a certain type of lifestyle and recreation.
Our research was able to capture the unique ways that students navigate this context,
maintaining a protective and cautious presence both on and off campus to ensure the
integrity of their racialized selves.
RACE ETHNICITY AND EDUCATION
505
The key aim of our research was to understand how students navigate campus life in the
context of their particular identities at a university situated in a midsized Canadian city, and
further, to uncover the social processes used by students to cope with or resist experiences of
discrimination. Using a situational analysis (SA) approach informed by participatory action
research (PAR) and an intersectional lens, these study results are one component of a larger
study examining three identity groups. These identities, often intersecting, included: LGBT
+/queer, Indigenous/First Nations/Aboriginal and racialized/POC students. In order to do
justice to each of the focus identities of interest, we have developed separate analyses and
written reports to foreground each identity of focus. This article foregrounds students who
identified as ‘people of colour’ or racialized or ‘visible minorities’.
The nation-building of Canada: colonialism and containment
In 2011, 20% of the Canadian population was foreign-born, the highest of all G8
countries. In fact, roughly 1 out of 5 individuals residing in Canada identify as ‘visible
minorities’. Among this group, 3 out of 10 were born in Canada with several groups,
such as Japanese, Black, and Chinese populations having a long-established history in
Canada spanning multiple generations (Statistics Canada 2011). This history has been
fodder for nationalist rhetoric and image-crafting of the state as uniquely charitable,
cosmopolitan and forward-thinking.
Yet the building of the Canadian state is also inextricable from its colonial, inequitable treatment of the Indigenous peoples of Canada. In light of the 150th celebration of
Canada’s formation, Indigenous peoples have continued to problematize Canada’s
brand of multiculturalism, highlighting failures by the government to engage in reconciliation, including continued procedural shortcomings in the implementation of the
Missing and Murdered Women Inquiry, disparities in clean drinking water faced in
Indigenous communities, infringements on Indigenous sovereignty through resource
extraction, and continued consequences of cultural genocide (Truth and Reconciliation
Commission of Canada 2015; Unsettling Canada 150 2017). At the heart of these
concerns is a lack of recognition that Canada has been built through a process of
colonization, not settlement (Mawani 2004).
Canada’s migration policies also have a long history of restricting entry on the basis
of race, class, and national origin; in fact, racism was legislated in various ways. Some
examples include: the ‘preferred countries list’ of 1910, identifying particular European
and American desirable nationals while ‘doing all in its power’ to keep out others
considered unsuitable; the Chinese Head Tax of 1885 and the subsequent Chinese
Exclusion Act of 1923 (Mawani 2004), and the 1947 immigration policy specifying
the need for exclusion of persons from the Asian continent on the basis of preserving
society’s ‘character’ (Thobani 2000). An increased economic reliance on temporary
migrant workers with limited pathways towards citizenship has also enabled and
reinforced a normalized racialization of social inequality (Thobani 2000). Even with
Canada’s transition to an immigration point system based on universal ‘skills’ in 1967
and the first statement against racial/ethno-cultural discrimination in the immigration
act of 1976, the disparity in infrastructure for migrant recruitment in different regions
of the world reveals a continued bias and preference for migrants from Western
European nations (Jakubowski 1997; Thobani 2000).
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C. S. CAXAJ ET AL.
Canada’s history also reveals practices of internal displacement and policing of nonWhite bodies. Notable examples include the forced removal and internment of Japanese
Canadians from 1942 to 1949 (Day 2010), and the demolition and displacement of
residents of Africville (Nelson 2008). These cumulative practices have resulted in the
naturalizing of a Western European White presence and identity as the dominant or
default character of Canada. Ultimately, history reveals that the nation of Canada does
not contain or reflect the existence of migrants, racialized peoples or Indigenous
peoples; instead, its existence has depended on the displacement, containment and
uprootedness of these very populations.
These dynamics also shape the social and cultural contexts in university environments in Canada. In 2010, Maclean’s published an article entitled ‘Too Asian?’, suggesting that universities with a large Asian population in which ‘some students feel that
they can no longer compete or have fun’. Considering this ‘dilemma’ the authors
suggested that the influx of Asian students introduced irreconcilable norms that
threatened traditional (i.e. White) campus life characterized by ‘social interaction,
athletics and self-actualization’ (Findlay and Kohler 2010). These discourses reveal
many racist social myths that continue to shape university environments for racialized
students. In particular, they reveal a(n) (i) continued construction of us versus them
that maintains the status of racialized students as ‘forever foreigners’ (ii) essentialization
of various nations and cultures as monolithic that obscures political and economic
constraints that may drive so-called ‘Asian behaviour’, and (iii) puts the onus solely on
Asian students to be accepted, thus portraying them as responsible for their own
exclusion. These racist ideologies function to normalize White privilege and entitlement
over aspirations of meritocracy and non-discrimination (Coloma 2013; Cui & Kelly,
2012). This ‘us versus them’ narrative continues to persist in university settings. In July
of 2017, the Vancouver Sun reported that international students were ‘squeezing out’
domestic students at UBC. Even though many of these students may be White in
appearance coming from the USA or England, (Marcus 2017; Wang 2017) it is likely
that racialized students – both domestic and international – will be the targets of this
racist moral panic.
