Expectations of Educational Success as a Mediator Between Racial Discrimination and College GPA

Dominique Thomas

Dominique Thomas Georgia State University Department of Psychology http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9023-4905

Abstract

Racial discrimination experiences continue to be an issue for African American college students. Such experiences can lead to African American students having lower expectations to academically succeed, leading to lower academic performance. The study has three hypotheses. First, greater perceptions of racial discrimination will be related to lower expectations for educational success. Second, higher expectations for educational success will be predictive of higher academic performance. Third, greater perceptions of racial discrimination will predict lower academic performance through the negative effect of racial discrimination on expectations for educational success. The findings supported all three hypotheses. Racial discrimination significantly predicted expectations for educational success. Expectations for educational success significantly predicted academic performance. Racial discrimination had a significant indirect effect on academic performance via expectations for educational success.

Author Biography

Dominique Thomas, Georgia State University Department of Psychology

Graduate Research Assistant, Community Psychology

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