Self-esteem assessment of young female university students according to race/skin color criteria

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate and compare the self-esteem of young female university students aged between 18 and 24 years old according to race/skin color criteria. METHOD: a cross-sectional and quantitative study, developed with 240 undergraduate female students from a public Brazilian university. Data collection took place online through a structured questionnaire that included the participants’ sociodemographic and lifestyle habits, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. For data analysis, descriptive statistics, association test, and comparison of means were used. RESULTS: most of the young women had a mean level of self-esteem. No statistically significant association was found among the “self-esteem level” and “self-reported skin color or race” variables. CONCLUSION: although no significant association was identified between self-reported skin color or race and level of self-esteem, young black women have lower mean self-esteem scores than young non-black women. Strategies that strengthen the self-esteem of young female university students are necessary to prevent harms to their physical and mental health, and, consequently, to their academic performance.