Advising Students Toward a Greater Appreciation for Diversity Ty M. Cruce Julie M. Williams John V. Moore Indiana University NACADA Conference, October 20 th 2006, Indianapolis Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement

Overview  Warrant for Study  Questions of Interest  Data Sources and Sample  Findings  Implications for Practice

Warrant for Study  University of Michigan Affirmative Action Cases (Gratz, et al. v. Bollinger, et al. & Grutter, et al. v. Bollinger, et al.)  The Compelling Need for Diversity (Include Individual & Societal Benefits) “A racially and ethnically diverse university student body has far- ranging and significant benefits for all students, non-minorities and minorities alike. Students learn better in a diverse educational environment, and they are better prepared to become active participants in our pluralistic, democratic society once they leave such a setting.” (Expert report – Patricia Gurin) “… the business world has not failed to recognize and appreciate the importance of diversity. Corporations are making significant efforts in recruiting and retaining a workforce that values diversity and that can effectively conduct business worldwide. “ (Expert report – William Bowen)

Warrant for Study  Commission on the Future of Higher Education  “Too few Americans prepare for, participate in, and complete higher education – especially those underserved and nontraditional groups who make up an ever-greater proportion of the population.” (approx. 1/3 of whites obtain bachelor’s degrees by age 25–29, just 18% of blacks and 10% of Latinos )  “… it is imperative that we maintain a system of higher education that meets the needs of our diverse population, and in particular needs of traditionally underserved communities; provides enhanced opportunities for lifelong learning; and addresses the economic and workforce needs of the country. “

Warrant for Study  Pascarella & Terenzini: How College Affects Students  Findings Related to Diversity  Having friends across racial-ethnic groups and being part of an interracial friendship group:  Increases positive racial-ethnic attitudes and values.  Increases student knowledge and understanding of others.  Increases academic skill development and knowledge acquisition.  Increases self-reported gains in various areas of learning.  Has a positive impact on ethically oriented behaviors. (Ex: Increased community service involvement)

Warrant for Study  Academic Advising Programs – CAS Standards  An AAP must incorporate student learning and student development in its mission.  An AAP should enhance overall educational experiences  An AAP will identify relevant and desirable student learning and development outcomes and provide programs and services that encourage achievement of those outcomes [including] …appreciation of diversity.  An AAP must promote educational experiences that are characterized by open and continuous communication that deepen understanding of one’s own identity, culture and heritage, and that of others.

National Survey of Student Engagement Data Sources and Sample

Data Sources Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement National Survey of Student Engagement  Annual survey of first- year students at baccalaureate degree- granting institutions  pilot administration at 70 institutions  Administered prior to start of classes, usually at orientation or welcome week  Annual survey of first- year and senior students  2006 administration at 571 institutions  Administered during the spring semester

Study Sample  Student Sample  BCSSE 26,986 entering first-year students  NSSE 10,425 first-year students in spring (39%)  59% Female, 41% Male  77% White, 23% of color  64% have at least one parent with a bachelor’s degree  Institutional Sample  60 Baccalaureate degree-granting institutions  60% Private, 40% Public  Undergraduate student body ranges from 35,000  Barron’s selectivity index ranges from non- to most-competitive

National Survey of Student Engagement Research Questions

Questions of Interest  How do entering college students’ openness to diverse perspectives differ by their backgrounds (e.g., gender, race, parents’ education)?  How strong is the relationship between entering college students’ openness to diverse perspectives and their engagement with diverse perspective during the first year of college?  Holding constant their entering openness to diverse perspectives, how do students’ engagement with diverse perspectives during the first year of college differ by their backgrounds (e.g., gender, race, parents’ education)?

