Heterosexist microaggressions, student academic experience and perception of campus climate: Findings from an Italian higher education context

Discussion While the rights of sexual minority students have significantly progressed over time, especially in terms of protection against overt aggression and discrimination, promotion of LGBQ+ inte- gration on campuses remains an important challenge for higher education institutions. Recent work has documented examples of heterosexist dynamics that shape the experience of LGBQ + and heterosexual university students on campuses. These dynamics materialize in so-called microaggressions that include overheard phrases such as “that’s so gay” [21], gay jokes, and other slurs [5] that might affect sexual minorities and non-heterosexual health, as well as their academic outcomes and general satisfaction with the institution. The frequency of heterosexist environmental microaggressions among university students reported in this study was consis- tent with previous research [10] that reported a prevalence estimate of approximately 50% and 70% in heterosexual and non-heterosexual students, respectively. The aim of this study was to examine heterosexual and non-heterosexual students’ experiences of heterosexist microaggressions on campus and how these experiences impact the students’ social integration and overall perceptions of campus climate. More specifically, we hypothesized that experiences of microaggressions decrease student social integration and the overall percep- tion of campus climate (Hypothesis 1: main effects). Furthermore, we hypothesized that microag- gressions are associated with a negative perception of campus climate through their deleterious

effect on student social integration (Hypothesis 2: mediation effects). Finally, we tested whether both the direct and indirect effect of microaggressions on perceptions of campus climate are stronger for non-heterosexual compared to heterosexual students (Hypothesis 3: moderation and moderated mediation effects). Consistent with our hypotheses, the results showed that being exposed to heterosexist micro- aggressions on campus was associated with lower levels of social integration, specifically in terms of quality of peer-group interactions and perceptions of faculty concern for student devel- opment (Hypothesis 1). Furthermore, we found that microaggressions indirectly impacted the overall perception of campus climate by decreasing the quality of peer-group interactions and lowering the perception of faculty concern for student development (Hypothesis 2) in hetero- sexuals and non-heterosexuals. However, in non-heterosexual students, heterosexist microag- gressions also directly affected the development of negative perceptions about campus climate (Hypothesis 3). With respect to our first hypothesis, we found significant associations of microaggressions with student social integration within the campus community. This is consistent with previous studies that linked heterosexist microaggressions on campus with student academic outcomes [10,27]. As concerns sexual minority students, one plausible explanation for this result is the association of microaggressions with psychological distress [19], which in turn would relate to

academic outcomes [39]. The hypothesis of psychological distress is well supported by the minority stress theory [23], according to which increased exposure to heterosexist microag- gressions might lead LGBQ+ students to experience chronic stress. This encounter would in turn undermine LGBQ+ students’ sense of belonging to their academic’s community and con- tribute to poor academic outcomes. Furthermore, heterosexism can also undermine students’ mental health and self-esteem, thereby presenting another barrier to academic achievement [40]. With respect to heterosexual students, several hypotheses have been advanced for explaining why heterosexist microaggressions may impact heterosexual students’ social inte- gration on campus. Norris and colleagues [10], for example, found that knowing an openly LGBT student amplified the risk, for heterosexual students, of lowered sense of belongingness on campus after a repeated experience of hearing other students make slurs. However, the authors concluded that hearing discriminatory speech or perceiving the climate to be PLOS ONE Heterosexist microaggressions and campus climate PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231580 April 16, 2020 11 / 16