Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

While there has been increased scholarship in recent years on diversity in higher education, most of this research has failed to include 2-year institutions in its analyses. This study examined whether the racial composition of the community college student body is correlated with an institution’s normative climate toward three diversity outcomes: student conversations with racially different peers, student conversations with peers holding different beliefs, and student understanding of racially different others. The results indicate that having a more diverse student body had a positive, statistically significant relationship with each outcome. This finding suggests that community colleges, like 4-year institutions, can be positively influenced by enrolling a more racially heterogeneous student body.

Keywords

campus climate diversity outcomes of education student interactions

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adams

S. E.

(1995). The relationship between social contact and comfort with social interaction among student ethnic groups. NASPA Journal, 32, 251-261.

American Association of Community Colleges. (2011). Fast facts. Retrieved from http://www.aacc.nche.edu/AboutCC/Pages/fastfacts.aspx

Antonio

A. L.

(1998). The impact of friendship groups in a multicultural university (Unpublished doctorial dissertation). University of California, Los Angeles.

Astin

(1993). What matters in college? Four critical years revisited. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Bowen

W. G.

Bok

D. C.

(1998). The shape of the river: Long-term consequences of considering race in college and university admissions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Bryant

A. N.

(2001). Community college students recent findings and trends. Community College Review, 29(3), 77-93.

Center for Community College Student Engagement. (2012). A matter of degrees: Promising practices for community college student success (a first look). Austin, TX: The University of Texas at Austin, Community College Leadership Program.

Chang

M. J.

(1999). Does racial diversity matter? The educational impact of a racially diverse undergraduate population. Journal of College Student Development, 40, 377-395.

Chang

M. J.

Astin

A. W.

Kim

(2004). Cross-racial interaction among undergraduates: Some consequences, causes, and patterns. Research in Higher Education, 45, 529-553. doi: 10.1023/B:RIHE.0000032327.45961.33

10.

Cohen

A. M.

Brawer

F. B

(2008). The American community college (5th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

11.

Cohen

(1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

12.

Dowd

A. C.

Sawatzky

Korn

(2011). Theoretical foundations and a research agenda to validate measures of intercultural effort. Review of Higher Education, 35, 17-44. doi: 10.1353/rhe.2011.0033

13.

Ethington

C. A.

(1997). A hierarchical linear modeling approach to studying college effects. In Smart

(Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 12, pp. 165-194). Bronx, NY: Agathon Press.

14.

Ethington

C. A.

(2000). Influences of the normative environment of peer groups on community college students’ perceptions of growth and development. Research in Higher Education, 41, 703-722. doi: 10.1023/a:1007068604692

15.

Evelyn

(2004, December 3). Community colleges struggle to foster “engagement,” survey finds. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/Community-Colleges-Struggle-to/22805

16.

Gurin

(1999). The compelling need for diversity in higher education. Michigan Journal of Race & Law, 5(1), 363-425.

17.

Gurin

Dey

Hurtado

Gurin

(2002). Diversity and higher education: Theory and impact on educational outcomes. Harvard Educational Review, 72, 330-366.

18.

Herzog

(2007). Diversity and educational benefits: Moving beyond self-reported questionnaire data. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas, Department of Education Reform. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED508971)

19.

Hoffman

(1985). The effect of race-ratio composition on the frequency of organizational communication. Social Psychology Quarterly, 48, 17-26. doi: 10.2307/3033778

20.

Hurtado

(2001). Linking diversity and educational purpose: How diversity affects the classroom environment and student development. In Orfield

(Ed.), Diversity challenged: Evidence on the impact of affirmative action (pp. 187-204). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education.

21.

Hurtado

Dey

Gurin

(2003). College environments, diversity, and student learning. In Smart

(Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 18, pp. 145-190). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.

22.

Hurtado

Wathington Cade

(1999, November). Intragroup and intergroup dynamics on campus: Understanding interaction across racial/ethnic communities. Paper presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education, San Antonio, TX.

23.

Kallur

(2006). Ethical practice in community college recruitment. In Kallur

Reeves

(Eds.), Guidelines for ethical practices in international student recruitment (pp. 10-15). Washington, DC: NAFSA.

24.

Kanter

R. M.

(1977). Some effects of proportions on group life: Skewed sex ratios and responses to token women. American Journal of Sociology, 82(5), 965-990. doi: 10.1086/226425

25.

King

J. E.

(2002). Crucial choices: How students’ financial decisions affect their academic success. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.

26.

Kirkpatrick

L. A.

(2001). Multicultural strategies for community colleges: Expanding faculty diversity. Los Angeles, CA: ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 455902)

27.

Kuh

Schuh

Whitt

Andreas

Lyons

Strange

MacKay

(1991). Involving colleges: Successful approaches to fostering student learning and development outside the classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

28.

Mandarino

Mattern

M. Y.

(2010). Assessing the validity of ccsse in an ontario college. Toronto, Canada: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.

29.

McClenney

Marti

C. N.

Adkins

(2007). Student engagement and student outcomes: Key findings from ccsse validation research. Austin, TX: The University of Texas at Austin, Community College Leadership Program.

30.

McCormick

A. C.

McClenney

(2012). Will these trees ever bear fruit? A response to the special issue on student engagement. Review of Higher Education, 35, 307-333. doi: 10.1353/rhe.2012.0010

31.

Milem

(1998). Attitude change in college students: Examining the effect of college peer groups and faculty groups. Journal of Higher Education, 69, 117-140.

32.

Milem

(2003). The educational benefits of diversity: Evidence from multiple sectors. In Chang

Witt

Jones

Hakuta

(Eds.), Compelling interest: Examining the evidence on racial dynamics in colleges and universities (pp. 126-169). Palo Alto, CA: Stanford Univeristy Press.

33.

Milem

Chang

Antonio

(2005). Making diversity work on campus: A research-based perspective. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

34.

Nelson Laird

T. F.

(2005). College students’ experiences with diversity and their effects on academic self-confidence, social agency, and disposition toward critical thinking. Research in Higher Education, 46, 365-387. doi: 10.1007/s11162-005-2966-1

35.

Nora

Crisp

Matthews

(2011). A reconceptualization of ccsse’s benchmarks of student engagement. Review of Higher Education, 35, 105-130. doi: 10.1353/rhe.2011.0036

36.

Olivas

(2011). If you build it, they will asses it (or, an open letter to George Kuh, with love and respect). Review of Higher Education, 35, 1-16. doi: 10.1353/rhe.2011.0032

37.

Perna

L. W.

(2003). The status of women and minorities among community college faculty. Research in Higher Education, 44, 205-240. doi: 10.1023/A:1022003812945

38.

Phillippe

K. A.

Sullivan

L. G.

(2006). National profile of community colleges: Trends and statistics. Washington, DC: American Association of Community College.

39.

Pike

Kuh

(2006). Relationships among structural diversity, informal peer interactions, and perceptions of the campus environment. Review of Higher Education, 29, 425-450. doi: 10.1353/rhe.2006.0037

40.

Pike

Kuh

G. D.

Gonyea

R. M.

(2007). Evaluating the rationale for affirmative action in college admissions: Direct and indirect relationships between campus diversity and gains in understanding diverse groups. Journal of College Student Development, 48(2), 166-182.

41.

Porter

S. R.

(2006). Institutional structures and student engagement. Research in Higher Education, 47, 521-558. doi: 10.1007/s11162-005-9006-z

42.

Porter

S. R.

(2011). Do college student surveys have any validity? Review of Higher Education, 35, 45-76. doi: 10.1353/rhe.2011.0034

43.

Schuetz

(2008). A theory-driven model of community college student engagement. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 32, 305-324. doi: 10.1080/10668920701884349

44.

Undergraduate enrollments by type of college. (2010, August 22). Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/Graphic-Undergraduate/124068/

45.

Wood

Sherman

(2001). Is campus racial diversity correlated with educational benefits? Academic Questions, 14, 72-88. doi: 10.1007/s12129-001-1011-x

The Relationship Between Student Body Racial Composition and the Normative Environment Toward Diversity at Community Colleges

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References