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Arts & Communication Discrimination and dance students’ well-being

satisfaction with broader life domains and overall life the social pressure some Global Majority students feel to
satisfaction among the sample in this study. represent their race in a positive way, which is something
Similarly, the experience of exclusion/rejection was that their White peers rarely experience. 21
negatively correlated with many of the well-being variables. The most notable difference between the groups
The items in this subscale pertain to being made to feel like was in terms of the challenges they expected to face in
an outsider, feeling ignored, and being talked about behind their careers. Global Majority students appeared more
one’s back. Marginalized young people may experience concerned about their abilities when thinking about
loneliness, social anxiety, lower social competence, and their futures, perhaps reflecting the way that experiences
bullying when they are socially excluded, particularly in of discrimination had diminished their competence
settings with limited diversity. 27,28,41 As a result, perceptions perceptions and future competence expectations. Many
of exclusion, rejection, and unfair treatment from Global Majority participants related this with worries about
classmates were negatively correlated with satisfaction casting decisions, which might be based on both ability
with personal relationships, relatedness, and connection and appearance or aesthetics. Patton recalled decisions
to the community. Although, again, this study could not by directors being made based on body type and shape,
ascertain precise incidents of racism and their direct often feeling that as a Black dancer, she did not “fit” into the
effects, it is possible to speculate about the reasons behind world of ballet. It is also possible that such concerns relate
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the negative correlations between exclusion/rejection, to the negative association between discrimination and
competence perceptions, and body appreciation. If a autonomy established in the survey analyses: if casting and
Global Majority student feels that others are talking about funding decisions are based on both performance ability
them behind their back, this could affect their competence and aesthetics and Global Majority dancers do not feel that
perceptions in relation to both their technical or creative their bodies meet Eurocentric aesthetic criteria, they may
abilities in dance and their bodies. Furthermore, since the believe that opportunities to shape their careers are limited
body is the dancer’s primary instrument, direct comments because they can neither change casting decisions nor their
or feedback about body shape, 13,30 as well as the perception individual body type.
of being talked about by others, could lead young dancers
to perceive their body as problematic, and appreciate and Surprisingly, two White students also expressed doubts
respect it less as a result. about their ability to secure work because of their ethnicity.
This relates to ideas about “over-representation” in certain
The individual subscales in the PEDQ-CV are summed domains. For example, there is a greater proportional
and averaged to create the lifetime exposure score, which representation of Global Majority athletes in certain sports
explains why this score was negatively correlated with a than in the general population, leading to inaccurate post-
range of well-being variables (standard of living, personal racial narratives and notions that sport is a level playing
relationships, overall SWB, autonomy, competence, field. 42,43 In reality, racial discrimination remains common
relatedness, body appreciation, and all expectancy-value in sports, and Global Majority athletes face myriad
4,40
items relating to competence perceptions). Average scores pressures in their careers that their White counterparts
for each subscale of the PEDQ-CV were not notably high may not even be aware of. Although the concerns of White
(the highest being 2.28 out of a maximum of 5); however, dance students should not be dismissed out of hand,
the results of this study suggest that even low-to-moderate this finding highlights the need for greater discussion,
levels of discrimination can have detrimental impacts on awareness-raising, and education from a color-conscious
well-being. perspective. In turn, such education could pave the way
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Positively, responses to the open-ended questions at the for broader discussions around equity and inclusion in
end of the survey indicated few differences between the dance and the role each individual can play in creating
Global Majority and White students in terms of role models, positive change.
aspirations, and ambitions. For instance, students from a 4.1. Limitations
range of ethnic backgrounds cited both the Global Majority
and White artists as inspiration and had similar ambitions While this study has made an important first step in
for their careers. However, Global Majority students were understanding the impact of discrimination on student
more conscious of issues around representation, either in dancers of the Global Majority, there are several
relation to particular role models who were trailblazers limitations to consider. First, the sample size was smaller
for their ethnic group or through a desire to encourage than expected, affecting the way that the sample was
others to pursue a career in the performing arts. Although categorized and grouped for analyses, as well as limiting
this could be a helpful motivating force, it also underlines the type and extent of analyses that could be conducted.

Volume 3 Issue 1 (2025) 9 doi: 10.36922/ac.3165