Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

How Much Diversity is Enough? The Curvilinear Relationship Between College Diversity Interactions and First-Year Student Outcomes

  • Published:
Research in Higher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Recent legal challenges to race-conscious college admissions processes have called into question what constitutes a sufficient level of diversity on college campuses. Previous research on the educational benefits of diversity has examined the linear relationship between diversity interactions and student outcomes, but multiple theoretical frameworks suggest that this relationship may be curvilinear. The present study investigated this possibility using a longitudinal sample of 8,615 first-year undergraduates at 49 colleges and universities. The results indicate that rare or moderate diversity interactions are associated with virtually no growth (and sometimes even slight declines) in leadership skills, psychological well-being, and intellectual engagement, whereas very frequent diversity interactions are associated with considerable growth. The results are similar regardless of students’ race, institutional characteristics, and whether the interactions are interracial or across multiple forms of difference. Implications for institutional practice and future research are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The unweighted sample is 61.8 % female, 75.5 % White, 8.9 % Black, 6.0 % Asian, 4.8 % Hispanic, .3 % reported American Indian, and .8 % other race/ethnicity. The weighted sample had somewhat greater proportions of men, students at two-year colleges, and students whose parents had lower educational attainment than did the unweighted sample. These group differences are quite consistent with persistence patterns in American higher education (Radford et al. 2010), so student attrition from college may account, at least in part, for patterns of unit nonresponse in Wave 2. Although preliminary analyses showed that the results were similar regardless of whether weighting was used, all analyses were conducted with the weights, which is consistent with the recommendations of survey methodologists and statisticians (e.g., Allison 2002; Bethlehem 2002; Groves et al. 2009; Little and Rubin 2002).

References

  • Allison, P. D. (2002). Missing data. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allport, G. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Reading: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antonio, A. L. (2001a). Diversity and the influence of friendship groups in college. Review of Higher Education, 25, 63–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antonio, A. L. (2001b). The role of interracial interaction in the development of leadership skills and cultural knowledge and understanding. Research in Higher Education, 42, 593–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Astin, A. W. (1993). Diversity and multiculturalism on the campus: How are students affected? Change, 25(2), 44–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernsden, M., Spears, R., Pligt, J., & McGarty, C. (2002). Illusory correlation and stereotype formation: Making sense of group differences and cognitive biases. In C. McGarty, V. Y. Yzerbyt, & R. Spears (Eds.), Stereotypes as explanations: The formation of meaningful beliefs about social groups (pp. 90–110). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bethlehem, J. G. (2002). Weighting nonresponse adjustments based on auxiliary information. In R. M. Groves, D. A. Dillman, J. L. Eltinge, & R. J. A. Little (Eds.), Survey nonresponse (pp. 275–288). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, N. A. (2010a). College diversity experiences and cognitive development: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 80, 4–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, N. A. (2010b). The development of psychological well-being among first-year college students. Journal of College Student Development, 51, 180–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, N. A. (2010c). Dissonance and resolution: The non-linear effects of diversity courses on well-being and orientations toward diversity. Review of Higher Education, 33, 543–568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, N. A. (2011). Promoting participation in a diverse democracy: A meta-analysis of college diversity experiences and civic engagement. Review of Educational Research, 81, 29–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, N. A. (2012a). Promoting sustained engagement with diversity: The reciprocal relationships between informal and formal college diversity experiences. Review of Higher Education, 36, 1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, N. A. (2012b). Structural diversity and close interracial relationships in college. Educational Researcher, 41, 133–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, N. A. (2013). The conditional effects of interracial interactions on college student outcomes. Journal of College Student Development, 54, 322–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, N. A., & Brandenberger, J. W. (2012). Experiencing the unexpected: Toward a model of college diversity experiences and attitude change. Review of Higher Education, 35, 179–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, N. A., & Denson, N. (2012). What’s past is prologue: How precollege exposure to diversity shapes the impact of college diversity experiences. Research in Higher Education, 53, 406–425.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, N. A., & Griffin, T. M. (2012). Secondary transfer effects of interracial contact: The moderating role of social status. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 18, 35–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cacioppo, J., Petty, R., Feinstein, J., & Jarvis, W. (1996). Dispositional differences in cognitive motivation: The life and times of individuals varying in need for cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 119, 197–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, M. J. (1999). Does racial diversity matter? The educational impact of a racially diverse undergraduate population. Journal of College Student Development, 40, 377–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, M. J. (2011). Quality matters: Achieving benefits associated with racial diversity. Columbus: Kirwin Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, The Ohio State University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, M. J., Astin, A. W., & Kim, D. (2004). Cross-racial interaction among undergraduates: Some consequences, causes, and patterns. Research in Higher Education, 45, 529–553.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, M. J., Denson, N., Saenz, V., & Misa, K. (2006). The educational benefits of sustaining cross-racial interaction among undergraduates. Journal of Higher Education, 77, 430–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crisp, R. J., & Turner, R. N. (2011). Cognitive adaptation to the experience of social and cultural diversity. Psychological Bulletin, 137, 242–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta, N., & Asgari, S. (2004). Seeing is believing: Exposure to counterstereotypic women leaders and its effect on the malleability of automatic gender stereotyping. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 642–658.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, K., Tropp, L. R., Aron, A., Pettigrew, T. F., & Wright, S. C. (2011). Cross-group friendships and intergroup attitudes: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15, 332–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denson, N. (2009). Do curricular and co-curricular diversity activities influence racial bias? A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 79, 805–838.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denson, N., & Bowman, N.A. (in press). University diversity and preparation for a global society: The role of diversity in shaping intergroup attitudes and civic outcomes. Studies in Higher Education.

