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

Introduction The term campus climate is commonly used to describe how individuals and groups experi- ence membership in the campus community. It reflects the inclusivity dynamics of the organi- zation and the degree to which students, faculty, and staff feel included or excluded in the environment [1]. Critical incidences, harassment and bias, interaction between individuals and groups, and overall perceptions are all substantial indicators of campus climate [2]. A large body of research has highlighted that an inclusive and welcoming climate within aca- demic contexts significantly impacts students’ academic progress and achievement and their level of satisfaction with their university [2]. However, this issue remains of crucial concern when examining campus climate for minority groups, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and other sexual minority students (LGBQ+). Despite the increased visibility of LGBQ+ people on campuses during the last two decades [3], heterosexist and cisgender beliefs that people naturally engage only in relationships with people of the other sex and assume distinct gender roles, respectively, remain prevalent in educational settings. Recent research suggests that sex- ual and gender minorities tend to perceive the university campus climate as being more hostile and dangerous than do their non-LGBQ+ peers [4]. LGBQ+ university students often report overt experiences of intimidation, harassment, and violence in academic environments. They also describe social exclusion at both institutional and interpersonal level, along with subtle,

although damaging, hostilities that take the form of heterosexist environmental microaggres- sions: actions that take place within the environment but are not directed at specific target, such as the telling of anti-LGB jokes that can be heard by anyone within earshot [5,6]. Both covert and overt experiences contribute to the development of a negative perception of campus climate [7], which may prevent LGBQ+ students from achieving academic success [8,9]. How- ever, heterosexist dynamics that materialize in slurs, hate speech, and a climate of intolerance of diversity may impact all students, regardless of whether they personally identify as a mem- ber of the group being stigmatized [10]. The aim of the current study was to examine how being witness of heterosexist environ- mental microaggressions on campus is associated with student social integration (in terms of quality of interactions with peer and faculty and perception of faculty concern for student development) and contributes to develop negative perceptions of campus climate. More spe- cifically, we investigated whether the association between microaggressions and perception of campus climate was mediated by their impact on specific dimensions of student social integra- tion into the campus community. Finally, because not only sexual minority individuals may be targeted with microaggressions on campus, we examined these associations considering LGBQ+ as well as heterosexual students. We hypothesized that the impact of microaggressions

will be significant in both groups, but stronger in the LGBQ+ group. Notably, while most of the literature on campus climate focuses on U.S. institutions, with some attention paid to Canadian and British contexts, this study is the first to focus on students’ experiences in an Italian higher education institution. Heterosexist microaggressions within higher education institutions The discussion and investigation of microaggressions originated in the literature about racial and ethnic minorities [11], and only in the last decade have scholars started to investigate microaggressions against sexual minority groups [12–14]. The literature describes microag- gressions as “the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative mes- sages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership” [15]. A typi- cal example of microaggression that targets sexual minority groups is using the word “gay” to PLOS ONE Heterosexist microaggressions and campus climate PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231580 April 16, 2020 2 / 16