Review of the literature
Racialized and international students in non-Canadian universities
Racialized and international students face unique stressors throughout their postsecondary education. International students in particular may face difficulties related
to financial stress, language barriers and having their culture misunderstood or poorly
recognized (Chang 2011; Sherry, Thomas, and Chui 2010). A sense of connectedness
with host communities is significant because it has been linked to psychosocial coping
among international students (Zhang & Goodson, 2012). Yet students’ social networks
may be limited to other international students (Sherry, Thomas, and Chui 2010).
Sherry, Thomas, and Chui (2010) surveyed 104 international university students in a
mid-size city in the USA and found that roughly 50% of them felt excluded in the wider
community. Despite the importance of peers of a shared cultural background in
building belonging, many students had difficulties linking with these peers. Notably,
RACE ETHNICITY AND EDUCATION
507
75% of students surveyed in this study, reported feeling included in the university
community (Sherry, Thomas, and Chui 2010) suggesting that campus and community
may be very different environments for racialized students to navigate.
Racialized college students in the USA, particularly Black Asian and Latinx students,
often report underestimation of their abilities, being recipients of behaviours that
convey that they do not belong, racial/cultural isolation, dismissal of racial oppression,
undue scrutiny, and exposure to culturally inappropriate practices. Other common
racial microaggressions reported among racialized students include being treated as
an outsider, being exoticized, having their intellect scripted or assumed, having their
unique ethno-cultural background diminished, and being pathologized by virtue of
their cultural values or style of communicating (Nadal 2011; Sue 2010; Sue, Capodilupo,
et al., 2007; Torres-Harding et al. 2012; Yosso et al. 2009). Latinx students in the USA
have reported differential treatment from professors, lack of racialized mentors or
adequate cultural representation, exclusion or avoidance by their peers, and exposure
to racial slurs and racist stories (Yosso et al. 2009). Although experiences of discrimination may vary across cultural and racial identities due to diverse histories of oppression,
some experiences, such as feeling devalued in comparison to White counterparts, may
be shared across various racialized groups. Ultimately, chronic exposure to these subtle,
yet harmful, forms of racism have psychological and physical consequences for the
health of racialized individuals (Torres-Harding et al. 2012).
Some research indicates that international students use different coping strategies
than domestic students when facing a problem; these strategies may be more or less
effective at reducing depressive and stress-related symptoms in comparison to domestic
students (Sapranaviciute, Perminas, and Pauziene 2012). Research with racialized graduate international students in the USA reveals that these individuals may be uniquely
challenged by financial, language stressors and social isolation due to the nature of their
work and the duration of their studies. Further, because these students may be
particularly academically-driven, they may accept an extreme level of isolation and
financial duress in order to prioritize their studies (Chang 2011). Yet quality and
quantity of ethnic community membership and a positive cultural identity have significant positive impacts on racialized students’ sense of self-worth and their assessment
of a campus environment (Sherry, Thomas, and Chui 2010). Thus, it is crucial to
understand the nature of students’ challenges and how they navigate these challenges in
a university environment.
Racism, racialized identities and Canadian universities
The experiences of racialized students in Canadian university settings have received
less attention in the literature, though some important work has illustrated the
nature of gendered and racialized inequities among university faculty members and
the systemic nature of racism and Eurocentrism in universities across Canada
(Henry, Dua, James, Kobayashi, Li, Ramos, & Smith, 2017; Mahtani, 2007; Samuel
& Wane, 2006; Spafford et al. 2006). Several accounts point to working conditions
and administrative norms of university settings that continue to marginalize and
exclude racialized faculty (Henry et al. 2017). This, in turn, constrains a university’s
diversity to mere representation, by limiting the scope of lived experiences, relational
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accountabilities, cultural values and knowledge claims that are recognized in academic institutions (Dua and Lawrence 2000; Henry and Tator 2009, 2012). The
simple number of racialized faculty influences racialized students’ learning environment and these numbers are significantly lower in smaller universities, perhaps
because of the location of these campuses (Henry, Choi & Kobayashi, 2001).
Unfortunately, a focus on faculty composition alone is often used to give an
appearance of meeting a racial diversity mandate, rather than serving as a catalyst
towards improved equity across campus (Spafford et al. 2006). Further, analyses of
racial discrimination policies in universities have been found to be lacking wide-scale
impact (Dua 2009) which ultimately impacts the learning environment of racialized
and Indigenous students.
