The Limits of Friendship? The Impact of Structural Diversity on the Contact Effect

• In Event: Inequality in Higher Education

Abstract

As predominantly white colleges and universities become more racially diverse, objective opportunities for intergroup friendships for white students increase; what impact does this have on their racial attitudes? This paper draws together theoretical frameworks from research on colleges as sites for political and racial socialization with research on the contact hypothesis to examine whether or not increased diversity affects the generally positive impact of intergroup friendships. Analysis of data from a longitudinal case study of Windsor College, a selective liberal arts college in the Mid-Atlantic, finds that while interracial friendships had generally positive impacts on traditional measures of prejudice throughout the study, their impact on contemporary racism was positive only when the campus became more racially diverse.

Author

• Katherine E. McClelland, Franklin & Marshall College