  • Denson, N., & Chang, M. J. (2009). Racial diversity matters: The impact of diversity-related student engagement and institutional context. American Educational Research Journal, 46, 322–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denson, N., & Chang, M. J. (2010). Maximizing the benefits of diversity: Exploring moderators of cross-racial interaction among undergraduates. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Indianapolis, IN.

  • Denson, N., & Zhang, S. (2010). The impact of student experiences with diversity on developing graduate attributes. Studies in Higher Education, 35, 529–543.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dugan, J. (2006). Explorations using the social change model: Leadership development among college men and women. Journal of College Student Development, 47, 217–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engberg, M. E. (2007). Educating the workforce for the 21st century: A cross-disciplinary analysis of the impact of the undergraduate experience on students’ development of a pluralistic orientation. Research in Higher Education, 48, 283–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, M. J. (2008). Does campus diversity promote friendship diversity? A look at interracial friendships in college. Social Science Quarterly, 89, 631–655.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (2008) Civ. Act. No. 1:08-cv-00263-SS (W.D. Texas, 2008).

  • Fuertes, J., Miville, M., Mohr, J., Sedlacek, W., & Gretchen, D. (2000). Factor structure and short form of the Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity Scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 33, 157–169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, C., & Jung, K. (2006). Historical census statistics on the foreign-born population of the United States: 1850 to 2000 (population division, working paper no. 81). Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.

  • Gratz v. Bollinger (2003) 539 U.S. 244.

  • Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) 539 U.S. 306.

  • Groves, R. M., Fowler, F. J, Jr, Couper, M. P., Lepkowski, J. M., Singer, E., & Tourangeau, R. (2009). Survey methodology (2nd ed.). Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurin, P. (1999). Expert report. “Gratz et al. v. Bollinger, et al.” No. 97‐75321 (E.D. Mich.); “Grutter, et al. v. Bollinger, et al.” No. 97‐75928 (E.D. Mich.). Equity & Excellence in Education, 32(2), 36–62.

