Mastering the Narrative: The Role of Conformity and Deviance in Racialized Students’ University Experience

Entering university marks a life transition that is significant for the development of one’s identity, personality, and well-being (Azmitia et al., 2013; Chung et al., 2014), and often coincides with emerging adulthood. During this period, young people are engaged in the process of constructing a narrative identity, using their autobiographical past and imagined future to formulate an internalised story of the self and to make sense of their lives. The content and structure of such narratives make up an important component of personality and are important predictors of one’s well-being (McAdams, 2011; McAdams et al., 2010). Racialized students may anticipate unique experiences with social structures (e.g., institutions and social services) that organise and assign value to social categories such as race and ethnicity (Cortina et al., 2012), and that also shape their transition to university (Emerson et al., 2014; Syed & McLean, 2023). The influence of social structures is particularly evident when looking at people’s narratives, as these stories are constructed within the bounds of societal expectations (McAdams, 2010). Specifically, people’s narratives will often draw upon master narratives, culturally shared stories that reflect the power structures of a society (Syed & McLean, 2023). Not adhering to a master narrative can be associated with poor psychosocial development and well-being as one’s story is more likely to be unheard or rejected. Racialized people, due to their unique relationship with social structures, may be more likely to engage with alternative narratives, which function as a form of resistance to push back against the dominant forces of the master narrative (McLean & Syed, 2016; Patterson et al., 2022). Currently, knowledge that could support the success of racialized university students is lacking because personality development research has neglected the specific experiences of racialized people (Arshad & Chung, 2022), especially within a Canadian context (Williams et al., 2022). This study will use a novel, longitudinal mixed-methods approach that combines narrative and questionnaire data to describe whether there is a master narrative of the transition to university and, if so, how it is associated with racialized students’ personal experiences during the transition to university. Namely, we are interested in 1) the content of the master narrative and what that tells us about how people experience social structures within university, 2) who is more likely to conform to normative expectations over time, and who is likely to deviate from and develop alternative narratives over time, and 3) the relation between one’s negotiation with master and alternative narrative and well-being. Participants will be drawn from a recently launched longitudinal study, Giving Voice, examining personality and well-being development in racialized young adults throughout university, with data collection beginning in August 2024 (they began their studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga in September 2024). This research will be the first to examine narratives of the transition to university through a lens of power, privilege, and oppression in a sample of racialized Canadian emerging adults. This will offer unique insights into how racialized people experience important life transitions, whether their experience differs from what is considered normal in society, and any important impacts on personality development and well-being.

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