Openness to Diverse Perspectives  How important is it to you to do the following:  Have serious conversations with students of a different race or ethnicity than your own  Have serious conversations with students who are very different from you in terms of their religious beliefs, political opinions, or personal values  Examine the strengths and weaknesses of your own views on a topic or issue  Try to better understand someone else's views by imagining how an issue looks from his or her perspective  Learn something that changed the way you understand an issue or concept Responses range from ‘Not Important’ to ‘Very Important’

Question of Interest #1  How do entering college students’ openness to diverse perspectives differ by their characteristics?  Examples:  Are males more open to diverse perspectives than females?  Are private high school students more open to diverse perspectives than public high school students? Have some ideas? Its time to test your knowledge…

Openness to Diverse Perspectives Imagine two hypothetical college-bound students… Who are similar in all of the following ways but one: GenderHigh School Grades RaceHigh School Leadership Parents’ EducationHigh School Type Degree AspirationsCollege Selectivity

Test Your Knowledge #1  Males express greater openness to diverse perspectives than females.  True  False

Openness to Diverse Perspectives By Gender

Test Your Knowledge #2  African Americans are more open to diverse perspectives than White students.  True  False

Openness to Diverse Perspectives By Race

Test Your Knowledge #3  Having highly educated parents has a negative effect on openness to diverse perspectives.  True  False

Openness to Diverse Perspectives By Parents’ Education

Test Your Knowledge #4  Openness to diverse perspectives differs by degree aspirations.  True  False

Openness to Diverse Perspectives By Students’ Degree Aspirations

Test Your Knowledge #5  Students with better high school GPAs are more open to diverse perspectives.  True  False

Openness to Diverse Perspectives By High School GPA

Test Your Knowledge #6  Involvement in high school leadership activities increases openness to diverse perspectives.  True  False

Openness to Diverse Perspectives By High School Leadership

Test Your Knowledge #7  Students who attend public high schools are more open to diverse perspectives than students who attend private high schools.  True  False

Openness to Diverse Perspectives By High School Type

Test Your Knowledge #8  Students who attend selective colleges are more open to diverse perspectives.  True  False

Openness to Diverse Perspectives By Selectivity of College Attended

Openness to Diverse Perspectives  “Test Your Knowledge” Scores  7-8 Good Job!  5-6 Not Bad!  1-4 This has been educational, No?

Summary of Findings  Differences in students’ openness to diverse perspectives seem most pronounced by:  Gender  Race  Degree Aspirations  High School GPA  High School Leadership Involvement

Openness to Diverse Perspectives  A Hypothetical: Imagine Two Students  Case 1 White male attending non-competitive college; average student at a public high school; does not expect to go on beyond the bachelor’s degree.  Case 2 Hispanic female attending moderately competitive college; average student at public high school; expects to earn a master’s degree.

Openness to Diverse Perspectives A Hypothetical

Engagement with Diverse Perspectives  How often did you do the following:  Have serious conversations with students of a different race or ethnicity than your own  Have serious conversations with students who are very different from you in terms of their religious beliefs, political opinions, or personal values  Examine the strengths and weaknesses of your own views on a topic or issue  Try to better understand someone else's views by imagining how an issue looks from his or her perspective  Learn something that changed the way you understand an issue or concept Responses range from ‘Never’ to ‘Very Often’

Questions of Interest #2 & #3  What is the relationship between entering college students’ openness to diverse perspectives and their engagement with diverse perspectives during college?  How does students’ engagement with diverse perspectives differ by their backgrounds?  Examples:  Are males more engaged with diverse perspectives than females?  Are private high school students more engaged with diverse perspectives than public high school students? Have some ideas? Its time to test your knowledge…

Engagement with Diverse Perspectives Imagine two hypothetical college-bound students… Who are similar in all of the following ways but one: Openness to Diverse Perspectives High School Grades Gender High School Leadership Race High School Type Parents’ Education College Selectivity Degree Aspirations

Test Your Knowledge #9  Students who are more open to diverse perspectives are more engaged with diverse perspectives during college.  True  False

Engagement with Diverse Perspectives By Openness to Diverse Perspectives

Test Your Knowledge #10  Males are less engaged with diverse perspectives than females.  True  False

Engagement with Diverse Perspectives By Gender

Test Your Knowledge #11  White students are more engaged with diverse perspectives than students of other races.  True  False

Engagement with Diverse Perspectives By Race

Test Your Knowledge #12  Engagement with diverse perspectives differs by degree aspirations.  True  False

Engagement with Diverse Perspectives By Students’ Degree Aspirations

Test Your Knowledge #13  Involvement in high school leadership activities increases the students’ engagement with diverse perspectives.  True  False

