Examining the Effects of an Intergroup-Based Diversity and Social Justice Course on Students' Multicultural Competencies and Engagement

Abstract

Finding ways to support colleges in reducing the frequency of discrimination experiences is imperative to improve the health of the nation and reduce health disparities. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of an intergroup dialogue (IGD)-based diversity and social justice course offered to undergraduate students at a large, midwestern university. Students enrolled in the course completed pre- and postcourse evaluation survey measures of critical consciousness, appreciation for diversity, preference for inequality, and week-to-week ratings of openness, connectedness, and participation in the course. Results suggest the course intervention had positive effects on students’ critical consciousness and appreciation of diversity scores. In addition, latent profile and transition analyses indicated students were significantly more likely to stay or move into adaptive versus less adaptive patterns of engagement (i.e., self-rated participation, openness, and connectedness). Findings are discussed in relationship to IGD theory and practice and implications for future research and implementation of IGD-based coursework.

Keywords

diversity social justice education critical pedagogy multicultural education intergroup dialogue multicultural psychology

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adams

Bell

L. A.

(2016). Teaching for diversity and social justice. Routledge.

Adams

Blumenfeld

W. J.

Castaneda

Hackman

H. W.

Peters

M. L.

Zuniga

. (Eds.). (2013). Readings for diversity and social justice (4th ed.). Routledge.

Allport

G. W

. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Addison-Wesley.

Aosved

A. C.

Long

P. J.

Voller

E. K.

(2009). Measuring sexism, racism, sexual prejudice, ageism, classism, and religious intolerance: The Intolerant Schema Measure. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39, 2321–2354. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00528.x

Banks

J. A.

(2005). Multicultural education: Characteristics and goals. In Banks

J. A.

McGee Banks

C. A.

(Eds.), Multicultural education: Issues and perspectives (5th ed., pp. 3–32). John Wiley.

Brondolo

Gallo

L. C.

Myers

H. F.

(2009). Race, racism and health: Disparities, mechanisms, and interventions. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 32, Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-008-9190-3

Brown

E. L.

(2004). What precipitates change in cultural diversity awareness during a multicultural course: The message or the method? Journal of Teacher Education, 55, 325–340. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487104266746

Denson

Bowman

N. A.

(2017). Do diversity courses make a difference? A critical examination of college diversity coursework and student outcomes. In Paulsen

(Ed.), Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research: Vol. 32. Higher education: Handbook of theory and research. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48983-4_2

Dessel

A. B.

(2010). Effects of intergroup dialogue: Public school teachers and sexual orientation prejudice. Small Group Research, 41, 556–592. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496410369560

10.

Dessel

A. B.

Rogge

M. E.

(2008). Evaluation of intergroup dialogue: A review of the empirical literature. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 26, 199–238. https://doi.org/10.1002/crq.230

11.

Dessel

A. B.

Rogge

M. E.

Garlington

S. B.

(2006). Using intergroup dialogue to promote social justice and change. Social Work, 51, 303–315. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/51.4.303

12.

Dessel

A. B.

Woodford

M. R.

Warren

(2011). Intergroup dialogue courses on sexual orientation: Lesbian, gay and bisexual student experiences and outcomes. Journal of Homosexuality, 58, 1132–1150.

13.

Dovidio

J. F.

Gaertner

S. L.

Stewart

T. L.

Esses

V. M.

ten Vergert

Hodson

(2004). From intervention to outcome: Processes in the reduction of bias. In Stephan

W. G.

Vogt

W. P.

(Eds.), Education programs for improving intergroup relations: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 243–265). Teachers College Press.

14.

Engberg

M. E.

(2004). Improving intergroup relations in higher education: A critical examination of the influence of educational interventions on racial bias. Review of Educational Research, 74, 473–524. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543074004473

15.

Frantell

K. A.

Miles

J. R.

Ruwe

A. M.

(2019). Intergroup dialogue: A review of recent empirical research and its implications for research and practice. Small Group Research, 50, 654–695. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496419835923

16.

Freire

(1973). Education for critical consciousness (Vol. 1). Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0084255900018453

17.

Fuertes

J. N.

Miville

M. L.

Mohr

J. J.

Sedlacek

W. E.

Gretchen

(2000). Factor structure and short form of the Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity Scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 33, 157–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481756.2000.12069007

18.

Greer

T. M.

Brown

(2011). Minority status stress and coping processes among African American college students. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 41, 26–38. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021267

19.

Gurin

Dey

E. L.

Hurtado

Gurin

(2002). Diversity and higher education: Theory and impact on educational outcomes. Harvard Educational Review, 72, 330–366. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.72.3.01151786u134n051

20.

