November 6, 2007

Minority Students Want Colleges to Foster Interracial Interaction, Survey Finds

A new survey of black, Hispanic, and Native American college students has found that 74 percent believe colleges need to find better ways to bring students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds together to socialize and study.

An overwhelming majority — 64 percent — said that, when they were choosing which college to attend, it was at least somewhat important to them that the institution’s students socialized and studied together on a regular basis. But while 24 percent reported witnessing more such interactions between racial and ethnic groups than they had expected when applying, 16 percent said they had witnessed less.

The survey results were released to The Chronicle by Widmeyer Communications, a research and polling firm with offices in Washington and New York. The survey was conducted online in August, using a sample of 582 black, Hispanic, and Native American college students and 400 high-school students from those racial and ethnic groups. The survey pool was vetted by the National Research Center for College and University Admissions and SurveyU, a New York-based polling firm.

The survey found that 68 percent of the college students polled said it was at least somewhat important to them in choosing a college that an institution “had students from a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds.” Such diversity was rated as “one of the most important things” by 12 percent of the students in the sample.

Asked to characterize what they had actually experienced on their campus, 35 percent said they had encountered more diversity than expected, while 19 percent said they had seen less.

The high-school students surveyed placed even more emphasis on college diversity, with 81 percent saying it was at least somewhat important to them that a prospective college’s students come from a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Two-thirds expected to encounter more diversity in college than they had experienced in high school. —Peter Schmidt

Comments

1. This is welcome news to me because it suggests that we may, as a society, be making more progress than is readily observable towards creating a truly integrated society. The key will be for college faculty and staff to work with and listen carefully to the students (both minority and non-minority) to determine which strategies might be the most effective in creating the environment the students seek. With any luck, this can translate into better interaction the communities to which the students will eventually go after graduation.

   — Rick    Nov 6, 03:42 PM    #

2. These results are not surprising, in that persons who are socially subordinated are always more willing to integrate into the institutions of the socially dominant group (in this case, European Americans.) The more interesting survey is what are the views of European Americans concerning their interest in attending campuses with diverse populations. Does anyone know of recent surveys concerning their attitudes and how they compare with those of ethnic minority students?

   — Dr. Joseph L Graves Jr    Nov 6, 03:57 PM    #

3. The deal with minority students integrating – like most things, if folks have a good experience they will pursue it. If the minorities one experiences tends to display the typical negative behaviors of low SES – crime, violence, abuse, lack of consideration of others, lack of educational focus – then the experience won’t be so rewarding and won’t encourage many to value the experience.

   One would expect in the academic environment that outward appearance is only the first superficial consideration; what matters more it would seem to most of us, is valuing similar things and similar safe environments – no matter what one’s outward appearance.

   — gl clib    Nov 6, 04:27 PM    #

4. Dr. Graves’ assertion surprises me. I thought members of dominant groups were generally more at ease in integrated situations, while members of minority groups tend to self-segregate for comfort and security. Not so? Got any studies you’d recommend on this topic, Dr. Graves?

   — Susan    Nov 6, 04:36 PM    #

5. It is useful to not only state that people of color “integrate into majority institutions,” but to also tell us why. Is it because the majority owns, runs, dominates, whatever verb you’d like to use , most institutions in this country? There is not a whole lot of choice involved, especially if one lives on either coast. Further, upon graduation, one would have to successfully navigate in the business or academic world, which is also predominantly majority owned, and operated. People of color have always had to exist in more than one world by the simple fact of being in the minority. And frankly, who cares what the majority thinks about this? Given the rate of growth of the brown population in the U.S., it will be a necessity to desegregate (I use this word purposefully) institutions of higher learning for their survival. Social class, I feel is the greater issue when worlds collide,...

   — JRE    Nov 6, 04:54 PM    #

6. I find this welcome news just as Rick (#1) does; however, I must admit I am not sure if this will necessarily translate into better interaction among diverse groups in the communities they will reside in after graduation. Although I have not seen any statistical data, I would venture to guess that once we leave college campuses, we tend to go back to the communities from which we came. As a result, our interaction with diverse groups decline unless we initially came from diverse communities. If you’re a minority in Corporate America or Higher Education, potentially you are dealing with a more diverse group on a daily basis.

   As Dr. Graves (#2) points out, I would also be very interested in seeing the views of European Americans concerning diversity on campus. In addition, I would also be interested in seeing how this translates into our lives after graduation.

   — T Anthony    Nov 6, 04:58 PM    #

7. Without knowing the quality of the survey (e.g., randomization, control for social desirability effects on answers), one may not glean anything from this relatively small sample (< 1,000). Pre-ballot surveys showed a majority rejecting Proposition 2 in Michigan last November (barring race preferences in state agencies). Prop 2 was accepted by a wide margin. Discussing race, whether from a minority or non-minority perspective, is a knotty issue given the unease in the public discourse.

   — S. Herzog    Nov 6, 08:20 PM    #

8. I agree with rick (#1) that these are positive results. The students (at least minority ones) are ready for change, so now colleges need to act. Susan (#4), as for Dr Graves’ comment (#2), he is right. If you read books on education by Jonathan Kozol you’ll see many references to studies that show essentially what he said — whites are much less excited about integration than are minorities. I work at the University of Michigan and there are courses you can take on “intergroup relations” that foster dialog between white students and students of color (among other dialogs, like men & women). As it turns out, there are equal numbers of whites and minorities willing to participate, which means that percentage-wise minorities are overwhelmingly more excited to participate than whites are. The reason it can seem like minorities self-segregate is because when you don’t have enough of them (just a “token” number), they will not feel at ease in the majority situation basically as you said. But with a couple more, they are actually more willing to integrate and interact than are whites.

