Immersive Virtual Experiences for Fostering Structural Competence among White Students and Non-Black Students of Color
Abstract
The utility of immersive virtual reality (IVR) as a pedagogical tool for increasing racial empathy and decreasing implicit bias has been thoroughly examined. However, the utility of IVR, particularly those that leverage embodied-perspective taking, toward increasing structural competence has yet to be uncovered. White and non-Black people of color vary significantly in their adoption of ideologies and cognitive frames that impede meaningful engagement in systemic-level analyses of race and racism. This exploratory study seeks to examine how an IVR impacts white students’ and non-Black students of colors’ ability to engage structural level-understandings of racism over time. Results from this analysis illuminate the potential capabilities of IVR to develop and sustain increased structural competence in white students and non-Black students of color. As the ability to identify and critically examine one’s own social location in relation to dominant systems of oppression is a central educational competency underlying structural-level assessments of race and racism, the present study expands the primary focus of IVR research to dually highlight its utility toward addressing the educational needs of learners situated in various social positionalities.