  • Gurin, P., Dey, E. L., Hurtado, S., & Gurin, G. (2002). Diversity and higher education: Theory and impact on educational outcomes. Harvard Educational Review, 72, 330–366.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heck, R. H., & Thomas, S. L. (2008). An introduction to multilevel modeling techniques (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hewstone, M., & Brown, R. (1986). Contact is not enough: An intergroup perspective. In M. Hewstone & R. Brown (Eds.), Contact and conflict in intergroup encounters (pp. 1–44). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hewstone, M., & Lord, C. G. (1998). Changing intergroup cognitions and intergroup behavior: The role of typicality. In C. Sedikides, J. Schopler, & C. A. Insko (Eds.), Intergroup cognition and intergroup behavior (pp. 367–392). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu, S., & Kuh, G. D. (2003). Diversity experiences and college student learning and personal development. Journal of College Student Development, 44, 320–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humes, K. R., Jones, N. A., & Ramirez, R. R. (2011). Overview of race and Hispanic origin: 2010 (2010 Census Briefs, C2010BR-02). Washington: U.S. Census Bureau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurtado, S. (2005). The next generation of diversity and intergroup relations research. Journal of Social Issues, 61, 595–610.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurtado, S., & Ruiz, A. (2012). The climate for underrepresented groups and diversity on campus (HERI research in brief). Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaccard, J., & Turrisi, R. (2003). Interaction effects in multiple regression. Newbury Park: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jayakumar, U. M. (2008). Can higher education meet the needs of an increasingly diverse and global society? Campus diversity and cross-cultural workforce competencies. Harvard Educational Review, 78, 615–651.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahlenberg, R. D. (1997). The remedy: Class, race, and affirmative action. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahlenberg, R. D., & Potter, H. (2012). A better affirmative action: State universities that created alternatives to racial preferences. New York: The Century Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington: Association of American Colleges & Universities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, S., van Laar, C., & Sidanius, J. (2003). The effects of ingroup and outgroup friendships on ethnic attitudes in college: A longitudinal study. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 6, 76–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, R. J. A., & Rubin, D. B. (2002). Statistical analysis with missing data (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Locks, A. M., Hurtado, S., Bowman, N. A., & Oseguera, L. (2008). Extending notions of campus climate and diversity to students’ transition to college. Review of Higher Education, 31, 257–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luke, D. A. (2004). Multilevel modeling. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milem, J. F., Umbach, P. D., & Liang, C. T. H. (2004). Exploring the perpetuation hypothesis: The role of colleges and universities in desegregating society. Journal of College Student Development, 45, 688–700.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milem, J. F., Chang, M. J., & Antonio, A. L. (2005). Making diversity work on campus: A research-based perspective. Washington: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miville, M., Gelso, C., Pannu, R., Liu, W., Touradji, P., Holloway, P., et al. (1999). Appreciating similarities and valuing differences: The Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity Scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 46, 291–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson Laird, T. F. (2005). College students’ experiences with diversity and their effects on academic self-confidence, social agency, and disposition toward critical thinking. Research in Higher Education, 46, 365–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orfield, G. (2009). Reviving the goal of an integrated society: A 21st century challenge. Los Angeles: The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Park, J. J., Denson, N., & Bowman, N. A. (in press). Does socioeconomic diversity make a difference? Examining the effects of racial and socioeconomic diversity on the campus climate for diversity. American Educational Research Journal.

  • Pettigrew, T. F. (1998). Intergroup contact theory. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 65–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pettigrew, T. F., & Tropp, L. R. (2006). A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 751–783.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pettigrew, T. F., & Tropp, L. R. (2008). How does intergroup contact reduce prejudice? Meta-analytic tests of three mediators. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38, 922–934.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pike, G. R., & Kuh, G. D. (2006). Relationships among structural diversity, informal peer interactions and perceptions of the campus environment. The Review of Higher Education, 29, 425–450.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pike, G. R., Kuh, G. D., & Gonyea, R. M. (2007). Evaluating the rationale for affirmative action in college admissions: Direct and indirect relationships between campus diversity and gains in understanding diverse groups. Journal of College Student Development, 48, 166–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pryor, J. H., Hurtado, S., Saenz, V. B., Santos, J. L., & Korn, W. S. (2007). The American freshman: Forty year trends. Los Angeles: Higher Education Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles.

