Page 12 - AC-3-1

Arts & Communication

ARTICLE
The impact of racial discrimination on the

well-being of dance students

Imogen Jane Aujla * , Stacey Green , and Laura Grant 2
1
2
1 Dance in Mind, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
2 Tired Movement, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom

Abstract

Little is known about the impact of racial inequity in dance contexts. This study
aimed to investigate the effects of racial discrimination on the well-being of dance
students from Global Majority backgrounds. A total of 150 students (109 from White
backgrounds and 40 from Global Majority backgrounds) in professional training
completed an online survey tapping into several domains of psychological well-
being and experiences of discrimination. The analyses revealed that, although there
were no significant differences in well-being scores between the two groups, Global
Majority students scored significantly higher on all measures of discrimination
*Corresponding author: except for threat/aggression. Furthermore, there were significant negative
Imogen Jane Aujla
(imogen.aujla@gmail.com) correlations between discrimination and well-being among Global Majority students.
Discrimination at work/college and experiences of exclusion/rejection appeared
Citation: Aujla IJ, Green S, Grant L. particularly influential in relation to measures of life satisfaction, competence,
The impact of racial discrimination
on the well-being of dance expectations of future competence, autonomy, relationships, and body appreciation.
students. Arts & Communication. Responses to open-ended survey questions indicated that Global Majority students
2025;3(1):3165. were as ambitious as their White peers but often cited discrimination as a potential
doi: 10.36922/ac.3165
barrier to career establishment post-training. The impact of discrimination in dance
Received: March 14, 2024 is an important research area, and further research is encouraged with larger samples
1st revised: March 21, 2024 of dancers at a range of levels (e.g., recreational, student, professional). On a practical
level, organizations and individuals must work to reduce inequity in dance training
2nd revised: March 26, 2024
and beyond.
3rd revised: April 23, 2024
4th revised: April 30, 2024 Keywords: Racial discrimination; Dancing; Psychological well-being; Dance training;
Accepted: May 16, 2024 Equity
Published online: September 10,
2024
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article 1. Introduction
distributed under the terms
of the Creative Commons Dance is often promoted as an activity that welcomes everyone. Ideals pervade the art
AttributionNoncommercial License, form: anyone can dance regardless of age or ability. Opportunities to engage with dance
permitting all non-commercial use, styles from across the globe are relatively easy to find, while professional choreographers
distribution, and reproduction in any 1
medium, provided the original work regularly draw on diverse genres to create hybrid works. According to the latest Arts
is properly cited. Council England data, dance appears to live up to its inclusive promise, with the highest
representation of Global Majority (Black, Asian, and ethnically diverse) individuals across
1
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
1
Publishing remains neutral with the workforce at 24%, compared to 19.3% for the working-age population. However,
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional
affiliations. 1 Capitals are used throughout this paper to recognize specific ethnic groups. 2
Volume 3 Issue 1 (2025) 1 doi: 10.36922/ac.3165