Multiculturalism Perspectives Among White Undergraduate STEM Students at Dominantly White Christian Colleges and Universities: A Study of Pluralistic Orientation

• In Event: Experiencing Race in the Schoolhouse: Unpacking the Intersectional Classroom Experience

Abstract

This study explores the factors that predict pluralistic orientation in White undergraduate STEM students at Dominantly White Christian Institutions (DWCIs). Pluralistic orientation is the ability to view the world through others’ perspectives, allowing one’s own view to be challenged, and working or associating with diverse people. We explore how 4-years of college impacts these survey respondents towards a pluralistic orientation. Preliminary findings suggest several factors predict pluralistic orientation in White undergraduate STEM students at DWCIs, including positive cross-racial interactions on campus, good habits of mind, strong social self-concept, and social agency, among other factors. Identifying the factors that lead to pluralistic orientation allows higher education practitioners to build systems and cultivate environments that foster or leverage these predictors.

Authors

• Jeff Clawson, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities
  Presenting Author

• Christopher B. Newman, California State University - Fullerton
  Presenting Author