Engagement with Diverse Perspectives By High School Leadership

Test Your Knowledge #14  Students from public high schools are less engaged with diverse perspectives than students from private high schools.  True  False

Engagement with Diverse Perspectives By High School Type

Test Your Knowledge #15  Having a greater number of close friends attend the same college increases one’s engagement with diverse perspectives.  True  False

Engagement with Diverse Perspectives By Number of Close Friends at College

Test Your Knowledge #16  Members of learning communities are more engaged with diverse perspectives than non- members.  True  False

Engagement with Diverse Perspectives By Learning Community Membership

Test Your Knowledge #17  Students who attend selective colleges are more engaged with diverse perspectives than students who attend non-selective colleges.  True  False

Engagement with Diverse Perspectives By Selectivity of College Attended

Openness to Diverse Perspectives  “Test Your Knowledge” Scores  7-9 Good Job!  5-6 Not Bad!  1-4 This has been educational, No?

Summary of Findings  Openness to Diverse Perspectives Matters!  Holding constant students’ openness, differences in students’ engagement with diverse perspectives are most evident by:  Gender  Race  High School Leadership Involvement  Learning Community Membership  Selectivity of the College Attended

Engagement with Diverse Perspectives  A Hypothetical: Imagine Two Students  Case 1 White male attending non-competitive college; average student at a public high school; does not expect to go on beyond the bachelor’s degree; has several close friends attending college; not in a learning community; is not very open to diverse perspectives.  Case 2 Hispanic female attending moderately competitive college; average student at public high school; expects to earn a master’s degree; has no close friends attending college; not in a learning community; is very open to diverse perspectives.

Engagement with Diverse Perspectives A Hypothetical

National Survey of Student Engagement Implications

Promoting Openness to Diversity Matters  Individual diversity development is an uncomfortable developmental process for most people because otherness, makes individuals uncomfortable.  Chavez, Guido-DiBrito, Mallory (2003)

Promoting Openness to Diversity Matters  Two Aspects of Effective Educational Practice indicated a significant total and direct effect on a cognitive skills/knowledge and student openness to diversity.  Effective Teaching/Interactions with Faculty  Use of higher order questioning techniques  Instructor feedback to students  Instructional clarity and organization  Interactions with Peers  Instructional emphasis on cooperative learning  Course and non-course related interactions with peers (Cruce, Wolniak, Siefert & Pascarella, 2006)

Implications for Practice  Academic Advising Program Guidelines  AAP’s should promote educational experiences that are characterized by open and continuous communication that deepen understanding of one’s own identity, culture and heritage, and that of others.  Some starting points:  Identify and celebrate your own heritage and display respect for the heritage of others  Describe the variables that you believe comprise diversity  Read and discuss research related to diversity  Examine and explore your own biases  Visit Project Implicit website Psychologists at Harvard, UVA, and the University of Washington have developed Hidden Bias Tests.

Implications for Practice  Help students select course offerings that will increase understanding of one’s own and others’ identity and cultures.  Do you know the courses that offer rich collaborative learning opportunities on your campus?  Help students seek involvement with people different from oneself.  Are students involved in diverse extracurricular activities?  Instill a sense of accountability to the larger community.  Are students participating in service learning opportunities in/out of the classroom?

Implications for Practice  Encourage social/cultural diversity experiences to be included in student orientation programs.  Encourage diversity experience requirements be incorporated into the formal curriculum.  Help recognize those who creatively introduce diverse perspectives into their classrooms or other service to students.  Use student feedback related to diversity courses or experiences you’ve recommended to inform your future advising efforts.

Implications for Practice  Summary Points  Help students identify diverse curricular and co- curricular opportunities and encourage them to participate.  Maximum benefits result from a broad-based campus culture that supports effective educational practice.  Effective practice related to diversity experiences does not necessarily require significant funding investments, however, it requires purposeful action.

National Survey of Student Engagement Other Suggestions & Discussion

Contact Information  Ty Cruce Julie John Presentation materials from this session are available on the NSSE website: NSSE efforts have been supported by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, The Pew Forum on Undergraduate Learning, The Lumina Foundation, and the Center for Inquiry into the Liberal Arts at Wabash College.