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Valerie Whittlesey Increasing Student Learning of Diversity in Psychology

Valerie Whittlesey Increasing Student Learning of Diversity in Psychology. SEPA Meeting March, 2006. Outline. Reasons for Teaching about Diversity Issues in Psychology Attitudes and Experiences of Psychology Faculty in Teaching about Diversity & Recommendations

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Valerie Whittlesey Increasing Student Learning of Diversity in Psychology

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  1. Valerie WhittleseyIncreasing Student Learning of Diversity in Psychology SEPA Meeting March, 2006

  2. Outline • Reasons for Teaching about Diversity Issues in Psychology • Attitudes and Experiences of Psychology Faculty in Teaching about Diversity & Recommendations • Reviewing Diversity Research in Teaching of Psychology & Recommendations • Conclusion

  3. Importance of Teaching about Diversity • Allows students to be fair and equitable in their interactions with other people • Helps prepare students for employment in an increasingly pluralistic society after college • Makes psychology more relevant for all students

  4. Importance of Teaching about Diversity • May encourage students from all backgrounds to enter the psychology profession • Will increase students’ knowledge of psychology • Will enrich students’ emotional and personal development

  5. Teaching Diversity: Experiences and Recommendations of APA Division Two Members Jane Simoni, Kathy Sexton-Radek, Karen Yescavage, Harriette Richard, Alene Lundquist

  6. Diversity Survey- Purpose • Descriptive data on respondents, their institutions, and students • Respondents’ attitudes toward teaching diversity issues • Respondents’ recommendations for diversity resources

  7. Teaching Diversity Survey • Survey distributed to Division 2 members in 1995 • Survey sent to 2,108 members • 703 members responded • Return rate- 33%

  8. 14% Asst. Professor 23% Assoc. Professor 37% Full Professor 5% Emeritus 8% Teachers 6% Adjunct Instructors 1% Visiting Professors 6% Other Positions Diversity Survey- Demographics

  9. 33% Liberal arts college 20% Community college 11% Technical institution 11% Research university 19% Comprehensive university 6% high school Diversity Survey- Demographics

  10. 40%- Less than 3,000 students 19%- 3,000- 4,999 students 12%- 5,000- 6,999 students 11%- 7,000- 9,999 students 18%- Greater than 10,000 students Diversity Survey- Demographics

  11. Diversity Survey- Demographics • 37% Suburban institution • 32% Urban institution • 29% Rural institution

  12. Diversity Survey- Demographics • 27% Midwest • 21% Mid-Atlantic • 21% South • 9% West • 7% New England

  13. Diversity Survey- Demographics • 80% White students • 10% African American students • 6% Hispanic students • 3% Asian American students • 1% Native American students

  14. Diversity Studies- Demographics • 62% Women • 38% Men

  15. Diversity Study- Multicultural Courses Taught • 12% Psychology of Gender • 2% Psychology of Minority Groups • 2% Racism and Sexism in America • 3% Women and Society • 15% taught one of four multicultural courses

  16. Diversity Survey- Importance of Diversity Education in Courses • 1 (not important) • 5 (of major importance) • Mean- 3.94 • SD- .86 • Between 3 (somewhat important) to 4 (important)

  17. Diversity Survey- Time Allotted to Discussion of Diversity • 14%- One class period • 40%- A couple of classes • 20%- A couple of weeks • 13%- Most of course

  18. 89% Ethnicity and social class 77% Ageism 73% Appreciation of diversity 71% All sexual orientations 40% Cultural isms 12% Gender perspectives Diversity Survey- Issues of Diversity

  19. 85% Heighten sensitivity and awareness 77% Broaden understanding of human condition 72% Tolerance 44% Enhance psychological mindedness 32% Expose personal perspectives 13% Political action 8% Other Diversity Survey- Goals in Teaching Diversity Issues

  20. 69% Lectures & discussions 57% Textbook readings 49% Field trips and discussions 39% Other 38% Guest speakers 37% Selected readings 35% Student Presentations 28% Videotape and discussions 25% Research papers Diversity Survey- Pedagogical Methods to Attain Goals

  21. Diversity Survey-Barriers, Aids, and Successful Strategies • Three open-ended items about barriers, facilitating factors, and successful strategies • Two raters & content analysis of respones • Interrater reliability (.90 to .94)

  22. Diversity Survey- Barriers • 27% Incorporating diversity issues into courses was not relevant • 23% Time constraints

  23. 25%- No barriers Most barriers listed by less than 10% of respondents Student apprehension Lack of adequate resources College univ. curriculum Professor inadequacy Low department support Campus climate Heightened tension Community climate Diversity Survey- Barriers (con’t)

  24. 30% Resource rooms & books 17% Workshops Less than 10% College curriculum Videotapes Campus climate Community perception Student attitudes Parental attitudes Diversity Survey- Facilitating Factors

