ABSTRACTS
2019 National McNair Scholars Conference at UCLA
Researcher: Tiffany Bowers
Presentation Title: Enhancing First-Generation College Students’ Use of Kansas State University Libraries
Research Focus: First-Generation College Student Experience and University Library Use
School: Kansas State University
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
With enrollment of first-generation college students (FGCS) steadily declining at Kansas State University (K-State), it is increasingly important to offer vital institutional support to this population. FGCS’ success is correlated to academic library services, resources, and networking. As a FGCS, I relied heavily on the K-State Libraries to navigate and cultivate my college experience. In order to better understand the experiences of other FGCS and how they interact with the K-State Libraries resources and services, I assessed community needs by conducting semi-structured interviews with FGCS and analyzed the transcripts using Corbin & Strauss’ grounded theory methodology. Through my lived experience as a FGCS and the interview results, I identify and recommend collaborative next steps between the central first-generation support units and the K-State Libraries. These recommendations should improve the success of FGCS at K-State, will potentially provide a model for service offices at other universities.
Researcher: Adrianna Gordey
Presentation Title: Tweens, Teens, and the Twenty-Two-Year Old in Between: Appealing to the Masses with Young Adult Literature
Research Focus: Young Adult Literature
School: Kansas State University
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
As a twenty-two-year-old adult, I am still captivated by young adult (YA) literature, and I am not alone in this trend. The advertised age of the YA reader is twelve to eighteen, but the actual readership of the genre ranges in age from eighteen to thirty. My research project investigates this phenomenon in three ways: 1) exploration of YA books before and after the genre was officially established, 2) analysis of commonalities, and 3) application of the patterns in my own YA novel. In my novel, I implement common topics from the genre such as the development of the self, the creation of community, and the internal self’s introduction to the external world that I observed in other YA books. I will discuss the writing craft used to construct the novel and illustrate how the tropes of the genre appeal to readers beyond the target range. Tropes such as the development of self, the crisis of competing identities, and the sacrifices made in the name of progress. By reading and writing YA literature, I want to showcase the genre’s ability to translate from the page to real- life.
Researcher: Bayleigh Smith
Presentation Title: To empower or disparage? Examining the perceptions of slurs targeting the racial identity of White individuals
Research Focus: Antisocial behavior/stereotypes/prejudice
School: Kansas State University
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Racial slurs are vile terms that disparage individuals on the basis of their race. Existing research has focused on how racial slurs negatively impact minority targets and why majority group members use such derogative language. However, research examining racial slurs targeting majority group members (e.g., White individuals) is scant, yet research on perceptions of these slurs is important in potentially understanding the effects of, and discriminatory responses to, racial slurs. In the current studies, we examined White individuals’ perceptions of White racial slurs used by a Black individual toward a White individual. When people are targeted by group-based slurs, group differences become salient and calls to mind stereotypes. Thus, while the terms may be perceived negatively by White individuals, there may be a side effect of making the majority group member’s race salient, reminding them that their social group is at the top of the social status hierarchy. Thus, we predicted that racial slurs targeting White individuals will be simultaneously perceived as derogative and empowering. Our results supported this hypothesis with White racial slurs being used by a Black individual toward a White individual being perceived as more negatively expressive, but also more empowering than a control condition. These findings have important implications for the continued marginalization of lower status groups. Specifically, majority group members may be empowered and seek to reinforce existing status hierarchies and the disparagement they feel may potentially lead to increased justification of future discriminatory acts toward minority ingroup members.