DOCUMENT RESUME HE 030 527 ED 411 752 Sedlacek, William E.; Helm, Edward G.; Prieto, Dario 0. AUTHOR The Relationship between Attitudes toward Diversity and TITLE Overall Satisfaction of University Students by Race. Maryland Univ., College Park. Counseling Center. INSTITUTION UMCP-RR-3-97 REPORT NO PUB DATE 1997-00-00 NOTE 26p. Reports - Research Numerical/Quantitative Data (110) PUB TYPE (143) MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Asian Americans; Black Students; College Freshmen; College DESCRIPTORS Juniors; Correlation; Cultural Awareness; Cultural Differences; *Diversity (Student); Dormitories; Factor Analysis; Higher Education; Hispanic Americans; Minority Groups; Models; Racial Bias; *Racial Relations; State Universities; *Student Attitudes; *Student School Relationship; White Students African Americans; *University of Maryland College Park IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT This study examined the relationship between perceptions of diversity and overall satisfaction in students at the University of Maryland at College Park. An anonymous 100-item questionnaire on cultural attitudes and climate was mailed to first and third year students, with mail and phone call follow-ups resulting in an overall return rate of 60 percent (N=566). Results were factor analyzed using principal axis factor analysis and varimax rotation. Factor scores and Pearson correlations were calculated. Among the study's findings were: comfort in cross cultural situations and respect for other cultures correlated with overall satisfaction for all students; the more Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans and Whites were aware of diversity and changing their behavior accordingly, the less satisfied they were with University of Maryland College Park (UMCP); awareness of diversity was not related to overall satisfaction for African Americans; how comfortable African Americans and Hispanic Americans were with their own culture correlated positively with their overall satisfaction while the relationship was not significant for Asian Americans or Whites. For all groups, overall satisfaction was positively related to fair treatment by students and teachers, comfort in cross-cultural situations, and respect for other cultures. Negative correlations were found between satisfaction and perception of racial tension and lack of support. A slight positive correlation was found between awareness of diversity and satisfaction for African Americans, but these were negatively correlated for Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans and Whites. Results were analyzed in terms of several theoretical models. Tables provide detail on study participants and the statistical analysis. (Contains 22 references.) (BF) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * * ******************************************************************************** COUNSELING CENTER Office of Vice President for Student Affairs UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND College Park, Maryland The Relationship Between Attitudes Toward Diversity and Overall Satisfaction of University Students By Race William E. Sedlacek, Edward G. Helm, & Dario 0. Prieto Research Report # 3-97 N (Is BEST COPY AVAILABLE PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Once of Educationai Research and improvement DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER (ERIC) Vicms document has been reproduced as Counseling Center received from the person or organization originating it Univ of Maryland C Minor changes have been made to improve reproductiOn duality Points of view or opinions stateo in this docu- TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES I mint do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) I COUNSELING CENTER UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND The Relationship Between Attitudes Toward Diversity and Overall Satisfaction of University Students By Race William E. Sedlacek, Edward G. Helm, & Dario 0. Prieto Research Report # 3-97 The computer time was provided by Academic Information Technology Services. 2 COUNSELING CENTER UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND The Relationship Between Attitudes Toward Diversity and Overall Satisfaction of University Students By Race William E. Sedlacek, Edward G. Helm, & Dario 0. Prieto Research Report # 3-97 Summary An anonymous 100 item questionnaire on cultural attitudes and climate was completed by first and third year students at UMCP. The study was conducted by the Evaluation Committee of the Diversity Initiative of the Human Relations Office. Factor analyses resulted in eleven factors accounting for 48% of the total variance. Correlations of one factor "overall satisfaction" with the university with other factors showed some common patterns across and respect for races as well as differences between races. Comfort in cross cultural situations other cultures correlated with overall satisfaction for all students. However, the more Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans and Whites were aware of diversity and changing their behavior accordingly, the less satisfied they were with UMCP. Awareness of diversity was not related to overall satisfaction for African Americans. How comfortable African Americans and Hispanic Americans were with their own culture correlated positively with their overall satisfaction while the relationship was not significant for Asian Americans or Whites. Results were discussed in terms of literature and theory. 