Studies with racialized students in Canadian universities indicate that this population may have to work harder to establish academic credibility amidst inadequate
support and mentorship. Research with Black and Black Caribbean university students indicates that socio-economic and familial obligations may be unacknowledged
academic barriers (Hernandez-Ramdwr 2009). Systemic racism also impacts academic
success among this group (Codjoe 2006). Yet a strong sense of identity, a desire to
contribute to the betterment of one’s community and combat racist stereotypes may
be both a protective and motivating factor for academic success of racialized students
transitioning into post-secondary education, particularly among Black cohorts
(Codjoe 2006; Gosine 2007; Hernandez-Ramdwr 2009). These same factors have
been identified in prior research in the USA (Gordon 2012). Two studies focused
on Asian students in Canadian universities also confirm that the nature of racial
discrimination is similarly felt to that which has been described in the USA.
Microaggressions, such as one’s culture being devalued, being avoided, having intellect attributed to one’s ethnicity, being tokenized and being made to be invisible, or
alternatively, singled out, were reported in both a metropolitan university setting
(Houshmand, Spanierman, and Tafarodi 2014) and a White-dominant mid-size city
setting (Samuel 2004). Notably, Houshmand et al. reported that students were able to
draw support by drawing from a wider ethno-cultural network of support available in
the metropolitan region (2014). In contrast, this wider network would not be as
available to students in a mid-size city setting. In fact, Samuel found that participation
in extracurricular activities further alienated Asian students because the activities did
not reflect a valuing of cultural and racial differences (Samuel 2004).
Further, in transitioning to a Canadian university setting, racialized students may
come with prior experiences that disadvantage them. International racialized students
and new immigrants, for instance, may have to navigate English language training that
can perpetuate racist stigma and linguistic discrimination (Kubota & Lin, 2009).
Racialized high school students within Canada (roughly 67% of high-school students),
seeking role models and mentorship that can aid in transitions to postsecondary
education can be difficult. In fact, the teaching workforce in the Canadian public school
system continues to falls short in representing the racial diversity of the wider public
(Ryan, Pollock & Antonnelli, 2009). Once in university, a variety of political and
economic constraints continue to influence student’s academic trajectory (James and
Taylor 2008) albeit not in a uniform manner (Grayson, 2014).
RACE ETHNICITY AND EDUCATION
509
Research design
This qualitative study was guided by PAR principles and employed a situational analysis
(SA) methodology and intersectional lens to direct both data collection and analysis.
PAR is a methodological tradition that prompts the researcher to share ownership of
the data and analysis with community members who are most affected by the study
topic in order to bring about positive and tangible results to participants (Caxaj 2015).
Guided by these principles, we trained and mentored 3 undergraduates: 1 Black
international student, 1 Indigenous domestic student, and 1 White trans-domestic
student, to conduct data collection and contribute in data analysis. Likewise, our faculty
research team members also brought a diversity of unique identities, including
Guatemalan/Latina/Mestiza, Korean, Chinese, and White, with 3 of the 4 of us also
identifying as queer. We met regularly to reflect on interviews and our emerging
analysis, reflexively applying an intersectional lens.
An SA is a poststructural feminist approach congruent with an intersectional participatory approach to research. Central to this approach is a sensitivity to multiple and
competing discourses as they manifest politically, socially, culturally and temporally/geographically (Clarke 2005). Clarke suggests that a SA approach is an orientation to truths
that accounts for contradictions, structures of power, and both the collective and individual
agency of actors (i.e. humans) and actants (i.e. objects) (2005). This orientation is aligned
with an intersectional lens that considers systematic and interacting structures and understands power as both relational and multiply determined (Choo and Ferree 2010). In order
to remain alert to these complexities, we used both ordered and messy maps to prompt the
research team reviewing the audio-recording to consider both implied and explicit issues of
power and resistance, as well as to get at the question of ‘what is happening here’? Each
person transcribing quotes or carrying out interviews (3 students and 2 faculty members)
also made note of their feelings, reactions and moments of discomfort during the initial
interview and in follow-up reviews of these interviews.
Each participant was given the choice of participating in only a one-on-one interview, only a focus group interview, or, to participate in both. Participants were also
interviewed by interviewers of their choosing to ensure their comfort. We accommodated requests to be interviewed by people of a similar background to them or a
dissimilar background to them, a women-only interview, an LGBTQ-only focus
group, a POC-only focus group, an Indigenous-only focus group, and a preference to
participate with people of diverse backgrounds. The only request we were unable to
accommodate was one student’s request for a male-only POC focus group. Most
students opted for a combination of a one-on-one interview and a focus group
(n = 10) while the remaining students preferred to only participate in a one-on-one
interview. In these cases, students sometimes were timid or wanted to discuss their
sexuality as well as their racialized identity in a more private setting.
