Diversity Experiences and Perceptions of Climate Among Australian University Students

In the past two decades, the proportion of students of color at American colleges and universities has increased substantially, and similar trends toward diversification are also occurring in other nations (McInnis, 2003). In the context of this burgeoning campus heterogeneity, promoting a positive climate for diversity has become increasingly important. Institutions that have sought to promote racial/ethnic diversity have generally started by increasing the representation of students of color, but many have not been sufficiently prepared to support a more diverse student population (Hurtado, Milem, Clayton-Pedersen, & Allen, 1999). Such a lack of support can be quite problematic because perceptions of a hostile campus racial climate are associated with lower college adjustment, sense of belonging, institutional commitment, satisfaction, grades, and persistence for both minority and majority students (e.g., Fischer, 2007; Locks, Hurtado, Bowman, & Oseguera, 2008; Nora & Cabrera, 1996). This evidence suggests that improving campus climate is important for any institution that seeks to improve student success and flourishing. The current study explores the relationship between Australian students’ college diversity experiences and perceived climate

Missing Piece of the Departure Puzzle: Student-Institution Fit and Intent to Persist

According to prevailing theory and anecdotal evidence, the congruence between institutional attributes and students’ needs, interests, and preferences plays a key role in promoting college satisfaction and retention. However, this assertion has received little direct empirical attention, and the few available studies appear to have some key limitations. This study examined the factor structure and predictive validity of a newly developed student-institution fit instrument, which was designed to avoid the problems in previous research. Confirmatory factor analyses identified several interrelated dimensions of fit, and these dimensions can be combined into a single overall fit index. Moreover, a six-factor structure of student-institution fit is similar at two institutions that differ in terms of size, control, type, region, and religious affiliation. Structural equation modeling analyses show that student-institution fit is associated with greater college satisfaction and lower social isolation; fit also has a positive, indirect effect on intent to persist. Implications for practice and future research are discussed

Attitudes and Advocacy: Understanding Faculty Views on Racial/Ethnic Diversity

Diversity has been a hot-button issue in higher education for the past several decades (Chang, Witt, Jones & Hakuta, 2003). A significant portion of research has been dedicated to how students experience the campus racial climate (Hurtado, Milem, Clayton- Pederson, & Allen, 1998; Rankin & Reason, 2005), their views on policies such as affirmative action (Sax & Arredondo, 1999), and how they participate in diversity-related activism (Rhoads, 1998). However, less is known about how faculty feel about diversity policies on their campuses, how important they think diversity is to undergraduates, and their own commitments to fostering a diverse environment (Flores & Rodriguez, 2006; American Council on Education, 2000). Faculty play a critical role in the life of the university. They design and teach the curriculum, conduct research that advances the existing knowledge base, and set guidelines that determine many of the standards for their campuses. They make up the body from which department heads, deans, and college presidents come from. Trustees may serveterms, students cycle in and out, but once tenured, faculty are there to stay. Because faculty play such a sustaining role in the life of the university, it is essential to better understand their attitudes towards diversity, especially in a time period where policies geared towards increasing access to higher education for students of color continue to be challenged (Chang, et al., 2003). In order to better understand faculty attitudes towards diversity, specifically racial/ethnic diversity, we created a composite variable that taps into a variety of faculty attitudes towards diversity including their commitments to promoting racial understanding and their views on the role of diversity in undergraduate education. We refer to this variable throughout the study as à à à ¢ Diversity Advocacy.à à à ¢ The purpose of the study is to examine how Diversity Advocacy varies within subsets of faculty, as well as to identify predictors of faculty attitudes regarding diversity

Negotiating Mothering and Academic Work: A Mixed Methods Intersectional Feminist Study

This Report details the results of focus group research carried out with academic mothers at WSU, as well as survey research from a national sample of academic mothers across Australian Universities. The results show that many of our most stubbornly entrenched inequalities do not simply follow gendered fault lines, but rather care fault lines; with mothers doubly disadvantaged in academia by their gender and caring role

Understanding Trust in Contemporary Australia Using Latent Class Analysis

In 2019, an online survey of 2,015 Australian residents examined the extent of trust of various groups and institutions. A Latent Class Analysis (LCA) of the results generated a typology of trust in Australia. The LCA uncovered four classes based on levels of trust as well as associated demographic profiles and attitudes. The four groups were: those that are very distrusting (15%); those that are largely unsure about how much they can trust various groups and institutions (17%); those that are somewhat trusting (42%); and those that are largely trusting (26%). The largely trusting group was differentiated by their holistic trust in institutions and trust in other Australians (no matter their background). Discomfort with cultural difference was a defining characteristic of the very distrusting class. Examination of these four groups helps understand concerns of Australians and enable the development of strategies to address institutional and interpersonal distrust

Asian Australians' experiences of online racism during the COVID-19 pandemic

Between 13 November 2020 and 11 February 2021, an online national survey of 2003 Asian Australians was conducted to measure the type and frequency of self-identified Asian Australians’ experiences of racism during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey also aimed to gauge the relationships between racist experiences and targets’ mental health, wellbeing and sense of belonging. In this paper, we report findings on the type and frequency of online racist experiences and their associations with mental health, wellbeing and belonging. The survey found that 40 per cent of participants experienced racism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Within that group, 66 per cent experienced racism online. The demographic pattern of those most likely to experience online racism were younger age groups, males, those born in Australia, English speakers at home, non-Christians, and migrants who have been in Australia less than 20 years. Analysis also found a strong correlation between Asian Australians’ experiences of online racism and poor mental health, wellbeing and belonging. The relationship between experiencing racism, non-belonging and morbidity were more pronounced for those who experienced online racism compared to those who experienced racism in other offline contexts. This points to the corrosive nature of online racism on social cohesion, health and belonging

