Revisiting “Conceptualizing Stigma”: Unpacking Minority College Students’ Stigmatization on Reddit

Abstract

Stigma negatively impacts minority college students’ mental health, yet little is known about how stigma processes differ across minority groups. This study examines how key components of stigma—labeling, stereotyping, separation, status loss, and discrimination—emerge across minority statuses (gender, race, religion, profession) and how they intensify through intersecting identities. We analyzed 331,353 posts from r/college using a Stereotype BERT model with stance detection. We extended the model to identify status loss and discrimination using semantic distance measures. Posts referencing professional identity were most associated with stereotyping, while those indicating racial identity showed higher frequencies of status loss and discrimination. Posts with intersecting identities showed the strongest associations with compounded stigma. Findings underscore the importance of intersectional approaches to understanding stigma, especially in addressing the compounded vulnerabilities faced by racial minorities and multiply-marginalized students.