EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG LIVING-LEARNING PROGRAMS, PEER INTERACTION, CRITICAL THINKING, AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT ON COLLEGE STUDENT OPENNESS TO DIVERSITY

ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG LIVING-LEARNING PROGRAMS, PEER INTERACTION, CRITICAL THINKING, AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT ON COLLEGE STUDENT OPENNESS TO DIVERSITY Susan Longerbeam, Doctor of Philosophy, 2005 Dissertation directed by: Assistant Professor Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas Department of Counseling and Personnel Services This study uses a college impact model to examine how living-learning programs and other college environments contribute to students' perceptions of growth in openness to diversity. The study tests the Allport (1954) contact hypothesis that meaningful, equal status relationships among college students working towards common goals in the context of institutional support enhance their openness to diversity. The population is undergraduate students in 274 living-learning programs in 34 universities, representing a broad range of programs and universities. Openness to diversity is defined as the awareness and appreciation of other ideas and values, and of racial and cultural differences. The Residence Environment Survey of the National Study of Living-Learning Programs is used to understand how living-learning programs contribute to 12, 241 students' openness to diversity from several different perspectives, by examining differences in students' perceptions by (a) thematic types of living-learning programs, (b) structural elements of living-learning programs, and (c) involvement in living-learning programs nested within a comprehensive conceptual model of college impact on openness to diversity. The study uses mean differences, cluster analyses, and multiple regression analyses to examine openness to diversity from these perspectives. The study determines that students in upper-division living-learning programs have higher perceived growth in openness to diversity than students in most other program types on openness to diversity. The cluster solution distinguishes among the groups of living-learning programs, but there are no mean differences in openness to diversity among the cluster types. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis indicates several items successfully contribute to the model for openness to diversity. They include gender; standardized test scores (negative relationship); socially supportive residence halls; majors in applied social sciences; class level; peer interaction; undergraduate students as mentors in living-learning programs; multicultural programming in living-learning programs, critical thinking; and civic engagement. The primary implication is that student affairs and higher education professionals contribute to student learning by creating environments that are conducive to positive, meaningful interaction among diverse peers. Resources should be allocated to facilitate meaningful, purposeful peer interaction in living-learning environments primarily during the first two years of college

Putting old tensions to rest: Integrating multicultural education and global learning to advance student development

Multicultural education and global learning have long been acknowledged by higher education professionals to be necessary in advancing student development. Both of these agendas overlap in significant ways and can be characterized as two sides of the same coin. Notwithstanding, there has been a historical divide, even a tension between these two elements, that has resulted in their moving on separate tracks towards the same goal of student development. This article discusses a successful approach that uses learning outcomes as the mechanism to integrate these two elements in order to achieve meaningful student development

A leadership identity development model: Applications from a grounded theory

This article describes a stage-based model of leadership identity development (LID) that resulted from a grounded theory study on developing a leadership identity (Komives, Owen, Longerbeam, Mainella, & Osteen, 2005). The LID model expands on the leadership identity stages, integrates the categories of the grounded theory into the LID model, and develops how the categories of the theory change across stages of the model. The model has implications for working with individuals as they develop their leadership identity and for facilitating groups as they develop empowering environments for shared leadership. Connections to related scholarship and stage-based implications for practice are explored

Developing a leadership identity: A grounded theory

This grounded theory study on developing a leadership identity revealed a 6-stage developmental process. The thirteen diverse students in this study described their leadership identity as moving from a leader-centric view to one that embraced leadership as a collaborative, relational process. Developing a leadership identity was connected to the categories of developmental influences, developing self, group influences, students' changing view of self with others, and students' broadening view of leadership. A conceptual model illustrating the grounded theory of developing a leadership identity is presented

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual college student experiences: An exploratory study

The current status of higher education research on lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) students offers an incomplete picture of their overall college experiences. This study is a secondary analysis of data collected for the 2004 National Study of Living-Learning Programs. Data were collected from 34 universities in 24 states and the District of Columbia. The total sample selected included 71,728 students, of which 23,910 responded to the survey, resulting in a response rate of approximately 33.3%. The demographic characteristics of the sample of lesbian, gay, bisexual and heterosexual students were remarkably similar. The results of this exploratory study reveal a rich and multifaceted portrait of the LGB college experience. The results from this study indicate that lesbian and gay students perceive higher growth in critical thinking and liberal learning. of the presence of out LGB students. This study offers a rare glimpse into the overall college experience of lesbian, gay, and bisexual students, and it was made possible by including one question item about respondents' sexual orientation on a survey instrument for a national study

Chronic Codeswitching: Shaping Black/White Multiracial Student Sense of Belonging

Multiracial students grapple with experiences around mixedness which can hinder their sense of belonging among different social groups. Constantly feeling unaccepted and receiving the comment “You are too Black” or “You are too White” capture some of the common microaggressions faced by Black/White multiracial students. Using a phenomenological design, this study examines the ways in which Black/White multiracial students develop their sense of belonging at a predominantly White institution (PWI). While codeswitching has the ability to impact the sense of belonging in racial and ethnic minority groups, our study findings suggest that Black/White multiracial students tend to rely on chronic codeswitching as ways of seeking acceptance, balancing “otherness” and carefully minimizing exclusion when interacting with members of different social groups. Chronic codeswitching is particularly relevant as an everyday strategy in how Black/White multiracial students foster their sense of belonging and a sense of community. Research and practice implications are included