In total, we recruited 34 students in the larger study, 14 of whom identified as
racialized, non-White or people of colour (POC). These students described themselves
in many ways, including immigrant, refugee, Black, Asian, Latinx, and Indigenous.
Roughly half were international students and a few students identified as LGBTQPIA
(n = 4). Most reported ties to other countries other than Canada with the most
common regions being in Asia, followed by countries in Latin America. Few students
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C. S. CAXAJ ET AL.
who identified as Indigenous in our study also identified as racialized or POC. Selfreported identities were gleaned during pre-interview screening sessions through openended questions over email or phone (depending on the student’s choice) and typically
further elaborated during the interview sessions. Students were encouraged to list their
cultural, sexual and racial identities rather than to choose between particular ones.
Questions posed were both personal and reflective and typically open-ended and could
include inquiries such as: Can you tell me about a time you felt you belonged (or didn’t
belong) on campus? What’s it like to be a student here? If you had advice for a student
like you starting here, what would you tell them?
Data analysis was simultaneously conducted with data collection and for about 1 year after
(2015–2017). First, student researchers and the primary investigator held bi-monthly meetings to share interview highlights and reflections. Personal reflections were also regularly
documented through field notes shortly after an interview. This furthered our intersectional
analysis as this reflexive practice helped us consider how our social locations were imbedded
in our interpretations of emerging data (Hulko 2009). Second, each interviewer developed
situational maps and narrative summaries following interviews or focus groups they carried
out. These maps were used to identify the relationships between various actors and capture
the complexity by which power and discourses are negotiated (Clarke 2003), and ultimately,
employ an intersectional lens by prompting us to uncover and deconstruct identities intra/
inter-categorically, relationally, and in constant flux in response to changing histories and
contexts (Hulko 2009; Knudsen, 2006). In order to develop a consistent process, team coding
through the use of exemplar codes was also carried out. Third, 3 team meetings with student
researchers and the primary investigator were carried out to identify emerging findings and
larger concepts of interest through a variety of practices, including concept maps and smallgroup discussions. Fourth, 3 team meetings with all interviewers and faculty team members
were carried out to begin to consider substantive code clusters and potential higher-level
themes. Fifth, each faculty researcher was given the analytic documentation thus far (e.g.
narrative summary, ordered map) of a number of interviews and developed higher level codes
to propose at a team meeting (Clarke 2005). Lastly, these higher-level codes were refined and
finalized through discussion with student researchers and the primary investigator over 2
meetings. Through this individual and collective reflexive work, we were able to draw from
the intersubjectivity of our social positions (Knudsen, 2006) that enhanced our intersectional
interpretation of our data.
Results & discussion
Given our particular focus on POC identities, our findings do not capture the full
intersectional complexity of our student participants. Thus, a few observations to
contextualize these findings are worth noting. First, several LGBTQ+POC students
were closeted, and felt that to disclose this identity could jeopardize their peer group
who typically consisted of other racialized students. While heterenormativity among the
POC population appeared to be a factor, students expressed that the visible LGBTQ
+community was White, both in terms of culture and representation, so to seek out this
community would be to deny their POC identity, or exacerbate feelings of alienation.
POC LGBTQ+students, like their White POC counterparts, were often in the process of
further discovering their sexual orientation/gender identity/ies; yet for POC students
RACE ETHNICITY AND EDUCATION
511
this experience was unique because they did not see a visible LGBTQ+community that
they could/wanted to belong to, and consequently, disclosure held less appeal for this
group. Second, the few Indigenous POC student participants in our study shared many
of the same concerns and insights as their non-POC identifying Indigenous peers (e.g. a
desire for greater recognition of Indigneous knowledge in the classroom). Yet a distinct
observation shared by POC Indigenous students was their keen awareness of colourism;
they alone discussed differential treatment that is experienced among POC-identified
Indigenous peers depending on how characteristic their phenotypical appearance was to
a ‘typical’ Indigenous person.
These intersecting experiences certainly were at play in the 2 key themes shaping
challenges and opportunities for wellbeing among all racialized student participants
within this mid-size city ‘university town’:
(1) ‘Thrown Against a White Background’: encounters with a narrative of White
normalcy or superiority characterized by (a) students as outsiders or threats; (b)
framed as the problem and; (c) superficial adoptions of cultural differences:
extraction versus exchange
(2) ‘[I am] Not at Home but I Feel Comfortable Enough to Laugh’: racialized students’
efforts to create approximations of the familiar or a construction of home, with
little but their own ingenuity and limited formal supports.
Double quotations denote direct quotes from participants. We elaborate further below.
