Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This literature review examines the research in the last 30 years in relation to university-required diversity courses, as well as highlights areas that have been understudied. Utilizing the social justice rationale for diversity, this review analyzes 25 quantitative and qualitative research articles that address university-required diversity courses. This literature review unpacks the mixed results from quantitative studies as well as analyzes the case studies presented in qualitative research. The results highlight that addressing student bias is an important goal and framework for these courses, but that the ability to shift quantitative measures of bias is not clear. I also argue that research examining student work produced in required diversity courses and course design for strategies is largely absent from the field of study.

Keywords

colleges diversity curriculum diversity requirement college curriculum diversity initiatives curricular initiatives literature review textual analysis meta-analysis

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alexander

P. A.

(2020). Methodological guidance paper: The art and science of quality systematic reviews. Review of Educational Research, 90(1), 6–23. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319854352

Bell

(2003). Diversity’s distractions. Columbia Law Review, 103(6), 1622. https://doi.org/10.2307/3593396

Bell

(2004). Silent covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the unfulfilled hopes for racial reform. Oxford University Press.

Bennett

(2001). Genres of research in multicultural education. Review of Educational Research, 71, 171–217.

*Biddell

T. R.

Lee

E. M.

Bouchie

Ward

Brass

(1994). Developing conceptions of racism among young white adults in the context of cultural diversity coursework. Journal of Adult Development, 1(3), 185–200.

Bilodeau

B. L.

Renn

K. A.

(2005). Analysis of LGBT identity development models and implications for practice. New Directions for Student Services, 2005(111), 25–39. https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.171

*Bowman

N. A.

(2010). Disequilibrium and resolution: The nonlinear effects of diversity courses on well-being and orientations toward diversity. The Review of Higher Education, 33(4), 543–568. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.0.0172

*Case

K. A.

(2007a). Raising male privilege awareness and reducing sexism: An evaluation of diversity courses. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31(4), 426–435. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1471-6402.2007.00391.x

*Case

K. A.

(2007b). Raising white privilege awareness and reducing racial prejudice: Assessing diversity course effectiveness. Teaching of Psychology, 34(4), 231–235. https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00986280701700250

10.

*Case

K. A.

Stewart

(2009). Heterosexual privilege awareness, prejudice, and support of gay marriage among diversity course students. College Teaching, 58(1), 3–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567550903252843

11.

*Case

K. A.

Stewart

(2010). Changes in diversity course student prejudice and attitudes toward heterosexual privilege and gay marriage. Teaching of Psychology, 37(3), 172–177. https://doi.org/10.1080/00986283.2010.488555

12.

*Castellanos

Cole

(2015). Disentangling the impact of diversity courses: Examining the influence of diversity course content on students’ civic engagement. Journal of College Student Development, 56(8), 794–811. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2015.0089

13.

Castrellón

L. E.

(2021). “As soon as they hear ‘undocumented,’ they stop advising”: Theorizing a (sub)conscious evasion of responsibility from institutional agents to undocumented students. Educational Studies, 57(3), 269–286. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2021.1892680

14.

*Chang

M. J.

(2002). The impact of an undergraduate diversity course requirement on students’ racial views and attitudes. The Journal of General Education, 51(1), 21–42. https://doi.org/10.1353/jge.2002.0002

15.

*Cole

Zhou

(2014). Do diversity experiences help college students become more civically minded? Applying Banks’ multicultural education framework. Innovative Higher Education, 39, 109–121. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10755-013-9268-x

16.

*Cole

E. R.

Case

K. A.

Rios

Curtin

(2011). Understanding what students bring to the classroom: Moderators of the effects of diversity courses on student attitudes. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 17(4), 397–405. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025433

17.

*Denson

(2009). Do curricular and cocurricular diversity activities influence racial bias? A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 79(2), 805–838. https://doi.org/10.3102%2F0034654309331551

18.

*Denson

Bowman

N. A.

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

M. B.

(Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (pp. 35–84). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48983-4_2

19.

Denson

Bowman

N. A.

Park

J. J.

(2017). Preparing students for a diverse, deliberative democracy: College diversity experiences and informed citizenship after college. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 119(8), 1–41.

20.

*Disch

(1993). The politics of curricular change: Establishing a diversity requirement at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. In Thompson

B. W.

Sangeeta

Bell

(Eds.), Beyond a dream deferred: Multicultural education and the politics of excellence (pp. 195–213). University of Minnesota Press.

21.

*Doucet

Grayman-Simpson

Shapses Wertheim

(2013). Steps along the journey: Documenting undergraduate white women’s transformative processes in a diversity course. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 6(4), 276–291.

22.

Douglas

. (Apr. 14, 2021). As OU freshman’s racist social media posts from high school emerge, university reiterates need for new diversity course. OU Daily. https://www.oudaily.com/news/as-ou-freshman-s-racist-social-media-posts-from-high-school-emerge-university-reiterates-need/article_c147cb7e-9d4f-11eb-ba1c-6b7bea5573a9.html

23.

*Duffee

D. E.

Bailey

F. Y.

(1991). A criminal justice contribution to a general education diversity requirement. Educational Media Review, 2(1), 141–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511259100082351

24.

*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(4), 473–524.

25.

Engberg

M. E.

Hurtado

Smith

G. C.

(2007). Developing attitudes of acceptance toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual peers: Enlightenment, contact, and the college experience. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Issues in Education, 4(3), 49–77.

