The Impact of Microaggressions on African American College Students' Worry About Future Employment: The Moderating Role of Campus Support and GPA

Several studies have documented the negative outcomes that anxiety and microaggressions (discrimination) have on African-Americans. However, few investigations have examined the impact of microaggressions on African-American college students’ worries about their future employment and potential mitigating factors. GPA and campus support which have been shown to predict overall campus success may influence this association. The purpose of the current study is to: 1) examine the association between microaggressions and worries about future job prospects in African American college students, and 2) determine if perceived campus support and academic performance (measured by students’ GPA) serve as buffers against this potential association. Secondary data analysis was used, with the study sample consisting of African-American college students (n = 225) from a Predominately White Institution (PWI). Participants had a mean age of 20.56 years (SD = 1.87) with females comprising 73.60% of the sample and males comprising 24.60%. It was hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation between microaggressions and worry about future employment. Further, both campus support and school GPA were purported to moderate this association such that they would act as buffers on the racial microaggression-worry about future employment relation. Results revealed that campus supported buffered the effect of microaggressions while GPA worsened the effect of microaggressions on worry about future employment. Future directions and implications are discussed