(1) ‘Thrown against a white background’
1a. Students as outsiders or threats. Racialized students reported consistent readings
as outsiders or threats. This could trigger a precarious sense of belonging or even
safety. Many students had grown up in larger diverse metropolitan regions and were
shocked by the degree to which their non-White appearance provoked questions
about their background or status, often with the assumption that students were
foreign to, or visitors to, Canada. One student, a second-generation Chinese man,
felt tired of having to constantly explain what had brought him to the region and
needing to prove that he could speak fluent English when in public spaces such as
the grocery store or bank. When asked if he could be himself as a student, he
responded:
Off campus I don’t feel so much . . . I find that in [town] there is a very small Asian population
so, a lot of times when I go to like different places . . . they always ask like ‘why are you here, is it
school, is it work . . . ‘And I’m just like well I wasn’t a student until now. Actually I was living
here . . . that’s kind of rude. Actually I was living here. I actually live here. But the way they’re
phrasing it, it’s like ‘do you work here? Do you go to school?’ Luckily, I’m a student so they’re like
‘ oh ok’ and that’s like their explanation for why this “foreigner” is here.. . . the first few weeks I
was actually really shocked.
A Latino student reported feeling a constant sense of hostility or suspicion directed
towards him when in public spaces, maintaining his marginality. He reflected:
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“. . .when I go on the street, it takes me five minutes to realize I’m not from here. . . People
don’t look at me like I’m from here. And they make you feel they are not from here.”
Other students also shared day-to-day encounters of being questioned, surveilled or
treated poorly because of their racialized status. Common experiences included being
stalled in dance club lines to let ‘Canadians’ (i.e. Whites) in first, being denied entry
into bars because of their nationality or appearance, being followed in stores or accused
of stealing, and being physically assaulted and called racial slurs in the city centre. This
kept students on edge out of concern for their basic physical safety. University students’
experiences of racism in predominantly White settings have been documented elsewhere (Samuel 2004). Yet participants in our study appeared to have particularly
explicit experiences with racism, in addition to the racist microaggressions that are
typically reported in North American studies.
Some students theorized that these experiences were largely shaped by a town that
they considered very White dominant and socially conservative. Some expressed that
the town celebrated a very White monolithic ideal that perpetuated racism but stood in
contrast to the realities of campus life. One Central American male noted:
“You know how in magazines they have mostly beautiful people running around the
beaches? That’s [name of town]. Literally, you see the city in the summer, and they’re all
models. . . and then campus is a bit more real, you have diversity, you have every single
skin tone, body type, sexuality preference, and I like that a lot.”
One Latin American female described an encounter with a hairdresser in town:
This woman was telling me how she didn’t like how the university was bringing all these –
she came to live in [town] because she liked that it didn’t have a lot of immigrants and
stuff, and she was telling me all these things. And I was like OK, thanks for telling me?! . . .
that also made me realize, OK I don’t belong here . . ..
Yet while most students agreed that experiences of racism were more pronounced in
off-campus settings, students also reported many experiences of discrimination in their
academic environments. For students of mixed racial identities, a common White
narrative complicated their desire to assert their unique identity while also navigating
experiences of discrimination. One White and Asian student described her experience
with White peers:
They’ll talk about Asian people like I’m not there . . . someone asked me, do you identify as
an ethnic minority? And I was like, of course I do! I have to deal with this every day!
In addition, students who moved to the region from other countries or more urban
regions of Canada, reported a sense of alienation and culture shock related to a lack of
diversity and representation of their own backgrounds. Lamenting, ‘where is my culture?’!
Students did not see their own cultures represented in the social fabric of the town or the
university. In academic settings, some students also had to navigate White cultural norms
that did not feel familiar or comfortable for them. One Chinese male student reflected:
I feel they [professors] don’t know everything . . . Because a lot of the classes I feel they
want – Like, it’s’ a very Western style of teaching oh you have to participate in class, raise
your hand and everything, and culturally I’ve been taught to never raise my hand in class
and speak in class because of levels of respect. So everytime I see a course outline . . . and
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513
it’s just like, participation required, blah blah blah . . . I always get very nervous, They don’t
understand it’s a very hard challenge for me to speak up in class. I’ve been taught to never
challenge the teacher in front of everyone you do it during office hours or stuff like that . . .
You’re quiet and you just take notes, and you listen. While here it’s more like, we want to
see students engage . . . That makes it very hard for students who haven’t grown up in that
culture of teaching style . . ..
Failure to recognize racial and cultural differences in the classroom can play a significant role in institutionalizing disadvantages for racialized students in academia. A
false White universalism in pedagogy may be reified by instructors and administrators
when values and norms behind teaching and evaluation practices go unchallenged
(Duhaney 2010).
1b. ‘Framed as the problem’.Racialized students also experienced objectification and
reported experiences of being problematized on the basis of their non-White status.
