Examining the academic toll of online racial trauma exposure on college students

Supported by a Spencer Foundation grant, their study will investigate how vicarious racial trauma exposure affects academic outcomes for minoritized students.

In today’s digital age, college students, especially those from racially and ethnically minoritized backgrounds, are frequently exposed to racially traumatic content, such as news of police violence, discrimination, and war. This constant exposure can negatively impact mental health, concentration, motivation, and academic performance. 

To explore how these increasing exposures to online content affect academic outcomes, Amanda McLeroy and Nestor Tulagan, assistant professors in counseling and human development at the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education and Human Development, received a Spencer Foundation small research grant. Their project, “Examining the Impact of Vicarious Exposure to Racial Trauma Online on Academic Functioning in Emerging Adulthood: A Mixed-Method Approach,” will examine the relationships between vicarious racial trauma exposure and students’ academic experience and performance.

Using a mixed-methods approach, the research team will gather data through surveys, questionnaires, and daily diaries from 200 undergraduate students across four-year institutions in the U.S. This multi-dimensional approach will help examine how racial-ethnic identity and socialization impact the adverse effects of racial trauma exposure on academic outcomes. 

“Our study aims to highlight the academic impact of vicarious racial trauma and identify protective factors that support the resilience and success of minoritized students,” says McLeroy, the Principal Investigator, with Tulagan as Co-Principal Investigator.

Their findings will have implications for educational policy and intervention strategies, promoting equity and support for all students in higher education. The study seeks to inform efforts to advance inclusion and social justice in higher education by recognizing the unique challenges faced by racially and ethnically minoritized students.

McLeroy joined the Warner School in 2022, focusing her research on mental health among college students, particularly Black students. She earned her PhD in rehabilitation counseling and counselor education from North Carolina A&T State University, where her dissertation examined social media exposure to police brutality among Black youth.

Tulagan, who joined the Warner School in 2023, holds a PhD in education from the University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on family factors influencing the development of achievement motivation of adolescents, particularly among minoritized backgrounds, with appointments in the human development program and developmental psychology in the University's Arts, Sciences & Engineering.