Food for Thought: Frequent Interracial Dining Experiences as a Predictor of Students' Racial Climate Perceptions

Abstract

This article describes a study that explored factors which influenced undergraduate students' perceptions of the racial climate at a predominantly white liberal arts university in the South. Mixed methods results suggest that race, aspects of the institutional climate, and frequent interracial dining experiences in the campus cafeteria differentially affected students' campus racial climate perceptions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maria R. Lowe

Maria R. Lowe is a Professor of Sociology at Southwestern University; [email protected]. Her scholarship analyzes issues related to race, gender, and social justice in higher education in the South both historically and presently. She has published in a number of fields, including sociology and history.

Reginald A. Byron

Reginald A. Byron is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Southwestern University, [email protected]. His current research interests include how race, gender, and age stratification manifest in employment, educational, and criminological contexts. His work has appeared in Work and Occupations, Social Forces, and The Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. Lowe and Byron are colead authors of this article.

Griffin Ferry

Griffin Ferry and Melissa Garcia are 2012 graduates of Southwestern University.

Melissa Garcia

Griffin Ferry and Melissa Garcia are 2012 graduates of Southwestern University.