    Google Scholar 

  • Radford, A. W., Berkner, L., Wheeless, S. C., & Shepherd, B. (2010). Persistence and attainment of 2003–04 beginning postsecondary students: After 6 years (NCES 2011–151). Washington: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (2nd ed.). Newbury Park: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) 438 U.S. 265.

  • Ryff, C. D. (1989a). Beyond Ponce de Leon and life satisfaction: New directions in quest of successful ageing. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 12, 35–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D. (1989b). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069–1081.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 719–727.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saenz, V. B. (2010). Breaking the segregation cycle: Examining students’ precollege racial environments and college diversity experiences. The Review of Higher Education, 34, 1–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saenz, V. B., Ngai, H. N., & Hurtado, S. (2007). Factors influencing positive interactions across race for African American, Asian American, Latino, and White college students. Research in Higher Education, 48, 1–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sekaquaptewa, D., Espinoza, P., Thompson, M., Vargas, P., & von Hippel, W. (2003). Stereotypic explanatory bias: Implicit stereotyping as a predictor of discrimination. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 75–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seta, J. J., Seta, C. E., & McElroy, T. (2003). Attributional biases in the service of stereotype maintenance: A schema-maintenance through compensation analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 151–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stroessner, S. J., & Plaks, J. E. (2001). Illusory correlation and stereotype formation: Tracing the arc of research over a quarter century. In G. B. Moskowitz (Ed.), Cognitive social psychology: The Princeton symposium on the legacy and future of social cognition (pp. 247–259). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tausch, N., Hewstone, M., Kenworthy, J. B., Psaltis, C., Schmid, K., Popan, J. R., et al. (2010). Secondary transfer effects of intergroup contact: Alternative accounts and underlying processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 282–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terenzini, P. T., Cabrera, A. F., Colbeck, C. L., Bjorklund, S. A., & Parente, J. M. (2001). Racial and ethnic diversity in the classroom: Does it promote student learning? The Journal of Higher Education, 72, 509–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Chronicle of Higher Education (2011). Almanac issue 2011–12.

  • Thomas, S. L., & Heck, R. H. (2001). Analysis of large-scale secondary data in higher education research: Potential perils associated with complex sampling designs. Research in Higher Education, 42, 517–540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tropp, L. R., & Pettigrew, T. F. (2005). Relationships between intergroup contact and prejudice among minority and majority status groups. Psychological Science, 16, 951–957.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyree, T. (1998). Designing an instrument to measure socially responsible leadership using the social change model of leadership development. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland-College Park.

  • Umbach, P. D., & Kuh, G. D. (2006). Student experiences with diversity at liberal arts colleges: Another claim for distinctiveness. Journal of Higher Education, 77, 169–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • University of Michigan. (2003). Why Michigan’s former admissions systems comply with Bakke and are not quotas. http://www.vpcomm.umich.edu/admissions/archivedocs/comply.html. Accessed 11 May 2012.

  • van Laar, C., Levin, S., Sinclair, S., & Sidanius, J. (2005). The effect of university roommate contact on ethnic attitudes and behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 41, 329–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilder, D. A., Simon, A. F., & Faith, M. (1996). Enhancing the impact of counterstereotypic information: Dispositional attributions for deviance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 276–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woo, S. E., Harms, P. D., & Kuncel, N. R. (2007). Integrating personality and intelligence: Typical intellectual engagement and need for cognition. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 1635–1639.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The research on which this study is based was supported by a generous grant from the Center of Inquiry at Wabash College to the Center for Research on Undergraduate Education at the University of Iowa. The author thanks Luis Ponjuan and Anat H. Levtov for their helpful feedback on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Higher Education and Student Affairs, Bowling Green State University, 330 Education Building, Bowling Green, OH, 43403, USA

    Nicholas A. Bowman

Authors
  1. Nicholas A. Bowman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicholas A. Bowman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bowman, N.A. How Much Diversity is Enough? The Curvilinear Relationship Between College Diversity Interactions and First-Year Student Outcomes. Res High Educ 54, 874–894 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-013-9300-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-013-9300-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation