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How Minority Students Experience College: Implications for Planning and Policy
"I feel like they act like they're so diverse and multicultural.This is not a representation of how it is for people who go here.""I know of several occasions, if it weren't for several faculty of color, I don't know how I would have made it from one day to the next." -- from student interviewsHave three decades of integration and multicultural initiatives in higher education delivered a better education to all students? Are majority and minority students reaping similar benefits, specifically in predominantly white colleges? Do we know what a multicultural campus should look like, and how to design one that is welcoming to all students and promotes a learning environment?Through a unique qualitative study involving seven colleges and universities considered national models of commitment to diversity, this book presents the views and voices of minority students on what has been achieved and what remains to be done. The direct quotations that form the core of this book give voice to Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and bi-racial students. They offer in their own words their perceptions of their campus cultures and practices, the tensions they encounter and what works for them.Rather than elaborating or recommending specific models or solutions, this book aims to provide insights that will enable the reader better to understand and articulate the issues that need to be addressed to achieve a well-adapted multicultural campus.Presidents, academic affairs professionals, student affairs personnel and faculty concerned with equity and diversity will find this book helpful and enlightening.
156 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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October 30, 2009
This was the semester's selection for the Crossing Borders Reading Circle. The book is based on a multisite qualitative research study at small liberal arts colleges. The first 3 chapters of the book are typical of a research study with the literature review and methodology. Chapters 4 through 6 are the findings. The book uses a large number of quotes to demonstrate student voice as the students explain explain their college experience. The quotes added richness to the description of findings.
I found myself wondering if the final chapter, basically a list of recommendations, was really a list that the authors wanted to address. I'm not convinced that the suggestions truly came from the research findings. My other concern about the book is that the authors only studied the minority students at the research sites. They did not gain the perceptions of white students at the same schools. Although they did reflect back on the literature, I"m not convinced that maybe majority freshmen had the same concerns. In that light, an interesting question came up in our discussion today. If this were an institution where white students were minority students, would the research have the same outcome.
Another point of discussion was that some believe that the students who made comments that they "didn't know who they could ask" should take the initiate to go ask their faculty member or advisor and not "whine" about not knowing. We discussed that we are a group of white female faculty reading this from our perspective. In our culture, we would expect our students (or have taught our children) to learn to take care of these things themselves. However, many other cultures value the family or a collective group. Therefore, when a question or concern comes up, the "family" addresses it and the individual is not expected to address it independently. One of the things we do with the Crossing Borders students is to help them learn what is expected of them in higher educations - kind of the "hidden rules." Therefore, when they face questions like this, we hopefully have prepared them to independently seek the help of their faculty.
Overall, I wasn't extremely thrilled with the book. It may make an interesting addition to a qualitative research course, supplementing a method book.
I found myself wondering if the final chapter, basically a list of recommendations, was really a list that the authors wanted to address. I'm not convinced that the suggestions truly came from the research findings. My other concern about the book is that the authors only studied the minority students at the research sites. They did not gain the perceptions of white students at the same schools. Although they did reflect back on the literature, I"m not convinced that maybe majority freshmen had the same concerns. In that light, an interesting question came up in our discussion today. If this were an institution where white students were minority students, would the research have the same outcome.
Another point of discussion was that some believe that the students who made comments that they "didn't know who they could ask" should take the initiate to go ask their faculty member or advisor and not "whine" about not knowing. We discussed that we are a group of white female faculty reading this from our perspective. In our culture, we would expect our students (or have taught our children) to learn to take care of these things themselves. However, many other cultures value the family or a collective group. Therefore, when a question or concern comes up, the "family" addresses it and the individual is not expected to address it independently. One of the things we do with the Crossing Borders students is to help them learn what is expected of them in higher educations - kind of the "hidden rules." Therefore, when they face questions like this, we hopefully have prepared them to independently seek the help of their faculty.
Overall, I wasn't extremely thrilled with the book. It may make an interesting addition to a qualitative research course, supplementing a method book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review