4 3 There is considerable evidence that campus climate has a great deal to do with the success or failure of students in higher education. Astin (1993) and Pascarella & Terenzini (1991) demonstrated the value of involvement on campus for students and the importance of programs to encourage that involvement. Sedlacek (1996) has shown the importance of community for what he calls nontraditional students; those from racial/cultural groups other than White, middle class, young and heterosexual. As more universities and colleges develop and sustain programs to encourage diversity, one must study the implications of those programs on the campus climate for all students, traditional and nontraditional. Sedlacek (1994) noted that there is often much confusion about how diversity is defined, what groups should be included, and what terms should be applied to those groups. Questions arise such as the following: Should gays, lesbians and bisexuals be included in our conceptualizations of diversity? Can Black and African American be used interchangeably? Is the whole issue just a matter of being politically correct? Westbrook & Sedlacek (1991) studied the labels used to describe nontraditional students in the Education Index since the 1950s. Terms have varied from a focus on acculturation in the 1950s, to disadvantaged in the 1960s, to culture-specific differences in the 1.970s, to multicultural in the 1980s. Diversity could be added as the term for the 1990s. Although these terms may suggest different approaches to the groups discussed, operationally, the same people may be being discussed: those with cultural experiences different from those of White middle-class heterosexual men of European descent, those with less power to control 4 it make sense their lives, and those who experience discrimination in the United States. Does of however, to include such variables as sex, sexual orientation, or athletic status as aspects cultural experience? their abilities in Sedlacek (1996) suggested that those who receive prejudice and show defined as the focus less traditional ways through noncognitive variables can be operationally show their of diversity programs. Groups as different as athletes and older people may underlying their diversity in different ways but there are likely some similarities in the variables designed for them. problems and in the ways they cope with a traditional system that was not effects for students in A key goal is to design diversity programs that will result in positive cultural different groups. It does appear that simply bringing students with different produce backgrounds and experiences together and letting them work it out is unlikely to different groups positive results. Lessons from social psychology suggest that contact among (Dovidio & requires several conditions before it will be likely to produce positive results The programs can't Gaertner, 1986). First, all groups have to perceive the value of diversity. be just for one group, e.g., students of color. Second, there must be equal power of relationships among the groups. This is often difficult since one of the primary components environment (Sedlacek, racism is that one group has more power than others to influence the 1988). and be Third, diversity programs should be developed employing prior research assessed as to program effectiveness. Too often, well intended diversity programs are of diversity programs at assumed to be good at face value. Sedlacek (1995) in an evaluation 5 40 colleges and universities concluded that lack of clearly stated program goals was a common problem. In fact, many schools reported examples where well intended programs actually had the opposite effect; they made things worse. Additionally, appraisals of the campus climate for diversity were not common, either before, during or after programs. Sedlacek (1995) further noted that students from different racial/cultural backgrounds may have very different needs and perceptions of diversity. Pascarella, Edison, Nora, Hagedorn & Terenzini (in press) studied first year students at eighteen institutions on the impact of diversity initiatives and concluded that the overall climate of the institution as well as reaction to that climate were important in determining the impact of diversity initiatives. They also emphasized that students from different backgrounds experience the environment in different ways. Additional studies across institutions concluded that participation in a racial or cultural awareness workshop developed favorable attitudes toward diversity (Springer, Palmer, Terenzini, Pascarella, & Nora, 1995; Musil, Garcia, Moses and Smith, 1995). In their summary of the impact of diversity on students, Appel, Cartwright, Smith & Wolf (1996) concluded that diversity initiatives are likely to have an impact on "minority and majority students which is positive but can also be negative". They