We Went There: Frequency and Correlates of Directly Experienced Community College Stigma

Eric Mania (Quinsigamond Community College), Amy Coleman (Quinsigamond Community College), Paige Turcotte (Quinsigamond Community College), Jenner Gaitan (Quinsigamond Community College), Sarah Young (Quinsigamond Community College), Maria Snell (Quinsigamond Community College), Meghav Patel (Quinsigamond Community College)

Stigma emerges when a social identity is devalued by others. This study shows that community college (CC) students frequently encounter this kind of devaluation tied to their CC identity. Multiple regression analyses further indicate that the psychological patterns seen in other stigmatized groups also appear here. More frequent direct experiences of CC stigma predicted increased internalization of negative stereotypes and stress, as well as lower cognitive well-being and expected career success.

Community college (CC) students who have transferred to four-year institutions have achieved academic success (Michaels, 2020). Nonetheless, CC is viewed as a bridge between high school and university rather than valid higher education (Gauthier, 2020; Laird, 2019). Stigma is a devaluation of one’s worth stemming from an identity viewed unfavorably by others (Michaels, 2020; Shaw et al., 2019). Given the inferior status granted to CC, students may experience CC stigma. Research investigating CC stigma is limited. Most studies are qualitative examinations of the experience of transfer students with a CC background, not current CC students (Laird, 2019; Michaels, 2020). Such studies reveal perceptions of CC as lower quality education for academically weaker students, and as preparation for lower-level employment (Gauthier, 2020; Laird, 2019). Additionally, transfer students with a CC background express feelings of academic inadequacy and exclusion from new peers (Shaw et al., 2018; Laird, 2019).

Research across stigmatized identities demonstrates connections between stigma and many negative outcomes. Quantitative findings show racial stigma negatively correlates with self-esteem and life-satisfaction among Black youth (Seaton et al., 2008). Meta-analytic work establishes correlations between weight stigma, heightened psychological distress, lower self-esteem, and lowered well-being (Emmer et al., 2019). Awareness of stigmatizing stereotypes among gay males relates to lower self-worth and life-satisfaction while belief in the accuracy of such stereotypes predicts depression, anxiety, and stress (Hinton et al., 2019). Stigma across various identities has also been linked to expecting rejection and diminished occupational performance (Frost, 2011).

Expanding on qualitative research of CC stigma, our research aims to quantify the frequency with which CC students experience stigma and to calculate correlations between experiencing CC stigma and negative outcomes. We hypothesize more frequent direct experiences of CC stigma will predict internalization of negative stereotypes, stress, lower cognitive well-being, and diminished expectations of career success.

I also noticed how disconnected these tools were from physical reality. There was nothing linking physical health and hygiene with mental hygiene. This was a serious flaw.

When you eat something you think you shouldn’t and feel shame about it, that affects your capacity. If you forget to brush your teeth and feel self-conscious about your breath or appearance, that affects your capacity and social energy. When you don’t eat or drink enough, the headaches and irritability that follow affect how you show up in the world.

These apps also asked for demographic data like gender and race, but the features never reflected how those factors shape mental health or daily capacity. Being non-white, a woman, or trans directly affects how people experience burnout, safety, and productivity. Yet the tools acted as if everyone’s needs were the same.

I soon realized that we all needed something that tied everything together and treated all facets of living as part of a full human experience.

Data came from a national Psi Beta computerized survey of 2,041 CC students. The survey measured directly experienced stigma (DES) using six Likert-style questions (1=“never” to 4=“all the time”) capturing exposure to demeaning comments, discouragement from attending, and discrimination related to CC enrollment. Stereotype internalization was assessed with nine Likert-style items. Participants responded with the extent they thought negative stereotypes of CC students described themselves on a 1=“not true” to 5=“very true” scale. Specific items examined belief that one lacks academic skills, that one is unfit for intellectual challenge, that one is unintelligent, and that one is unmotivated. Cognitive well-being was measured with Diener et al.’s (1985) five item Satisfaction with Life Scale utilizing a 1=“strongly disagree” to 7=“strongly agree” format. Stress was assessed using the stress component of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale short form (DASS21) (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) using a 0=“Did not apply to me” to 3=“Applied to me very much or most of the time” format. Expected career success was measured on a 1=“not too successful” to 7 = “very successful” scale using the following item adapted from Heslin (2003): “How successful do you expect you will be in whatever career you pursue after completing your education?”

Analyzing DES items revealed a majority of participants (88.5%) experienced CC stigma. Examination of individual DES items found 76.6% of participants were encouraged to attend a 4-year institution over CC. A majority also had heard negative remarks about CC (69.6%), had someone make unflattering assumptions about them because of their CC attendance (58.7%), and experienced exclusion due to being a CC student (56.1%). Only 40.4% of participants felt discriminated against as a CC student, and just 29.0% had been advised to hide their CC enrollment.

Multiple regression was used to examine how internalization of negative stereotypes, cognitive well-being, stress, and expected career success were predicted by DES after controlling for age, first generation student status, gender, and racial or ethnic minority status. DES significantly predicted internalization of negative stereotypes (𝛃=0.13, p<0.001), cognitive well-being (𝛃=-0.15, p<0.001), stress (𝛃=0.27, p<0.001), and expected career success (𝛃=-0.12, p<0.001).

Our study quantitatively documents experiences of stigma among CC students. That a majority of participants reported some experience of CC stigma suggests that stigmatization is common among CC students. This corroborates qualitative findings pertaining to experiences of stigma among CC students (e.g.,Gauthier, 2020; Laird, 2019; Michaels, 2020).

In addition to providing data on the prevalence of CC stigma our findings highlight similarities between the correlates of CC stigma and other types of stigma. Prior research has shown that across contexts of race, gender, weight, sexual identity, and psychiatric diagnosis, stigma negatively correlates with cognitive well-being, life satisfaction, self-worth, and expectations of success. Our findings demonstrate CC student status is an additional source of stigma that correlates with these negative outcomes.

While our research appears to establish CC stigma as a common experience for CC students that may contribute to negative outcomes, caution is required in drawing these conclusions. The sample was not random, but composed of convenient volunteers, raising the possibility that participants may have atypical levels of DES connected to their CC student identity. However, even if rates of DES are inflated by sampling bias, the sheer number of students who reported DES reveals these experiences are hardly rare. Also, while negative outcomes have been posited as consequences of stigma in prior work (e.g., Frost, 2011), we must acknowledge the present research is correlational, which prevents establishing direction of causality. This could be addressed in future work.

Knowing many CC students experience stigma should motivate attempts at reduction. The experience of CC stigma could also be an intersectional cause of compounded stress for students who possess multiple stigmatized identities. Experimental examinations of reducing CC stigma could establish strategies to mitigate such stigma and illuminate the causal role of such stigma in contributing to stress and other concerning correlates of stigma. Strategies for managing stress caused by stigma towards other identities may also be useful for managing CC stigma-related stress.