Nida Denson

Racial Diversity Matters: The Impact of Diversity-Related Student Engagement and Institutional Context

This study addressed two questions: (a) Do different forms of campus racial diversity contribute uniquely to students’ learning and educational experiences when they are simultaneously tested utilizing multilevel modeling? (b) Does a campus where students take greater advantage of those diversity opportunities have independent positive effects on students’ learning? Consideration of racial diversity extended beyond student composition and included social and curricular engagement. Results suggest that benefits associated with diversity may be more far-reaching than previously documented. Not only do students benefit from engaging with racial diversity through related knowledge acquisition or cross-racial interaction but also from being enrolled on a campus where other students are more engaged with those forms of diversity, irrespective of their own level of engagement.

Racism as a Determinant of Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Despite a growing body of epidemiological evidence in recent years documenting the health impacts of racism, the cumulative evidence base has yet to be synthesized in a comprehensive meta-analysis focused specifically on racism as a determinant of health. This meta-analysis reviewed the literature focusing on the relationship between reported racism and mental and physical health outcomes. Data from 293 studies reported in 333 articles published between 1983 and 2013, and conducted predominately in the U.S., were analysed using random effects models and mean weighted effect sizes. Racism was associated with poorer mental health (negative mental health: r = -.23, 95% CI [-.24,-.21], k = 227; positive mental health: r = -.13, 95% CI [-.16,-.10], k = 113), including depression, anxiety, psychological stress and various other outcomes. Racism was also associated with poorer general health (r = -.13 (95% CI [-.18,-.09], k = 30), and poorer physical health (r = -.09, 95% CI [-.12,-.06], k = 50). Moderation effects were found for some outcomes with regard to study and exposure characteristics. Effect sizes of racism on mental health were stronger in cross-sectional compared with longitudinal data and in non-representative samples compared with representative samples. Age, sex, birthplace and education level did not moderate the effects of racism on health. Ethnicity significantly moderated the effect of racism on negative mental health and physical health: the association between racism and negative mental health was significantly stronger for Asian American and Latino(a) American participants compared with African American participants, and the association between racism and physical health was significantly stronger for Latino(a) American participants compared with African American participants. Protocol PROSPERO registration number: CRD42013005464.

Student evaluation of courses : what predicts satisfaction?

The main goals of course evaluations are to obtain student feedback regarding courses and teaching for improvement purposes and to provide a defined and practical process to ensure that actions are taken to improve courses and teaching. Of the items on course evaluation forms, the one that receives the most attention and consequently the most weight is the question, ‘Overall, I was satisfied with the quality of this course.’ However, no attention has been placed on examining the predictors of students being ‘satisfied with the quality of this course’ overall. This study attempts to address this gap. The findings show that while student characteristics and reasons for enrolling in a course are predictors of overall satisfaction, it is the evaluation questions that predict the majority of the variation in course satisfaction. The findings also reveal that faculty‐selected optional questions are stronger predictors of overall satisfaction than compulsory questions.

The impact of student experiences with diversity on developing graduate attributes

While the emerging body of international research suggests that students’ experiences with diversity impact positively on student learning and their preparation for entering a diverse workforce and society, no similar research is available in relation to students in Australian universities. Many of these outcomes, such as problem‐solving, ability to work with others, and appreciation of and respect for diversity, are attributes that most – if not all – Australian universities value and work hard to instil in their graduates. This study explored whether student experiences with diversity impact on the development of selected graduate attributes and whether this relationship differs between international and local students at one Group of Eight (Go8) university. The findings demonstrate that student experiences with diversity positively impact on problem‐solving, ability to work with others, and appreciation of and respect for diversity. The magnitude of these relationships, however, differs between international and local students.

