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A Tale of Two Groups: Differences Between Minority Students and Non-Minority Students in their Predispositions to and Engagement with Diverse Peers at a Predominantly White Institution

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Abstract

Using a revised version of the Transition to College Model (Locks et al. 2008, Rev High Educ 31(3), 257–285), this study examined the extent to which minority students and non-minority students differ in their predispositions to engage in campus-based diversity activities as well as in their engagement with ethnically diverse college peers at a predominantly White college. Findings indicate that engagement with diverse peers is a learned behavior; one that was shaped long before a student stepped into college. The importance of past interactions with diverse peers extends beyond freshman year predispositions to engage; students who interacted with diverse students prior to college were also more prone to report engagement with diverse peers at the end of their sophomore year. Notably, freshmen minority students were more predisposed to engage diverse peers next to their White peers; these ethnic-based differences, however, dissipated by the end of the sophomore year of college.

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Notes

  1. We consulted with Gregory R. Hancock, Ralph Mueller and technical personnel at Scientific Software International regarding the availability of modern methods to handle missing cases for ordinal and categorical variables. These methods are not available.

  2. CFA as opposed to Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) is chosen for this analysis. CFA starts with a theoretically derived model, and assesses how well the data fit the model. EFA on the other hand explores the data to ‘discover’ underlying structures that may be present. CFA begins with theory, and allows the researcher to determine whether or not the theory should be rejected (Hancock and Mueller 2008a; Kline 2005). CFA also allows the researcher to test alternative conceptualizations of the factors underscoring a latent construct (Byrne 2006).

  3. None of the minority groups per se were large enough to conduct tests of model invariance across both CFA and structural models (African American = 59: Asian American = 119; Hispanic = 31; Biracial = 37). Consequently, we combined all minority groups into one group after a series of MANOVA analyses revealed no significant differences across most minority groups for most of the 15 variables under consideration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Director of Policy Research, Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, Washington, DC, USA

    Wendell D. Hall

  2. Department of Education Leadership, Higher and International Education, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD, USA

    Alberto F. Cabrera

  3. Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Jeffrey F. Milem

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  1. Wendell D. Hall
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  2. Alberto F. Cabrera
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  3. Jeffrey F. Milem
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Correspondence to Wendell D. Hall.

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Hall, W.D., Cabrera, A.F. & Milem, J.F. A Tale of Two Groups: Differences Between Minority Students and Non-Minority Students in their Predispositions to and Engagement with Diverse Peers at a Predominantly White Institution. Res High Educ 52, 420–439 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-010-9201-4

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