Inside the Minds of Students at an Ethnically Diverse University Campus

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Inside the Minds of Students at an Ethnically
Diverse University Campus

• By L. Mark Carrier, Psychology Department
• Presented at the 3rd Annual Campus Poster
  Session, October 10, 2006
• This project addressed the question, How does
  diversity affect learning on our campus?
• A sample of 100 students is being administered
  computer-based questionnaires. The open-ended
  questions ask about positive and negative beliefs
  and experiences related to diversity and learning
  at CSUDH.
• The distributions of ethnicities and ages of the
  students in the data collected so far are
  matching the demographics of the University. The
  students in the partial sample come from a wide
  variety of majors.
• The results are showing a variety of interesting
  individual responses from students. There are
  several informative early trends in the partial
  data. The results are suggesting that there are
  negative, as well as positive, effects of
  diversity upon learning on our campus.
• This study is partially supported by the
  Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity
  Award Program (RSCAAP) and the Presidents Office
  at California State University, Dominguez Hills.
  The opinions expressed in this study do not
  necessarily reflect those of the University and
  no official endorsement should be inferred.

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• The Questions
• What are some positive things about being a
  student from your ethnic background at Dominguez
  Hills, compared to students from other ethnic
  backgrounds?
• What are some negative things about being a
  student from your ethnic background at Dominguez
  Hills, compared to students from other ethnic
  backgrounds?
• What are some positive things about interacting
  with persons from other ethnic backgrounds at
  Dominguez Hills?
• What are some negative things about interacting
  with persons from other ethnic backgrounds at
  Dominguez Hills?
• How has your ethnic and cultural background
  positively influenced your learning, performance,
  and experiences at CSUDH?
• How has your ethnic and cultural background
  negatively influenced your learning, performance,
  and experiences at CSUDH?
• What are some characteristics about your ethnic
  and cultural background that makes you unique on
  campus, compared to students from other ethnic
  and cultural backgrounds?
• What are some things that other students,
  faculty, and staff might not know about students
  who come from your ethnic and cultural
  background?
• In what situations has your ethnic and cultural
  background been relevant to an activity in class
  or outside of class on campus?
• What POSITIVE beliefs or ideas about college
  education do you think are held by persons from
  your ethnic and cultural background?
• What NEGATIVE beliefs or ideas about college
  education do you think are held by persons from
  your ethnic and cultural background?
• What have you learned about other cultures while
  being a student at CSUDH? Please give some
  examples.
• What campus clubs, activities, events, or
  organizations have you participated in that are
  related to your ethnic or cultural background?
  Please list and/or describe them.

Emerging Trends in the Data A trend was defined
as a proposition or statement that was mentioned
in some form by at least three students coming
from the same self-identified ethnic group. For
the two Native American students in the sample, a
trend was defined as a statement that was agreed
upon by both students. Inspection of the early
data reveals these emerging trends Asian
students believe that their ethnic backgrounds
have influenced their learning positively because
it makes them study harder and more frequently.
Some Black and Hispanic students feel that their
ethnic backgrounds have not had any negative
influences on their learning experiences, but a
subset of Black students perceive that others
stereotype them as unintelligent, lazy, or
criminal. Asian, Black, and Native American
students agree that their cultures value college
education and college degrees, but Hispanic
students say that other Hispanics hold negative
beliefs about the financial aspects of college,
such as the beliefs that college is too
expensive, it is a financial burden, and that it
is a waste of money. Additionally, Hispanic
students say that persons from their ethnic and
cultural backgrounds believe that success in life
can come from jobs and connections, that a
college degree is not needed. A group of
Hispanic students say that their parents can not
help them much in college because their parents
did not attend college and are poorly educated.
Hispanic students feel that other persons might
not know that they are hard-working and that
their families have struggled significantly.
Native American students say that persons from
their cultural background think that college is
unaffordable and are not aware of financial aid.
Sample Individual Responses from Students People
that have the same culture as I do tend to work
together a bit more efficiently since they feel
the have something in common. I tend to study
more with people of the same ethnic background as
myself. - 20-year old Black and Filipina female
student I have a major problem in getting over
the English class and any other classes with a
large writing assignment. - 22-year old
Chinese/Vietnamese female student My historical
background tells me that knowledge is a great
thing and we should try our hard to gain it.
Unfortunately access to real knowledge is not
very easy in my country therefore I felt great
while pursuing knowledge here where teachers are
so cooperative. - 23-year old Pakistani male
student That some of us are the first ones to
attend college in America given the fact that our
parents graduated college in another country and
thus expect so much from us which tends to give
us a lot of stress. - 19-year old half
Filipino/half Chinese female student Well, it is
much more difficult for our people to enter
college because of possible financial burden,
current living conditions, and because we may not
have received a proper education. We're going
against the grain in many respects. - 35-year
old Mexican female student Our ancestors from
the past made a lot of sacrifices for us to have
the opportunities that we have, so this inspires
me to try harder. - 29-year old Black female
student That we are very caring and have a
strong cultural background here and in Africa. -
19-year old African-American male student I have
had to struggle a little bit to be more
individualistic and competitive. - 41-year old
Hispanic female student Education is a way to
create a more intelligent and more conscious
society. - 38-year old African-American female
student Being raised by an unwealthy ethnicity
caused quite a few problems. Since my family was
not wealthy enough school was somewhat of a
luxury. Being poor didn't allow my parents to
obtain an education that was good enough for
society and because of this their lifestyle and
knowledge suffered. Without a decent education my
parents didn't have much to teach other than the
common knowledge that can be found in the
streets. This of coarse led to some difficulty
with my studies which didn't make my life in
school any easier. - 18-year old Mexican male
student I think some people still think we are
not that smart. - 48-year old Black female
student