Keep on Truckin’ or Stay the Course? Exploring Grit Dimensions as Differential Predictors of Educational Achievement, Satisfaction, and Intentions

In an ongoing effort to identify predictors of educational success and achievement, grit has emerged as a seemingly useful disposition. Grit is conceived as the combination of perseverance of effort and consistency of interest over time, but the predictive utility of these two dimensions has rarely been explored separately, and the limited research available has considered a small number of outcomes. This article draws upon three samples at two universities to examine the relationships between grit dimensions and various student outcomes. Multiple regression results indicated that perseverance of effort predicted greater academic adjustment, college grade point average, college satisfaction, sense of belonging, faculty–student interactions, and intent to persist, while it was inversely related to intent to change majors. Consistency of interest was associated with less intent to change majors and careers, but it was not significantly associated with any other outcome in the expected direction when controlling for other variables.

Does Socioeconomic Diversity Make a Difference? Examining the Effects of Racial and Socioeconomic Diversity on the Campus Climate for Diversity:

This article considers whether the socioeconomic diversity of the undergraduate student body and experiences with cross-class interaction (CCI) are significantly related to cross-racial interaction (CRI) and engagement with curricular/co-curricular diversity (CCD) activities. Individual students who reported higher levels of CCI had significantly higher levels of CRI and CCD. While the socioeconomic diversity of the student body had no direct effect on student involvement in CCD activities or CRI, it had an indirect effect on these activities via CCI. In other words, a socioeconomically diverse institution is associated with more frequent interactions across class lines, which is associated both with more frequent interactions across race and greater involvement in CCD activities. Findings indicate that both socioeconomic and racial diversity are essential to promoting a positive campus racial climate and that racial and socioeconomic diversity, while interrelated, are not interchangeable. Implications for the campus climate for diversity are discussed.

“I Am Working-Class”: Subjective Self-Definition as a Missing Measure of Social Class and Socioeconomic Status in Higher Education Research

This review provides a critical appraisal of the measurement of students’ social class and socioeconomic status (SES) in the context of widening higher education participation. Most assessments of social class and SES in higher education have focused on objective measurements based on the income, occupation, and education of students’ parents, and they have tended to overlook diversity among students based on factors such as age, ethnicity, indigeneity, and rurality. However, recent research in psychology and sociology has stressed the more subjective and intersectional nature of social class. The authors argue that it is important to consider subjective self-definitions of social class and SES alongside more traditional objective measures. The implications of this dual measurement approach for higher education research are discussed.

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

This paper investigates how “Diversity Advocacy,” a variable measuring faculty attitudes towards racial/ethnic diversity, varies across demographic characteristics, academic rank, discipline, and institutional type in a dataset of 38,580 full-time faculty. Significant predictors of Diversity Advocacy include gender, race/ethnicity, discipline, incorporation of readings related to race/ethnicity and gender, and civic values.

Validating racism and cultural respect: Testing the psychometric properties and educational impact of perceived discrimination and multiculturation for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students

Within the field of quantitative research, the diverse and negative effects of racial discrimination have become increasingly documented across a number of outcome variables (including physical, mental, and social wellbeing); however, research on the direct effects of racism is less evident within educational settings. The present investigation explored the negative impact of perceived racial discrimination, in addition to perceptions of cultural respect (Multiculturation) on both objective (e.g., student grades) and subjective (e.g., importance of school) schooling outcomes for a sample of Indigenous Australian and non-Indigenous Australian high school students. Perceived racial discrimination was found to be one of the strongest negative predictors of a number of outcomes for Indigenous Australian students, and Multiculturation was also found to have substantial positive relations with the subjective schooling outcomes for the same group of students. That the results were also generalisable to the non-Indigenous students suggests that attempts to combat racism and promote respect may benefit all members of society.

Dynamic Relationships: Identifying Moderators That Maximize Benefits Associated with Diversity

This study examined factors that can moderate the relationship between cross-racial interaction and undergraduate students’ development. While previous studies have shown that students benefit from interacting across racial differences, they have not examined whether those educational benefits are moderated by other factors. The moderators examined in this study included measures of the quality of cross-racial interactions, students’ support of race-conscious admissions, and students’ satisfaction with their college’s respect for diverse beliefs. The results show that the benefits associated with those interactions on students’ academic self-concept and social agency depend on the quality of their interactions and their perceptions of their campus climate. The findings suggest that while efforts to enhance access are vital, those initiatives should not be conflated with efforts to improve an institution’s capacity to address the quality of the context in which students engage with diversity.