Gurin

Nagda

B. A.

Lopez

G. E.

(2004). The benefits of diversity in education for democratic citizenship. Journal of Social Issues, 60, 17–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-4537.2004.00097.x

21.

Gurin

Peng

Lopez

Nagda

B. A.

(1999). Context, identity, and intergroup relations. Russell Sage Foundation.

22.

Gurin-Sands

Gurin

Nagda

B. A.

Osuna

(2012). Fostering a commitment to social action: How talking, thinking, and feeling make a difference in intergroup dialogue. Equity & Excellence in Education, 45, 60–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.643699

23.

Handelsman

M. M.

Briggs

W. L.

Sullivan

Towler

(2005). A measure of college student course engagement. The Journal of Educational Research, 98, 184–192. https://doi.org/10.3200/joer.98.3.184-192

24.

Henry

P. J.

Sears

D. O.

(2002). The Symbolic Racism 2000 Scale. Political Psychology, 23, 253–283. https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895x.00281

25.

Henry

P. J.

Sidanius

Levin

Pratto

(2005). Social dominance orientation, authoritarianism, and support for intergroup violence between the Middle East and America. Political Psychology, 26, 569–584. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2005.00432.x

26.

Hurtado

(2005). The next generation of diversity and intergroup relations research. Journal of Social Issues, 61, 595–610. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2005.00422.x

27.

Illing

Tasca

G. A.

Balfour

Bissada

(2011). Attachment dimensions and group climate growth in a sample of women seeking treatment for eating disorders. Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes, 74, 255–269.

28.

Lee

D. B.

Kim

E. S.

Neblett

E. W.

Jr. (2017). The link between discrimination and telomere length in African American adults. Health Psychology, 36, 458–467. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000450

29.

Little

R. J.

(1995). Modeling the dropout mechanism in repeated-measures studies. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 90, 1112–1121. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2291350

30.

Lopez

G. E.

(2004). Interethnic contact, curriculum, and attitudes in the first year of college. Journal of Social Issues, 60, 75–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-4537.2004.00100.x

31.

Mayhew

M. J.

Fernández

S. D.

(2007). Pedagogical practices that contribute to social justice outcomes. The Review of Higher Education, 31, 55–80. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2007.0055

32.

Mays

V. M.

Cochran

S. D.

Barnes

N. W.

(2007). Race, race-based discrimination, and health outcomes among African Americans. Annual Review Psychology, 58, 201–225. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190212

33.

Miles

J. R.

Kivlighan

D. M.

(2012). Perceptions of group climate by social identity group status in intergroup dialogue. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 16, 189–205. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028634

34.

Miville

M. L.

Gelso

C. J.

Pannu

Liu

Touradji

Holloway

Fuertes

(1999). Appreciating similarities and valuing differences: The Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity Scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 46, 291–307. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.46.3.291

35.

Morrison

M. A.

Morrison

T. G.

(2002). Development and validation of a scale measuring modern prejudice toward gay men and lesbian women. Journal of Homosexuality, 43, 15–37. https://doi.org/10.1300/j082v43n02_02

36.

Mozaffarian

Benjamin

E. J.

A. S.

Arnett

D. K.

Blaha

M. J.

Cushman

. . . Turner

(2015). Heart disease and stroke statistics—2015 update. Circulation, 131, e29–e322. The American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics. https://doi.org/10.1161/cir.0000000000000152

37.

Muthén

(2010). MPlus user’s guide.

38.

Nagda

B. A.

(1993). Dialogue groups: An innovative approach to multicultural learning. In Schoem

D. L.

Frankel

Zuniga

Lewis

(Eds.), Multicultural teaching in the university (pp. 233–248). Praeger.

39.

Nagda

B. A.

(2006). Breaking barriers, crossing borders, building bridges: Communication processes in intergroup dialogues. Journal of Social Issues, 62, 553–576. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2006.00473.x

40.

Nagda

B. A.

Gurin

Sorensen

Gurin-Sands

Osuna

S. M.

(2009). From separate corners to dialogue and action. Race and Social Problems, 1, 45–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-009-9002-6

41.

Nagda

B. A.

Gurin

Sorensen

Zúñiga

(2009). Evaluating intergroup dialogue: Engaging diversity for personal and social responsibility. Diversity & Democracy, 12, 3–6.

42.

Nagda

B. A.

Kim

C. W.

Truelove

(2004). Learning about difference, learning with others, learning to transgress. Journal of Social Issues, 60, 195–214. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-4537.2004.00106.x

43.