   I look to our university’s data for one other explanation of this phenomenon. The types of white students who get in and come to Michigan are from any background, but mostly all-white ones. The types of minority students to get in went to better-than-average schools for minorities, which means that they went to predominantly white schools. Minority college students (at least at our University and probably other top ones) have already experienced much more diversity than white students have, because top high schools are predominantly white to begin with, and that’s where college kids come from.

   As for Prop 2 in Michigan (#7), it did pass quite easily. Break it down by race and realize that minorities voted against it in an overwhelming fashion. We are just too white of a state, and women still voted for it as well.

   — Miranda    Nov 7, 07:46 AM    #

9. Universities, as bastion of intellectualism, should stands for diversity of culture and ideas, not (or at least not just) race, sex, or creed.

   The proposition that somehow diversity of color (or sex, creed, body type) ipso facto contributes to rich and vibrant intellectual discourse on campus is but a myth. Secretary Rice speaks and thinks in the mainstream while Mother Teresa acts and conducts herself at the margin. As a Asian scholar doing China research, I can attest to the fact that my understanding of Chinese ideas and culture, ways and means, pal in comparison to some of my more insightful and profound “white” colleagues.

   Finally, and most importantly, if integration means anything, it means that we should never judge people by the color of their skins (or any other physical attributes), attributing qualities based not on substance and understanding, but on form and stereotype.

   There is an old, old American saying (or is it Chinese?): “Do not tell a book by its cover.”

   — Kam C. Wong    Nov 7, 07:51 AM    #

10. Sounds like students are willing to interact with others, regardless of color or other difference. I could be out to lunch about this, but is it possible that the balkanization of academic departments of the last few decades (This-that-or-t’other Studies) reflects external reality less than it does carving out territory to defend? Could it be that students are interested more in the real external world they will actually be living in than they are in the synthetic (and pathetic) pigeonholes some people find more comfortable, simply because they’re familiar?

    I think this is one of the more encouraging things I’ve read lately. Who knows? One of these days the balkanizers may even wake up to their own irrelevance and realize that they’ve been playing a safe, secure “glass-bead game” while the rest of the world has passed them by. But I’m not holding my breath.

    — Dan Kirklin    Nov 7, 09:24 AM    #

11. At a recent international conference on inclusion in higher education, a colleague asserted, In my country, we don’t need race because poverty dominates. This is a revealing notion when one considers that sustainable access to and accumulation of capital diminshes barriers to participation and engagement in higher education and life in general. While individual psycho-social and cultural biases, prejudices, and stereotypes remain a factor, the degree to which one can systematically address or ignore them is a function of access to, accumulation and use of capital. The world is replete with examples of individuals and groups who use capital to improve the human condition or who imperil it. Colleges that are structured and operated to foster and reward the broadest possible sustainable interactions among its students, faculty, staff, alumni, and benefactors use their capital effectively. Apparently, there are too few who commit to doing so.

    — John Wolfe    Nov 7, 01:07 PM    #

12. First, I second JRE’s (#5) comment about class. Many issues that are framed as black, brown, and white are actually issues of class. I would say that the college experience of a poor white person, (say me) without an adequate support system, more closely resembles the experience of minority students. As a poor person, I didn’t fit in with middle-class white kids. Actually, I tended to connect with other poor kids of many different colors.

    That aside, I have a question: if minority students seek better integration in the university setting, why do we have the Black Student Union, Latino Student Union, etc.?? While anyone can join, most members of these organizations are black or latino, or asian. Don’t these groups act as a form of voluntary segregation?? Last year, at IU in Indianapolis, the BSU protested campus climate and demanded $$$, better faculty representation, and a special center for study (see http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=39236&comview=1 for more). How are these actions furthering diversity, or more importantly, cultural understanding and unity? One might argue (as I have read above) that the university is dominated by white….however, that is not correct. The university is dominated by the privledged…by folks with $$$.

    — kitty    Nov 8, 10:05 AM    #

13. This note is for Greg. You do yourself a disservice by diluting the impact of your comments by inserting so many bitter, angry and illogical references. Many who might otherwise appreciate your viewpoint will no doubt write you off as a crackpot. Too bad.

    — Mary Murphy    Nov 8, 05:45 PM    #

14. I concur with #13. To better integrate all levels and ethnicity of society, Universities should minimize emphasis on gender or ethnicity related organizations, and promote organizations of end-related groups; ie, Civil Engineering, Atmospheric Science, Veterinary Medicine, and promote these by grade-enhancing for participants. Further training should be provided for educators (willing or not to accept this additional responsibility) to include and treat equitably all student participants.

    University – based on Universe – which should include all individuals; rich, poor, minority, majority, fat, thin, male, female, transgender. The word seems to be forgotten in the rush to “assist” specific groups perceived to be at a disadvantage in society.

    Funding should be provided to encourage all capable students to participate fully in their fields of study.

    — Sue Butler    Nov 12, 10:51 AM    #

15. This is an interesting article given how much trouble the University of Delaware got into trying to do this very thing. Here is the link to the story: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i12/12a00103.htm. You can’t win for trying…

    — Marie Nubia-Feliciano, M.S.    Nov 16, 06:40 PM    #

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