Vice-Chancellor's Gender Equality Fund Final Report 2019: Redressing the Promotion Gap: Practices and Processes to Minimise Gender Disparities in Academic Advancement

Like many universities in Australia and internationally, women at Western Sydney University (WSU) remain under-represented in senior academic positions. In addition, there is a persistent gender pay gap for female academic staff across the institution. Despite the robust literature, researchers and higher education institutions have struggled to understand how vertical gender segregation might be alleviated in academia, and to establish effective gender equity programs which target gender differences in promotion. In addition, little research has evaluated the impact of existing programs beyond the individual level and in comparison to other institutional initiatives. The degree to which gender initiatives are effective in making change is one of the most important and challenging questions in striving for gender equity in contemporary universities, yet this has been inadequately addressed by researchers. There are two key research questions for this project: how does WSU’s promotion policy and process compare with other Australian institutions, and; how might WSU alter current policy and practice to reduce the gender promotion gap? Data was collected through interviews with women academics who had progressed to Professor or Associate Professor whilst at Western Sydney, and both internal and external members of the Western Sydney University Academic Promotions Committee. The research also included an assessment of the WSU promotions policy and relevant promotions and gender equality process documents, and a comparison was carried out between WSU and two other institutions. We find that women are at a disadvantage in achieving measures of excellence in academic competitions for promotion. What is more, gender bias also works around these measures, so that even when women do successfully compete in terms of the metrics, they are blocked by institutional gatekeepers or marginalized and stigmatized for attempting to play a game for which they are seen to be corporeally mismatched. These processes were recognized by the women who bid for promotion but also by several of the promotions committee members. Although there is some useful policy and processes in place in our institutions in relation to promotion, gender bias continues to work through cultural practices. There is also evidence of a reticence to see the metrics of excellence, that serve academic capitalism very well, as anything but neutral or to see gender inequities as systemic. In order to redress the promotion gap, we therefore need to challenge these perceptions and look to cultural and educative solutions. This project provides recommendations for increasing women’s promotion rates, which will also assist in reducing the gender pay gap

Theory and research on bullying and racism from an Aboriginal Australian perspective

This paper offers a brief review of research on the impact of bullying and racism on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within Australia. The overarching emphasis was on the variety of physical, social, mental, and educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and youth, whilst also critiquing the prevailing literature with regard to its inclusion and sensitivity towards the importance of culture and connected values. Within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research setting, although a strong base of research on the impact of racism has emerged, research on the impact of bullying is more recent. In addition, while there may be considerable overlap as to the individual impact of bullying and racism, racism research has identified a wider cultural/identity-threat that bullying research (with a few exceptions) has largely ignored. As a result, there is a need to be sensitive to cultural differences with regard to both the types and effects of racism and bullying, and that efforts to understand and to lessen the prevalence of racism and bullying should be framed within the development of a culturally sensitive and secure framework (Coffin, 2008)

Racism in Australia : a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Racism has been identified as a major source of injustice and a health burden in Australia and across the world. Despite the surge in Australian quantitative research on the topic, and the increasing recognition of the prevalence and impact of racism in Australian society, the collective evidence base has yet to be comprehensively reviewed or meta-analysed. This protocol describes the first systematic review and meta-analysis of racism in Australia at the national level, focussing on quantitative studies. The current study will considerably improve our understanding of racism, including its manifestations and fluctuation over time, variation across settings and between groups, and associations with health and socio-economic outcomes. Methods: The research will consist of a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Searches for relevant studies will focus on the social and health science databases CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed and Scopus. Two reviewers will independently screen eligible papers for inclusion and extract data from included studies. Studies will be included in the review and meta-analysis where they meet the following criteria: (1) report quantitative empirical research on self-reported racism in Australia, (2) report data on the prevalence of racism, or its association with health (e.g. mental health, physical health, health behaviours) or socio-economic outcomes (e.g. education, employment, income), and (3) report Australian data. Measures of racism will focus on study participants’ self-reports, with a separate analysis dedicated to researcher-reported measures, such as segregation and differential outcomes across racial/ethnic groups. Measures of health and socio-economic outcomes will include both self-reports and researcher-reported measures, such as physiological measurements. Existing reviews will be manually searched for additional studies. Study characteristics will be summarised, and a meta-analysis of the prevalence of racism and its associations will be conducted using random effects models and mean weighted effect sizes. Moderation and subgroup analyses will be conducted as well. All analyses will use the software CMA 3.0. Discussion: This study will provide a novel and comprehensive synthesis of the quantitative evidence base on racism in Australia. It will answer questions about the fluctuation of racism over time, its variation across settings and groups, and its relationship with health and socio-economic outcomes. Findings will be discussed in relation to broader debates in this growing field of research and will be widely disseminated to inform anti-racism research, action and policy nationally. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42021265115

Doing diversity: intercultural understanding in primary and secondary schools

Doing Diversity: Intercultural understanding in primary and secondary schools1 was a three year, multi-method programme of research involving intensive work in 12 diverse profile schools in Melbourne, Victoria, that examined the facilitators and impediments to the intercultural capabilities described in the Victorian and Australian curricula for students and schools