An Examination of the Relationships Among Diversity-Related Efforts and their Individual and Cumulative Effects on College Student Development

Mitchell Chang

This study examined whether or not campuses that have a larger proportion of under-represented students (African American, Latinos, & Native Americans) also have a broader collection of viewpoints held by students. This question was examined using a national sample of 290,000 first-time, full-time freshmen at 572 colleges and universities, who were surveyed in the fall of 1997. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was employed to control for relevant student and institutional factors so that the effects of campus racial composition could be more accurately assessed. The results show that campuses with a larger proportion of under-represented students and by definition are more racially diverse, generally enroll a student body with a greater diversity of opinions regarding racial inequity (discrimination & affirmative action) and the treatment of criminals (criminal rights & death penalty). The general pattern of results also indicates that as the proportion of under-represented students in an entering class increases, the mean score on race-related issues for under-represented students decreases — on average, those students feel more strongly that racial inequity is a pressing problem in our society. By contrast, there was not a systematic trend in mean score on opinions about racial inequity for White and Asian students as the proportion of under-represented students increases. These findings translate into smaller differences in mean scores on the racial inequity scale between under-represented students and White and Asian students in schools that enroll low proportions of under-represented students. A similar pattern of results emerge for the scale on the treatment of criminals, although here, the differences in mean score between under-represented students and White and Asian students in schools with large proportions of under-represented students tend not to be as dramatic as in the case of racial inequity. The overall findings suggest that the effects of racial composition in fostering intellectual diversity are explained in part by enrolling not only more underrepresented students but also a unique group of those students who tend to have on average, opinions that depart more from their White and Asian counterparts. The educational implications of the findings are discussed.

About Mitchell Chang

Mitchell J. Chang is Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Organizational Change at the University of California, Los Angeles and a faculty advisor for the Asian American Studies program. Chang started his career in education as a school evaluator for the Alum Rock Elementary School District in San Jose. Since receiving his doctorate from UCLA, he has held academic appointments at Loyola Marymount University where he was Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Director of Asian American Studies, and at the University of Massachusetts, Boston where he was Assistant Professor of the Graduate College of Education. He also briefly worked at Stanford University as Executive Director of a project that addressed the racial dynamics of higher education, which was jointly sponsored by the American Educational Research Association and the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford. He currently serves on the editorial boards of The Review of Higher Education, Liberal Education and Equity and Excellence in Education, and is the book review editor for Amerasia Journal. Chang's research focuses on the educational efficacy of diversity-related initiatives on college campuses and how to apply those best practices toward advancing student learning and democratizing institutions. He recently received a National Academy of Education/Spencer Fellowship and was awarded the Outstanding Outcomes Assessment Research Award, 1999-2000 by the American College Personnel Association.