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Diversity Climate Assessment Of The Communication Studies Department, Annapurna Beavon

Scholars Week

This study is a mixed-method assessment combining survey questionnaire and qualitative interviews in assessing and understanding student experiences in the communication studies department at Western Washington University. The purpose of the study is twofold: (a) to examine students’ perception of the diversity climate in communication classes and the department in general; and (b) to understand communication patterns that silence marginalized voices in the classroom. Aside from studies published in educational journals, Halualani (2010) is the first published study in the communication discipline that investigates diversity climate assessment at a multiracial university on the U.S. West Coast. Therefore, the findings of …