Making Diversity Work on Campus: A Research-Based Perspective

1. Making Diversity Work on Campus: A Research-Based Perspective Jeffrey F. Milem University of Maryland Mitchell J. Chang UCLA anthony lising antonio Stanford University

2. Goals for the Paper • Synthesize existing empirical evidence about benefits of diverse learning environments • Based on findings, offer conceptual map of key practices that maximize opportunities to achieve these benefits

3. Evidence Regarding the Benefits of Diversity • Gurin, P., Dey, E.L., Hurtado, S., & Gurin, G. (2002). Diversity and Higher Education: Theory and Impact on Educational Outcomes, Harvard Educational Review 70 (3), 330-366. • Milem, J.F., & Hakuta, K. (2000). The benefits of racial and ethnic diversity in higher education, featured report, In D. Wilds (author) Minorities in higher education: Seventeenth annual status report. Washington, DC: American Council on Education, 39-67. • Milem, J.F. (2003). The educational benefits of diversity: Evidence from multiple sectors. In M. Chang, D. Witt, J. Jones, & K. Hakuta (Eds.). Compelling interest: Examining the evidence on racial dynamics in higher education. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 126-169.

4. Types of Diversity • Compositional Diversity • the numerical and proportional representation of students from different racial/ethnic groups in the student body (Hurtado, Milem, Clayton-Pedersen, & Allen, 1998, 1999) • Diversity of Interactions • Interactions with diverse information and ideas and interactions with diverse people • Institutional Diversity-Related Initiatives • i.e., core diversity requirements, ethnic studies courses/programs, structured dialogue programs, cultural awareness workshops, etc. that occur on college and university campuses

5. The Campus Racial Climate Governmental/Political Forces Sociohistorical Forces Institutional Context • Historical Legacy of Inclusion/Exclusion • Resistance to Desegregation • Mission • Compositional Diversity • Diverse Student Enrollments • Diverse Faculty and Staff Hires • Organizational/Structural Dimension • Content of the Curriculum • Tenure Policies • Organizational Decision Making Policies • Budget Allocations • Other Institutional Policies and Procedures • Psychological Dimension • Perceptions of Racial/Ethnic Tension • Perceptions of Discrimination • Attitudes and Prejudice Reduction • Behavioral Dimension • Social Interaction Across Race/Ethnicity • Campus Involvements and Diversity • Classroom Diversity • Pedagogical Approaches

6. Keys to Successfully Engaging Diversity on Campus • Multidimensionality • Conceptualize diversity as engagement • Focus on process • Target all students • Recognize that engaging diversity is hard work

7. Recommendations for Maximizing Diversity’s Benefits • An Institution’s Commitment to Diversity Should Permeate Policy in All Areas Of Campus Life • Recruit/Support/Retain Diverse Students • Implement/Support/Reward Effective Pedagogical Practices • Importance of diverse faculty • Develop Positive Perceptions of the Campus Climate • Provide Safe Cultural Spaces • Encourage and Foster Interracial Contact • Assess the Effectiveness of Your Efforts • What do you know about the role that diversity plays on your campus and how do you know this?

8. What happens, to borrow the words of Adrienne Rich, “when someone with the authority of a teacher” describes our society, and “you are not in it”? Such an experience can be disorienting—“a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing” (Takaki, 1993, p. 16).