Invisible Woman: Institutional Belonging for Undergraduate Mothers of Color

The Vermont Connection Volume 46 Coalition and Insurgence: Responding to the Anti-DEI Climate in Higher Education. Article 11 April 2025 Invisible Woman: Institutional Belonging for Undergraduate Mothers of Color Taylor CJ. Wynne The Ohio State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/tvc Part of the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Attached to full text submission This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Education and Social Services at UVM ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Vermont Connection by an authorized editor of UVM ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact . 65 • The Vermont Connection • 2025 • Volume 46 Invisible Woman Institutional Belonging for Undergraduate Mothers of Color Taylor CJ. Wynne This opinion piece draws upon Goffman’s (1956) Nonperson Treatment conceptualization to investigate if and how American four-year institutions of higher education foster spaces of belonging for undergraduate mothers of color at their institution. By integrating participant narrative and published works, the author drew upon Walton & Cohen’s (2007) Belonging Uncertainty Theory and Goffman’s (1963) Stigma Theory to frame this study. Specifically, the author examines how the integration of undergraduate mothers of color at their institution can foster belonging and inclusion while increasing retention rates for undergraduate mothers of color with the help of mindful and inclusive campus sponsored activities. Themes include challenges surrounding campus socialization, insufficient campus childcare services, loneliness and isolation, and financial barriers. Recommendations for campus climate and student involvement practices are discussed. Keywords: Undergraduate, student mothers of color, nonperson, invisibility, belonging. Taylor CJ. Wynne is a doctoral student in the Higher Education and Student Affairs Ph.D. program at The Ohio State University. Her research explores the intersectional experiences of Black women in higher education, racial battle fatigue, and campus racial climate. 66 • The Vermont Connection • 2025 • Volume 46 “I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.” – Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man, 1952 What do you do when your institution disregards your existence as a student so much so, that you are made to feel like a nonperson (Goffman, 1956)? How do you react when your institution neglects your needs as a student, whether overtly or covertly, because your identity does not fit within the narrow confines of the traditional college student? These are the questions I began asking myself as a current Higher Education Student Affairs graduate student after speaking to a close friend who is currently parenting while attempting to complete her bachelor’s degree at a private, midsize institution in the Midwest. She stated, “I know my school can see that I’m enrolled as a student, but I don’t think they consider students like me in the campus culture. There are no spaces on campus for undergraduate mothers to build community. It’s even harder when you’re Black, younger, low-income, and single. I receive more judgment than support it seems like.” After our conversation I began to consider if and how four-year higher education institutions create spaces of belonging, engagement, and community for undergraduate mothers of color. Higher education research the focuses specifically on the mothering experiences of undergraduate mothers of color is scant at best. The research that does speak on mothering often highlights the stories of mothers at community colleges, or student mothers who are returning to higher education after taking a substantial break. Although these stories provide relevant and valuable insight into the realities of parenting as a student, there remains a dearth of empirical evidence on the intersectional experiences of undergraduate mothers of color at four-year institutions of higher education who fall between the ages of 18-25 and who still desire campus engagement. Due to the limited research, undergraduate mothers of color are often subjected to stigmatization and “nonperson treatment” by their institution. According to Goffman (1959) nonperson treatment can be understood as “a technique of diminishing the social status of a person, often foregoing all acknowledgment of a person’s identity” (Goffman, 1959). By ignoring undergraduate student mothers of color, higher education positions this population of students in a lower caste than their peers who embody a more “satisfactory” representation of the university’s image and values. Ironically, these are the same institutions who claim to understand the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, but for whom? Through this piece, my aim is to highlight ideas and implications around institutional inclusion and belonging practices for undergraduate mothers of color at four-year institutions. More specifically, how student affairs, can center equitable initiatives that engage undergraduate mothers of color in campus life. After speaking to my friend about her campus experience, I realized that, contrary to belief, undergraduate mothers of color desire involvement in their campus similar to any other student, however, it must be done in a way that is equitable for and inclusive of their unique circumstances. Until these practices are enacted at four-year institutions, there is a chance that undergraduate mothers of color will remain invisible to their campus community. Nonperson Treatment and Institutional Belonging in Context While higher education has progressed over the years towards liberal ideals, there still remains a noticeable hierarchy within the academy (Scarborough, 2024) that places marginalized students in a lower social caste. Similar to the broader societal context, college campuses embody their own systems 67 • The Vermont Connection • 2025 • Volume 46 of caste amongst the student body that form explicit inequities and inequalities for minoritized students. Research indicates that students who continuously rank lowest in “campus caste” are low income, and Black and brown students (Kim, 2024), however once additional marginalized identities are factored in such as single parenting and low-income status, the exclusion and belonging struggles increase, enhancing the probability of nonperson treatment. Erving Goffman coined nonperson treatment (Goffman, 2009) as a technique of ignoring or diminishing the social status of a person, often foregoing all acknowledgment of a person’s humanity beyond transactional civilities. Goffman emphasizes the harm in nonperson treatment because it allows one to completely ignore individuals in lower societal brackets, as if they do not exist (Scarborough, 2024). Acknowledging that classism and white supremacy are woven into the fabric of higher education, nonperson treatment can often be unconsciously imparted (...truncated)