From Precollege to Career: Barriers Facing Historically Marginalized Students and Evidence‐Based Solutions

Abstract Although the United States population is growing increasingly diverse, the diversity within higher education is not keeping pace. Contributing to the underrepresentation of students from historically marginalized groups are a variety of interconnected systemic barriers that prevent students from entering college, from thriving while there, and from persisting through to graduation. Here, we use the stereotype inoculation model as a guiding framework not only to identify these barriers and their psychological effects on students but also to highlight evidence‐based solutions that colleges and universities can implement to lower these barriers. As a function of our chosen model, we focus on features of educational environments that signal a lack of psychological fit among students from historically marginalized groups. Furthermore, we highlight interventions that can be implemented at the institutional level to change the educational environment and make higher education settings more inclusive and equitable.