"Signaling Safety for Women of Color: The Importance of Precision in Addressing Intersecting Identity Threat" – Researchers have historically underestimated the effects of racial prejudice on women of color due to the androcentric nature in which we think about social categories. For example, when we think about Black people, Black men come more easily to mind than Black women. Thus, interventions to increase feelings of safety may systematically prioritize the safety of men and fail to reach women. Currently, there is conflicting evidence in the literature as to whether single (race or gender) or dual (race and gender) domain cues are more effective at eliciting safety for women of color. One possibility is that the effectiveness of these cues may vary according to how individual women view their gender and racial identities as either integrated or compartmentalized. 

CSWS graduate student research fellow Gretchen Nihill argues that examining the efficacy of safety cues aimed at women of color’s multiply marginalized identities is vital to understand the optimal conditions under which they might thrive. This project has broader implications for how we signal identity safety interpersonally, within classroom environments, and institutions more broadly.  

Gretchen Nihill is a doctoral student at the University of Oregon where she is a member of the Diversity Social Cognition Lab. Her program of research focuses on examining identity safety cues for marginalized populations. Particularly, her work takes an intersectional approach by disaggregating racial minorities’ experiences across gender, sexual orientation, and dis/ability, and the unique forms of threat and discrimination these individuals experience. 

12–1 p.m. Wednesday, May 21, 2025  |  330 Hendricks Hall |  1408 University Street, Eugene