Relationships Among Autonomy Relevant Instruction, Classroom Racial Climate, and Student Engagement

Extensive evidence shows that autonomy support is a strong predictor of students' psychological needs and classroom engagement. However, for racially/ethnically minoritized students, strategies to support psychological needs may need to extend beyond traditional conceptions of autonomy support rooted in white normative values, requiring explicit support for a positive racial climate. This investigation includes two studies examining the relationships among racially/ethnically minoritized college students' perceptions of instructors' autonomy support and classroom racial climate (CRC) with engagement via psychological need satisfaction, as well as interactions between autonomy support and CRC. In Study 1, promotion of cultural competence and cultural socialization were associated with students' need satisfaction and, in turn, classroom engagement over and above perceptions of autonomy support. Study 2 replicated these results, showing that cultural competence and socialization were significantly indirectly associated with engagement through need satisfaction. Multigroup analyses found no significant differences across racial/ethnic groups. Across both studies, non-significant CRC and autonomy support interactions suggested that the CRC did not alter the effect of autonomy support on needs or engagement. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of considering racial dynamics in class as critical contextual factors that influence racially/ethnically minoritized students' basic psychological needs and engagement.