Beyond the Label: Investigating the Psychosocial Cost of “Nameism” for Students with Distinctively Black Names in Interracial Learning Environments
Date of Award
5-5-2024
Degree Name
Ed.D. in Leadership for Organizations
Department
Department of Educational Administration
Advisor/Chair
Aaliyah Baker
Abstract
Past and current research has explored the link between the “blackness” of a person’s name and socioeconomic outcomes in American society. Black-sounding names were shown to influence employment prospects, access to credit markets, and choice of housing among other opportunities. While education research had identified a relationship between teachers’ perceptions of students with distinctively Black names and perceived academic potential, it had yet to examine how targeted students perceive and internalize nameism, a portmanteau of name and racism, in predominantly white learning environments. A qualitative study examined nameism and its influence on students’ selfconceptions and learning experiences. Using a phenomenological gaze to study participants’ experiences, the results revealed mixed, contradictory views on Blacksounding names within the sample. Study participants expressed feeling compelled to maintain varying situational identities to avoid name-identity threats expressed through implicit bias and microaggressions. Participatory action research was used to construct a multimodal, evidence-based intervention to address nameism as a problem of practice in classrooms where experiences with nameism are most likely to occur.
Keywords
Black names, identity threat, deficit narratives, internalized perceptions, microaggressions, implicit bias
Rights Statement
Copyright 2024, author
Recommended Citation
Gillums, Sherman Jr., "Beyond the Label: Investigating the Psychosocial Cost of “Nameism” for Students with Distinctively Black Names in Interracial Learning Environments" (2024). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 7624.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/graduate_theses/7624