These experiences caused emotional harm and isolation. One South American student
discussed his difficulties making White friends. He found that his different culture,
accented English and appearance always marked him as a ‘funny’ novelty, token person,
or ‘clown’. It was only by playing up or caricaturing his ways of being, that he felt he
had any cache with most of his White peers. Another student had been targeted by a
group of White Christian peers for conversion because of her Muslim identity. This
peer group referred to her as a ‘challenge sent to them’, and for a full school year,
appealed to her to ‘not make things so difficult’ and to accept Christianity. She
described feeling overwhelmed and isolated by the experience, especially because it
was so explicit:
I remember that really hurting me, and being like what’s going on. I didn’t feel supported.. . . I felt the pressure to be like this way, because maybe, especially because I was in
this group, it was so direct, it wasn’t even subtle or indirect.
Experiences of ‘being framed as the problem’ also included feeling that they needed to
apologize for sharing their opinions on racism in a predominantly White classroom, being
expected to represent or justify a whole group’s behaviour or practices (e.g. culture,
nationality), and, for multilingual people, lack of opportunities to speak their native tongue.
Students’ accounts also revealed that much of the onus for campus harmony was
placed on them, despite a continued context of racist discrimination on campus. This
pressure was not only attributed to their White peers, rather, participants saw this same
attitude among many administrators, educators and service providers. A consensus
among many participants was that there was limited awareness or action in regards to
acknowledging and remedying White privilege in both the university and town. One
Black student shared:
I think here . . . especially on this campus I have found an overwhelming ignorance in like
what White privilege is and the definition of that to a minority person . . . where, everything that – all the cultural events are catered to like the ‘minority’ like, to the oppressed
groups. But there haven’t been enough events – in my opinion – catered to what we deem
as ‘normal, to understand their privilege of what they’ve received because of their ancestral
history.. . . because how else are you going to know what line you stand on if you don’t
even know you are standing on a line kind of deal . . ..
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Due to this disparity in education and awareness-raising, racialized students also
reported feeling that the onus was on them to absorb and navigate racist sentiments.
Further, students questioned the effectiveness and appropriateness of diversity campaigns that did not address White privilege. One Latino graduate student used the study
(the one reported here) as an example:
this is a big issue. . . white people understanding themselves. . . You’re gonna make a report
that white people are gonna read, and they’re gonna decide what to do to make us feel
more integrated. . . but come on, it’s not about what we have to do, it’s about what they
facilitate for us. It’s how do they open their minds. . . Because if they open their minds. . .
then there is nothing to do.”
Clearly, most racialized students had not seen much evidence of White allyship both in
town and on campus. They saw a university culture that did not address White privilege
or counter the myth of White accommodation; and further, did not honour a true
cultural exchange through their institutional and service-level commitments.
As noted by others (Henry et al. 2017), the culture of Whiteness prevalent in
Canadian universities makes it difficult both to effectively address acts of racial discrimination, but also, to prevent the occurrence of such acts. Further, a review of equity,
diversity and anti-harassment policies in Canadian universities notes that such policies
are riddled with procedural bureaucracy, informal processes that lack public accountability, and mandates that are not enforced. One factor contributing to the ineffectiveness of such policies is that they are often motivated by a desire to maintain an
untarnished public image and a competitive edge in the recruitment of students
(Henry et al. 2017). This, of course, does not spur acknowledgement of incidents of
racism and action to eliminate it. As in prior literature, participants reported working
together to increase cultural understanding across differences (Fincher and Shaw 2011;
Guo and Chase 2011) in the absence of these same motivations among their White
peers (Baker 2017; Cabrera, 2012)
1c.Superficial adoptions of cultural differences: extraction versus exchange. Last, students expressed frustration about the superficial adoption of cultural differences that
lacked a genuine exchange of values and ideas. Further, they reported that programmes
and services failed to engage or represent the complexities of racialized students.
One common example brought up by students pertained to activities that performed
tolerance or acceptance, but ultimately, constructed racialized students as aesthetic
props, or ‘sprinkles on top’. One female student who identified as both Indigenous
and racialized stated:
Like their culture [White people] is entrenched in all the things we do. And then they say,
‘oh, it’s so cool you have a culture I don’t even have a culture,’ you know? Like just because
ours is like, so. . . I dunno, just sprinkles?”
Students described various university programmes or events geared towards racial or
cultural diversity as inauthentic, an act to make the university look good, mandated but
not truly internalized by faculty and staff, fragmented, and of little long-term impact.
Students often felt that these events reified their differences as purely exotic curiosities
and did very little to promote cultural exchange or understanding. Further, in lieu of
genuine celebrations of difference, some students noted that the services that were
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available did not build community as much as they offered services under the auspices
that racialized people had ‘problems’ which could perpetuate racist stigma. When asked
if the campus celebrated diversity, one Chinese student commented:
I haven’t seen too much of it.. . . I know there are culturally-specific services . . . but I feel
like those are more like, you know, if you go there, you’re the one who needs help type of
stereotype or prejudice I guess. There is a negative connotation. Why did you go there?
Something must be wrong.. . . there is much more than one aspect of a person . . ..
These larger narratives filtered into day to day interactions that students experienced
with their peers. Some students felt bombarded by questions or probes about their
culture or background that lacked a spirit of reciprocity. As a result, racialized students
tended to retreat into themselves in order to focus on emotional protection. Some
racialized students expressed being careful in terms of whom they shared personal
information with. One student from a refugee family explained that her caution about
her background, despite its importance to her, stemmed from the ways in which she
had experienced people reducing her as only a product of this experience.
it was always like, I felt like it became like this cool story to them you know – like oh, tell
me about . . . my sister and I talk about this sometimes, we feel like our Afghan identity,
like it defines everything we are but like not at the same time you know. It’s like you want
to tell everybody, like ‘this has impacted me so much,’ but then you don’t want them to
look at you and be like . . . you’re that story, you know?
Similarly, other students expressed keeping these identities concealed even if salient to a
classroom discussion or a campus therapy session, preferring to disclose such experiences with people who were bound to ‘get it’, in order to not have White fragility factor
into the conversation. Little research has documented Canadian university student’s
experiences of cultural tokenism, objectification and a superficial acceptance of difference. Yet prior research with faculty have documented cultural tokenism through
‘cultural taxation’, an expectation that racialized faculty will contribute to equity
initiatives on campus while simultaneously devaluing this work (Samano 2007).
Experiences among racialized students and faculty are undeniably different. Yet the
context reported in prior research and in our current findings illustrate a dynamic of
espoused equity and diversity in the absence of campus buy-in to implement anti-racist
multiculturalism.
2. ‘[I am] . . . not at home but i feel comfortable enough to laugh’
Students reported several strategies to build a sense of comfort, familiarity and a
community of support amidst challenges. These networks of support were not typically
widespread but were tight-knit and often occurred in what many students referred to as
‘pockets’ in which a sense of understanding and camaraderie seemed more achievable.
However, these spaces were initiated and maintained largely by students themselves
with limited infrastructure or funding, making these supports precarious, and access to
them, dependent on an individual’s efforts.
The few formalized services that did exist could provide a sense of support for some
racialized students. Although catered to international students, non-international and
international racialized students alike often utilized the same programme in order to
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find opportunities to connect and to access a sense of understanding and collective
recognition. One Latin American student commented:
The [name of] programs and services at [location] I think, makes me feel. . . not at home, but I
feel comfortable enough to laugh at things that happen here that don’t happen back home. Just
even irregularities of stuff here, the things we see that we are appalled or weirded out by.
For these students, these spaces provided an opportunity to create counternarratives to White normativity and superiority. Prior descriptive research
among international students has highlighted the importance of social spaces to
consider cultural differences and its influence on university life as a way that can
both affirm and support international students. Nonetheless, institutional supports
to facilitate this type of dialogue is very much lacking in the Canadian context
(Guo and Chase 2011).
For some, the limited services and programmes on campus did not meet their
expectations for a university with a particular reputation. Yet sometimes it was normalized as a product of the university’s size and scale. Exacerbating experiences of isolation
for many students however, were the limited connections to programmes and services
off campus. One international Latin American student noted:
I mean the campus is young and it’s still growing and it doesn’t have all the facilities that
students expect that comes with the [university] name, but you know, I think a large
portion of that can be compensated with the things that are downtown. .
A very salient challenge to almost all racialized students interviewed also related to the
level of individual responsibility required for them to seek the supports and the sense of
community that they desired. Many characterized the university as a place with
fragmented and predominantly informal networks of support that were difficult to
access and maintain. One student reflected:
“.. . . I feel like it’s inclusive in little pockets. And not in a big general sense. . .. It makes it
feel almost like cliques or something, rather than just. . . diverse and inclusive overall in
general.”
Prior research with racialized and White students in universities in Australia and the
USA similarly documented racial segregation and micro-communities (Cabrera 2014;
Fincher and Shaw 2011). Both of these studies observed that White students expressed a
strong preference to befriend White peers and a viewpoint that it was racialized peoples’
responsibility to adapt to White culture (Cabrera 2014; Fincher and Shaw 2011).
Cabrera (2014), who focused on White male college students’ perspectives, also
observed that this racial segregation made it so that students’ viewpoints of race (i.e.
denial of racism or White privilege) went unchanged throughout their studies.
Participants also felt that the emotional energy and courage that was required to seek
networks of support could be overwhelming for either themselves or others like them.