26.

Goodman

K. M.

Bowman

N. A.

(2014). Making diversity work to improve college student learning. New Directions for Student Services, 2014(147), 37–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ss.20099

27.

Gurin

Dey

Hurtado

Gurin

(2002). Diversity and higher education: Theory and impact on educational outcomes. Harvard Educational Review, 72(3), 330–367. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.72.3.01151786u134n051

28.

Harris

J. C.

Linder

(2018). The racialized experiences of students of color in higher education and student affairs graduate preparation programs. Journal of College Student Development, 59(2), 141–158. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2018.0014

29.

Hart Research Associates. (2016). Recent trends in general education design, learning outcomes, and teaching approaches: Key findings from a survey among administrators at AAC&U member institutions. https://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/LEAP/2015_Survey_Report2_GEtrends.pdf

30.

*Henderson-King

Kaleta

(2000). Learning about social diversity: The undergraduate experience and intergroup tolerance. The Journal of Higher Education, 71(2), 142–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2000.11778832

31.

*Hogan

D. E.

Mallott

(2005). Changing racial prejudice through diversity education. Journal of College Student Development, 46(2), 115–125. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2005.0015

32.

*Hurtado

Mayhew

M. J.

Engberg

M. E.

(2012). Diversity courses and students’ moral reasoning: A model of predispositions and change. Journal of Moral Education, 41(2), 201–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2012.670931

33.

Jacobo

. (Feb. 27, 2020). University of Oklahoma promises changes after student sit-in protests use of racial slurs. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/university-oklahoma-promises-student-sit-protests-racial-slurs/story?id=69255274

34.

Krotoszynski

R. J.

Jr . (May 26, 2021). Opinion: Laws against teaching critical race theory in college are unconstitutional. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/26/laws-against-teaching-critical-race-theory-college-are-unconstitutional/

35.

Lorde

(1984). Sister outsider: Essays and speeches. Crossing Press.

36.

*Martinez

(2014). Teaching a diversity course at a predominantly white institution: Success with statistics. Journal of College Student Development, 55(1), 75–78.

37.

*Miller

R. A.

Pouraskari

(2019). “This is not normal”: Talking Trump in undergraduate diversity courses. Journal for the Study of Postsecondary and Tertiary Education, 4, 103–121. https://doi.org/10.28945/4430

38.

*Miller

R. A.

Struve

L. E.

(2020). “Heavy lifters of the university”: Non-tenure track faculty teaching required diversity courses. Innovative Higher Education, 45, 437–455. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-020-09517-7

39.

*Moore

H. A.

Acosta

Perry

Edwards

(2010). Splitting the academy: The emotions of intersectionality at work. The Sociological Quarterly, 51, 179–204. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2010.01168.x

40.

Moses

M. S.

(2010). Moral and instrumental rationales for affirmative action in five national contexts. Educational Researcher, 39(3), 211–228. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X10365086

41.

Moses

M. S.

Chang

M. J.

(2006). Toward a deeper understanding of the diversity rationale. Educational Researcher, 35(1), 6–11. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X035001006

42.

*Nelson Laird

T. F.

Engberg

M. E

. (2011). Establishing differences between diversity requirements and other courses with varying degrees of diversity inclusivity. The Journal of General Education, 60(2), 117–137. https://doi.org/10.5325/jgeneeduc.60.2.0117

43.

*Nelson Laird

T. F.

Engberg

M. E.

Hurtado

. (2005). Modeling accentuation effects: Enrolling in a diversity course and the importance of social action engagement. The Modern Language Journal, 76(4), 448–476. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2005.11772292

44.

*Owens

P. J.

(2005). Experiencing the other as the self: Cultural diversity courses as liberating praxis. Teaching Theology and Religion, 8(4), 245–252. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9647.2005.00251.x

45.

*Patton

L. D.

Sánchez

Mac

Stewart

D.-L.

(2019). An inconvenient truth about “progress”: An analysis of the promises and perils of research on campus diversity initiatives. The Review of Higher Education, 42(5), 173–198. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2019.0049

46.

*Perry

Moore

H. A.

Edwards

Acosta

Frey

(2009). Maintaining credibility and authority as an instructor of color in diversity-education classrooms. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(1), 80–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2009.11772131

47.

*Pickens

Bachay

Treadwell

(2009). University for diversity: A case study. Journal of College and Character, 10(4), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.2202/1940-1639.1039

48.

*Radloff

(2010). College students’ perceptions of equal opportunity for African Americans and race-based policy: Do diversity course requirements make a difference? College Student Journal, 44(2), 558–564.

49.

*Schueths

A. M.

Gladney

Crawford

D. M.

Bass

K. L.

Moore

H. A.

(2013). Passionate pedagogy and emotional labor: Students’ responses to learning diversity from diverse instructors. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 26(10), 1259–1276. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2012.731532

50.

*Winkler

E. N.

(2018). Racism as a threshold concept: Examining learning in a ‘diversity requirement’ course. Race Ethnicity and Education, 21(6), 808–826. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2017.1294564

51.

*You

Matteo

(2013). Assessing the effectiveness of undergraduate diversity courses using the Multicultural Experiences Questionnaire. Journal of College and Character, 14(1), 59–66. https://doi.org/10.1515/jcc-2013-0008

Framing and Efficacy of University-Required Diversity Courses in the Research Literature

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References