Preparing College Graduates for a Global Workforce: Examining Predictors of Pluralistic Orientation

• In Event: 53.043 - Comparative Higher Education: Critical and Global Approaches

Abstract

Students, parents, and employers, increasingly expect higher education institutions to prepare students for careers and workforce needs. Given the increasing diversification of our society and workforce, the ability to work across difference is more imperative than ever. This paper examines the factors that predict the development of students’ pluralistic orientation, an outcome that captures students’ thinking and interaction skills, across all four-years of college using quantitative analysis of a national longitudinal data set. Results show that pluralistic orientation significantly increases throughout college. Regression results demonstrate that positive cross-racial interactions were the strongest positive predictor of pluralistic orientation, after controlling for the pretest, revealing the importance of campus diversity and positive campus racial climates.

Author

• Kari George, University of California - Los Angeles