also felt that a common problem in diversity programs was to focus on minority students, thus alienating majority students. Sedlacek (1995) also found that unsuccessful diversity programs tended to do this. While Appel et al felt that diversity research results were encouraging, more research was 6 needed to address many unanswered questions, including reactions of different groups to diversity initiatives. Method The purpose of the present study was to determine the relationship of perceptions of diversity to overall campus satisfaction by race at an institution engaged in many diversity initiatives. The anonymous 100 item questionnaire on cultural attitudes and climate was mailed to first and third year students at a large eastern university. A stratified random sample was employed to insure sufficient numbers. Anonymous questionnaires were returned separately from postcards identifying respondents. Mail and phone call follow-ups resulted in an overall return rate of 60%. Table 1 shows participants by race, class and gender. Respondents were able to indicate their race, class and gender on the questionnaire to verify information on student records. Graduate students in education and psychology made the phone calls. The study was conducted as part of the program of the campus diversity evaluation committee. The university studied had had extensive diversity programming in academic and nonacademic areas for several years. Overall, the university student body was approximately 14% African American, 12% Asian American, 6% Hispanic and 54% female. Results were factor analyzed using principal axis factor analysis and varimax rotation. Factor scores were calculated and Pearson correlations among factors were calculated. Of particular interest were the correlations of a factor labeled "Overall Satisfaction" with your university" with other factors by race. 7 Results The coefficient alpha reliability of the questionnaire was .81. Eleven factors were identified which accounted for 48% of the total variance. The factors were labeled Racial Tension, Cross-Cultural Comfort, Diversity Awareness, Racial Pressures, Residence Hall Tension, Fair Treatment, Faculty Racism, Respect for Other Cultures, Lack of Support, Comfort with Own Culture, and Overall Satisfaction. Table 2 shows the items under each factor and scale reliabilities. The results show some consistent patterns of perceptions across races in correlations with overall satisfaction with their university (Table 3). That there was fair treatment by students and teachers positively correlated the highest with overall satisfaction across all races. Comfort in Cross-Cultural situations was also positively correlated with overall satisfaction (highest for Hispanic Americans and lowest for Whites) for all groups as was Respect for Other Cultures. Racial Tension and Lack of Support were negatively correlated with overall satisfaction for all groups, although the values were not significant for Hispanic Americans, possibly because of a smaller sample size. Thus the more racial tension and lack of support from faculty, students and teaching assistants perceived, the lower the perceived overall satisfaction. The more Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans and Whites were aware of diversity and changing their behavior accordingly, the less satisfied they were with their school. Awareness of diversity was not related to overall satisfaction for African Americans. 8 Asian Americans who were most satisfied overall, tended to feel that there was racial tension in the residence halls, but that it was being handled by police and residence hall staff. No other racial group showed any significant correlation of overall satisfaction, with this factor. How comfortable African Americans and Hispanic Americans were with their own culture correlated positively with their overall satisfaction while the relationship was not significant for Asian Americans or Whites. African Americans and Asian Americans who felt faculty were racist in and out of class were likely to be dissatisfied with their school overall while there was no significant relationship for Hispanic Americans and Whites. While all racial groups reported that if they felt race-related pressures or expectancies they tended to be less satisfied, overall the correlations were significant only for African Americans and Whites. Discussion It is clear that student perceptions of diversity issues were related to their overall It is also clear those relationships differed by racial groups. satisfaction with their institution. One point worth discussing is that how comfortable Whites and Asians were with their own culture was not related to their overall satisfaction. For Whites, it is likely that they do not see the relevance of their culture for diversity issues since the overall culture on campus has been, and continues to be, designed for them. This perception is the foundation for the racism that nonwhite students face (Sedlacek, 1988, Sedlacek & Brooks, 1976). White students need to be exposed to programs that focus on their role in a healthy multiucultural society and the advantages to them of learning to deal with diversity. Sedlacek (1993) has 10