One senior-level student of Middle-Eastern descent who had worked hard to find a
sense of community in her later years of schooling after encountering frequent incidents of racism early in her programme, reflected on this dynamic:
And so I worry like what if somebody had that experience and they’re like maybe a bit
more shy or they don’t know how to like find the right resource and I think about how
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517
they would feel and then being stuck because . . . and that’s what I don’t like and so that’s
what unsettles me. Because even I have moments that I’m like, OK, I don’t want to actively
be seeking spaces. . ..
A fair number of students had also helped develop or maintain spaces of support for fellow
racialized students. Motivated by a desire to make sense of racial hostility and discrimination that they encountered during their university life, these students had wanted to
change campus culture in a tangible way. One student described these types of initiatives
on campus stating ‘. . . they come from a lot of passion . . . when they have those types of
cultural clubs or groups, it’s just a form of celebrating and coming together’. Paradoxically,
it was perhaps the limited formal services, that enabled students to play an influential role
in shaping campus life. One Latin American female student noted:
It seems like there are a lot of people willing to do things, to try fill the gaps that exist on
campus. And I think that’s really beautiful – that not everything exists but there are people
who want to make things happen.
Yet despite the positives of having the opportunity to shape campus culture, students
recognized that this was a huge undertaking that could not simply fall on the shoulders
of students. This same student noted:
There is a lot of responsibility on students that if there’s not something there, that they
have to do it themselves. And I think to an extent that’s ok but not everyone is going to be
like OK there’s this gap and this moment, I’m going to do something about it. Sometimes,
people have different circumstances and they can’t. If someone goes through something
and they’re really upset, they’re not gonna go and start a club, you know? If something that
you didn’t notice, I guess some people would but not everybody would.
Since these initiatives typically lacked institutional support, they also were only as
sustainable as the student’s academic tenure or capacity. Yet students felt an urgency
to create a campus culture that affirmed and encouraged racialized voices and lived
experiences. They observed however, that day to day struggles to simply be oneself as a
racialized student remained at the forefront. In the words of one racialized student,
reflecting on the experience of the racialized student body ‘Like, they can’t just exist,
they have to find a place to exist’.
Conclusion & implications
Our findings shed light on the persistence of systemic racism that exists in Canadian
universities such as our site of study. Students reported frequent experiences of
discrimination and the adverse impacts of facing such treatment. Their personal
accounts speak to the burdens they continuously navigate, and the strategies they
(must) develop to conscientiously undo oppressive forces that envelope their day
to day lives. Through experiences of ‘Thrown Against a White Background’, students
illustrated ways in which their sense of safety was challenged through overt and
subtle forms of racial discrimination. Their very presence was problematized or
treated as inferior, and, their culture was only superficially taken up, and as a result,
often tokenized. Through experiences of ‘[I am] not at home but I feel comfortable
enough to laugh’, students developed sanctuaries of cultural exchange with other
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racialized students and sites of strength and resistance in community organizing and
campus leadership. Yet campus culture remained largely fragmented, initiatives
lacking in longevity, and the onus for participation unduly placed on students
because of a lack of institutional support and administrative buy-in. Public service
providers, including universities, must anticipate experiences of racial inferiorization
as both a source of anxiety and isolation. An authentic championing of cultural
differences may require simultaneously challenging ‘common-sense’ racism that may
have a cumulative impact on the wellbeing of racialized students, as well as more
overt forms of racism that are a direct threat to students’ health and safety. Our
research suggests that mid-size cities that are considered White dominant or limited
in ethno-cultural diversity, may be particularly challenging for racialized students in
this regard. For LGBTQ+POC students and LGBTQ+Indigenous students, a White
dominant climate may further limit their ability to build a sense of community and
strengthen their sense of self.
Prior research indicates that the effect of anti-racist policies in universities is significantly limited. In order to better support racialized university students in mid-size city
settings, such policies must be championed and enforced by senior administration (Dua
2009). Further, university leaders must develop programmes and policies to name and
address White privilege. They must build the infrastructure to sustain student initiatives
that counter racism and foster opportunities for cultural exchange. Campus administrators
and other public institutions can learn from POC students’ practices to better embrace
cultural engagement and curiosity that is often lacking among predominantly White
organizations. Ultimately, racialized students have much to contribute to the wider
community. Yet the campus community and public sector is accountable to ensure that
their safety, comfort, participation and wellbeing is supported and championed.
Notes
1. The Canadian government defines visible minority as non-White in colour or ethnic
origin and not Aboriginal (within Canadian borders).
2. In order to protect the anonymity of the setting, we are unable to provide supporting
references.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
This work was supported by the Hampton Endowment Fund, UBC Internal Funding;
ORCID
C. Susana Caxaj
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5393-6406
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9499-3888
Shirley Chau
RACE ETHNICITY AND EDUCATION
519
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