  25. 18% Discussion 14% Experiential activities 11% Cross-disciplinary approaches Less than 10% Student presentations Campus-wide activities Media presentations Community activities Papers Journal articles Diversity Survey- Successful Strategies

  26. Teaching Diversity: Experiences and Recommendations of APA Division Two MembersFollow-Up Study Loreto Prieto, Val Whittlesey, Diane Herbert, Carlota Ocampo, Allison Schomburg, and Dominicus So

  27. Diversity Survey- Follow-Up Study • Survey distributed to Division 2 members in 2000 • Survey sent to approximately 3,000 members • 648 members responded • Return rate- 22%

  28. Diversity Study-Follow-Up Study • Although the return rate was lower than original study, the demographic institutional, campus, and course based characteristics of the 2000 sample match known population parameters of 2002 STP membership survey. • Also, descriptive data on respondents, their institutions, and students similar to 1995 study. • Results similar to 1995 study; respondents’ attitudes toward teaching diversity issues and recommendations for diversity resources.

  29. 94% Race/ethnicity 94% Sexual orientation 91% Sex/gender 86% Ageism 82% Social class 78% Physical disabilities 78% Religion 73% International 70% Mental/learning disabilities 66% Language differences Diversity Survey- Follow-Up Issues of Diversity

  30. 57% Time constraints 36% Lack of perceived training/resources 21% Diversity issues are not relevant to course content 18% Student apprehension about dealing with diversity issues Diversity Survey-Follow-UpBarriers

  31. Diversity Survey- Follow-Up Study • For the follow-up study, faculty respondents were additionally asked four questions: - their own personal level of acceptance toward diverse persons (broadly defined) - the level of importance they attached to incorporating diversity issues into their courses - their estimation of the level of importance their students attached to having diversity issues incorporated into courses - the level of acceptance they have felt from their students when diversity issues have been incorporated into courses

  32. Diversity Survey-Follow-Up Study • Each item was constructed on a 5-point Likert scale with Not accepting/not important and Very accepting/very important as polar anchors.

  33. Faculty acceptance of diverse persons (mean = 4.7; sd = .53). Faculty perceptions of the importance of incorporating diversity issues into their coursework (mean = 4.2; sd = .94). Faculty perceptions of the importance their students attach to having diversity issues incorporated into their courses (mean = 3.4; sd = .99). Faculty perceptions of the acceptance of students to incorporation of diversity issues into course work when instructors included it (mean = 3.9; sd = .82). Diversity Survey- Follow-Up Study

  34. Ensuring that more psychology faculty see the relevance of diversity issues in the psychology curriculum. Overcoming time constraints and lack of training and knowledge of diversity that faculty feel. Need to focus on all facets of diversity. Examining directly student attitudes of the importance they attach to incorporation of diversity into course work and their acceptance of this incorporation. Diversity Survey-Recommendations of Both Studies

  35. Review of Diversity Research in Teaching of Psychology: Summary & Agenda Carlota Ocampo, Jane O’Connor, Loreto Prieto, Val Whittlesey

  36. Diversity Review • David Johnson’s database obtained from the webpage of the Office for Teaching Resources in Psychology • www.lemoyne.edu/OTRP/index.html • Used to identify TOP works published from 1974 to 1999 • Authors manually consulted TOP 2000 issues

  37. Aging Disability Gender International Nontraditional students Race/ethnic Several diversity categories Sexual orientation Social class Religion Diversity Review- Diversity Categories

  38. Activities Articles Bibliographies Comments Course descriptions Demonstrations Empiricals Equipment Reviews Software Surveys Symposias Interviews Diversity Review- Taxonomy of Methodologies

  39. Diversity Review- Raters • .91 Interrater agreement coefficient in determining which articles were diversity related • .97 Interrrater agreement coefficient in determining the diversity category that the articles fit into • .90 Interrater agreement coefficient in determining the methodology for the diversity studies

  40. Diversity Review- # and % of TOP Diversity Studies

  41. 35% Gender 17% International 13% Aging 12% Several categories 10% Race/ethnicity 10% Sexual orientation 3% Nontraditional students 0% Social class 0% Disability 0% Religion Diversity Review- Diversity Categories of Studies

  42. 30% Articles 25% Courses 19% Activities 10% Empiricals 5% Comments 4% Surveys 3% Demos 2% Interviews 1% Software 0% Bibliographies 0% Equipment 0% Reviews 0% Symposias Diversity Review- Methodologies of Diversity Studies

  43. International articles- N = 12 Gender courses- N = 11 Gender empirical studies- N = 10 Gender classroom activities- N = 9 Gender articles- N = 8 Several diversity category articles- N = 7 Aging classroom activities- N = 7 Racial/ethnic courses- N = 6 Diversity Review- Frequent Diversity Methodologies

  44. Diversity Review- • The 70 works in the previous slide represent 50% of all diversity studies published in TOP between 1974 to 2000 • Publications concerning gender issues constitute 38 or 28% of total diversity works

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