Nagda

B. A.

Yeakley

Gurin

Sorensen

(2012). Intergroup dialogue: A critical-dialogic model for conflict engagement. In The Oxford handbook of intergroup conflict (pp. 210–228). https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199747672.013.0013

44.

Neville

Poteat

V. P.

Lewis

J. A.

Spanierman

L. B.

(2014). Changes in White college students’ color-blind racial ideology over 4 years: Do diversity experiences make a difference? Journal of Counseling Psychology, 61, 179–190. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035168

45.

Nylund

Muthén

Bellmore

Nishina

Graham

Juvoven

(2005). The state of victimization during middle school: A latent transition mixture model approach. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the Society for Prevention Research, Washington, DC.

46.

Nyland

K. L.

Asparouhov

Muthen

B. O

. (2007). Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling: A Monte Carlo simulation study. Structural Equation Modeling, 14, 535–569.

47.

Nylund-Gibson

Masyn

K. E

. (2016). Covariates and mixture modeling: Results of a simulation study exploring the impact of misspecified effects on class enumeration. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 23, 782–797.

48.

Pew Research Center. (2016). On views of race and inequality, Blacks and Whites are worlds apart. https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/06/27/on-views-of-race-and-inequality-Blacks-and-Whites-are-worlds-apart/

49.

Pratto

Sidanius

Stallworth

L. M.

Malle

B. F.

(1994). Social dominance orientation: A personality variable predicting social and political attitudes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 741–763. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.67.4.741

50.

Rosenthal

Levy

S. R.

(2012). The relation between polyculturalism and intergroup attitudes among racially and ethnically diverse adults. Cultural Diversity Ethnic Minority Psychology, 18, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026490

51.

Sfeir-Younis

L. S.

(1993). Reflections of the teaching of multicultural courses. In Schoem

Frankel

Zuniga

Lewis

(Eds.), Multicultural teaching in the university (pp. 61–75). Praeger.

52.

Schafer

J. L.

Graham

J. W

. (2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological Methods, 7, 147–177. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.7.2.147

53.

Shin

R. Q.

Ezeofor

Smith

L. C.

Welch

J. C.

Goodrich

K. M.

(2016). The development and validation of the Contemporary Critical Consciousness Measure. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63, 210–223. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000137

54.

Simmons

A. L.

Parks-Yancy

(2012). Were they joking? Depends on social dominance orientation. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 13, 213–227. https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2012.10511abstract

55.

Sims

Diez-Roux

A. V.

Dudley

Gebreab

Wyatt

S. B.

Bruce

M. A.

James

S. A.

Robinson

J. C.

Williams

D. R.

Taylor

H. A.

(2012). Perceived discrimination and hypertension among African Americans in the Jackson Heart Study. American Journal of Public Health, 102, S258–S265. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2011.300523

56.

Spring

(2016). Deculturalization and the struggle for equality: A brief history of the education of dominated cultures in the United States. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315652368

57.

Strube

M. J.

Rahimi

A. M.

(2006). “Everybody knows it’s true”: Social dominance orientation and right-wing authoritarianism moderate false consensus for stereotypic beliefs. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 1038–1053. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2005.10.004

58.

Svanum

Bigatti

S. M.

(2009). Academic course engagement during one semester forecasts college success: Engaged students are more likely to earn a degree, do it faster, and do it better. Journal of College Student Development, 50, 120–132. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0055

59.

Thompson

R. L.

Brossart

D. F.

Carlozzi

A. F.

Miville

M. L.

(2002). Five-factor model (Big Five) personality traits and universal-diverse orientation in counselor trainees. Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 136, 561–572. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980209605551

60.

Vermunt

J. K.

Magidson

(2005). A comparison between traditional and latent class. New developments in categorical data analysis for the social and behavioral sciences. In van der Ark

L. A.

Croon

M. A.

Sijtsma

(Eds.), Quantitative methodology series. New developments in categorial data analysis for the social and behavioral sciences (pp. 41–62). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

61.

Wyatt-Nichol

Antwi-Boasiako

K. B.

(2008). Diversity across the curriculum: Perceptions and practices. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 14, 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1080/15236803.2008.12001511

62.

Zúñiga

Nagda

B. R. A.

(1993). Dialogue groups: An innovative approach to multicultural learning. In Schoem

Frankel

Zuniga

Lewis

E. A.

(Eds.), Multicultural teaching in the university (pp. 233–248). Praeger.

63.

Zúñiga

Nagda

B. R. A.

Chesler

Cytron-Walker

(2007). Intergroup dialogue in higher education: Meaningful learning about social justice: ASHE higher education report (Vol. 32, No. 4.). John Wiley.