Race in Context: Structural Diversity in High School and College Predicting Students' Intercultural Orientations

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 66
  In Roundtable Session: Learning and Development in Raced and Classed Contexts

Abstract

Amid debates about race-conscious admissions and evidence of continued segregation in public K-12 schools, proponents often argue that structural racial/ethnic diversity benefits students by providing opportunities for interactions with diverse others. Using a multi-institutional, longitudinal dataset, this study examines how the specific structural environments of a student’s high school and college/university may influence their intercultural orientation after their first year of college, controlling for a host of background characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors. Results suggest that students whose transition to college involves a shift in the racial composition of their environment develop an increased intercultural orientation, even when controlling for their interactions with diverse others. However, these relationships differ based on a students’ own racial/ethnic identity.

Authors

• KC Culver, The University of Iowa

• Lindsay Jarratt, The University of Iowa

• Nicholas A. Bowman, University of Iowa