(NAME-MCE) Communication and Comfort Across Ethnic Lines

[Anselmo Villanueva]

Study of University of California shows interactions among different
demographic groups is commonplace, students generally feel a sense of
belonging.

Complete story below.  For related stories, go to:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/03/13/uc

March 13, 2008

Communication and Comfort Across Ethnic Lines

When a state bars affirmative action, as California did in 1996 with
Proposition 209, what happens to student interactions at public
universities? Does the debate focus so much attention on race that students
retreat to their own worlds?

A new study of the University of California system coming from the Center
for Studies in Higher Education at UC Berkeley portrays a generally healthy
picture of campus life from the standpoint of interaction among different
demographic groups. Students surveyed also overwhelmingly reported feeling a
sense of belonging, although black students — whose numbers at UC's most
competitive campuses have waned — gave the lowest scores in this category.

The report, "Does Diversity Matter in the Education Process? An Exploration
of Student Interactions by Wealth, Religion, Politics, Race, Ethnicity and
Immigrant Status at the University of California," surveyed nearly 58,000
students from the eight California campuses with undergraduate programs.

Steve Chatman, the report's author and project director of the Student
Experience in the Research University Project/University of California
Undergraduate Experience Survey, described the system's demographic makeup
this way:

"When viewed from the perspective of higher education nationally, the
diversity among the University of California student population is
striking," he wrote in the report. "The university is richly and remarkably
diverse by most standards. ... The University does suffer from a
proportional deficit in that it enrolls fewer African Americans and
Hispanics than would be expected from population demographics."

Chatman said there's a "surprising lack of evidence" supporting diversity in
race, religion, socioeconomic status and political viewpoint as a compelling
interest for public higher education, as well as "little direct evidence
cited that interpersonal relationships in college are a necessary or
sufficient condition for development of the listed skills or that the skills
were actually developed."

That's what he wants his report to illustrate. It concludes that the
generally healthy level of conversation that takes places among students of
different demographic groups increases understanding on campuses.

The students were asked to self-report how frequently they developed a
better understanding of a significantly different viewpoint because the
other person in the conversation had different religious or political views,
or was of a different nationality, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
(The report notes that students were not reporting that they changed their
point of view, only that they better understood the viewpoint of others.)

Student responses to these questions provide "useful, if soft, evidence of
diversity benefits," the study points out.

Sixty percent of students reported frequent discussions about race,
ethnicity and nationality — the most common topics of conversation. Chatman
said that's not surprising, given that those are the most visible
demographic differences. More than 40 percent of students said their
understanding of others was often improved through personal interactions
with students who differed from them in socioeconomic status, religion and
politics.

In general, students from smaller demographic groups reported being more
likely to have these frequent, informative conversations with those in other
groups. Black students, for instance, who represented 1,400 out of the
58,000 students surveyed, reported the highest levels of interactions (73
percent) that resulted in understanding another's point of view. Hispanic
students (68 percent) were second on the list.

Students who were foreign-born or first-generation Americans were more
likely than their counterparts to report having these type of interactions.
Likewise, self-identified Republicans and Republican-leaning independents
were more likely to go outside their group to have conversations, which is
intuitive, the report notes, given the dearth of these students on some
campuses.

On the national scale, the most recent National Survey of Student Engagement
showed that about one-fourth of students say they "very often" had a serious
conversation with students who are "very different" from them in terms of
religious beliefs, political opinions or personal values, race or ethnicity;
and about half said that takes place at least "often."

The same holds true for the question of whether colleges emphasize contact
among people of different backgrounds.

Chatman said one reason the UC numbers reflect a somewhat different reality
is that there are more full-time students in the system likely to spend
significant time on campus, live in dorms and have to go out of their way
not to come across people of different backgrounds.

Put the two sources together and the information is "reasonably
encouraging," said Alexander McCormick, director of NSSE. A slight majority
of students surveyed in NSSE reported having frequent interactions across
groups, and among the California students who reported having conversations
frequently, many said they lead to richer, deeper understanding.

On the question of belonging, low-income students in the UC system were
least likely to say they fit in. Second on that list: the most wealthy
students. But more than three-fourths of all students reported belonging.

Among religious groups, Muslim and Jewish students reported the highest
levels of feeling that they belong. Just under 75 percent of black students
agreed with that sentiment, which was under the overall average. The report
notes that there was a "dramatic increase" in the percentage of black
students saying they belonged when the overall black population was more
than 5 percent on a given campus.

Black students make up 3 percent of the university's overall population, but
on one campus (which the report doesn't name) where the total is roughly 6
percent, black students reported belonging at a higher rate than the general
population.

"This result suggests that the UC's composition of African American students
should at least be tripled," Chatman said in the report.

He said the study also shows that the oft-cited necessary critical mass of
black students on a given campus might be smaller than has been suggested —
as low as 5 to 10 percent could make a significant difference in student
perception. "That's encouraging," he said, "because it's more attainable."

Campus climate also plays a role, Chatman said. "You can't assume because
you have a mix of students, you'll have a fixed level of interaction."

His hope is that college leaders talk about diversity beyond race, but to
also include socioeconomic status, religion and other factors. "Overall, the
research suggests there's a compelling interest in admitting students who
reflect diverse characteristics," he said.

— Elia Powers