Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

School Integration And College Outcomes: Does Attending A Racially Diverse High School Positively Influence College Attendance And College Prestige?, Leila Jussara Nielsen

Theses and Dissertations

Early studies of school integration are limited to examining the impact of court-ordered integration on student outcomes. As districts are released from their court orders, the context within which integration operates has changed. As such, this study tests whether voluntary integration is a useful intervention for equalizing students' access to post-secondary education. I utilize data from the graduating class of 1997 from Jefferson County Public School District in Kentucky. Results indicate that student GPA is the largest and most influential predictor of both college attendance and prestige. Furthermore, results indicate that school diversity influences GPA differentially depending on students' race …

President's Message On Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion, Janet M. Riggs

Reports from the President’s Office

Last spring I announced that we would take time this year to focus some of our thinking and conversation on the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion. There are many reasons for us to direct our efforts to this topic: the changing demographics in our society and the need to provide a welcoming environment to a diverse student body, faculty and staff; our responsibility to prepare students for living in diverse communities and working in diverse workplaces; and our desire to prepare citizens who will be sensitive to social injustices and motivated to right them. In addition, we cannot dismiss …

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer And A Four-Year-Old: Lessons For Leadership & Life, Connie Reimers-Hild

Connie I Reimers-Hild, PhD, CPC

Last week while I was in the shower, my four-year-old daughter, Raquel, walked into the bathroom and asked me an interesting question. “Mom, why doesn’t anyone like Rudolph’s shiny red nose?” My daughter was supposed to be in bed sleeping. I am 99% sure she was lying in bed reflecting on her day.

Many nights I have quietly checked on her before going to bed myself only to find her talking to herself while she makes vivid hand gestures and motions. On this particular evening, her talk and gestures must have focused on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. After thinking about …

The Presidential Game Changer - Inclusive Leadership And Governance, Effenus Henderson

Effenus Henderson

Why the Republican Candidate Romney lost the election - It wasn't the economy, it was leadership behavior. To govern a multicultural society, the leader must be inclusive.

The Embodiment Of Tolerance In Discourses And Practices Addressing Cultural Diversity In Schools, The Case Of Cyprus, Nicos Trimikliniotis, Corina Demetriou, Elena Papamichael

Nicos Trimikliniotis

The report examines the processes, methods and Practices of the Cypriot educational system as the

embodiment of tolerance in discourses and practices addressing cultural diversity in schools. These are

mediated by the perceptions of policy makers, the convictions of stakeholders involved in the processes and abilities of and tools made available to educationalists. In examining the nature of the educational system and particularly the way in which the system treats its minoritised individuals and groups, the philosophy which emerges is that of viewing diversity as a disadvantage and a deficiency that needs to be ‘treated’, against a backdrop of essentialising …

Rebranding Diversity: Colorblind Racism Inside The U.S. Advertising Industry, Christopher Boulton

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation examines race inequality inside the United States advertising industry. Based on qualitative fieldwork conducted at three large agencies in New York City during the summer of 2010 (including ethnographic observations, affinity-based focus groups, in-depth interviews, and open-ended surveys), I argue that the industry's good faith effort to diversify through internship-based affirmative action programs is overwhelmed by the more widespread material practices of closed network hiring--a system that advantages affluent Whites through referral hires, subjective notions of "chemistry" or "fit," and outright nepotism through "must-hires." Furthermore, the discriminatory nature of White affirmative action is hidden from view, masked by …

Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion: Thinking Beyond Access, Janet M. Riggs

Reports from the President’s Office

Last spring I announced at a faculty meeting that a major theme for our campus this year would be diversity and inclusion. I’d like to add equity to that framework as well. This year I hope that we can develop a shared understanding of these topics and some goals to which we can aspire as a community.

Five years ago Gettysburg College established a set of four strategic directions to guide our planning and decision-making: Engagement, Distinction, Access, and Connection. At that time we described Access as our aspiration to “increase the diversity of the student body and create a …

Little Liberals: A Child-Centred Approach To The Inculcation Of Values, Alison M. Braley-Rattai

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In a liberal-democracy, the proper role of parents and of the state in forming children’s beliefs involves several separate but interrelated debates: These concern the conceptual space that children occupy within liberal theory, the basis of the ‘control rights’ adults are said to have over children, and the tension between the values of autonomy and diversity, which are foundational values for a liberal-democracy. To clarify these debates, competing paradigms are identified in political theories that address them: A dual-interest view and a child-centred view. The former ‘balances’ the interests that parents and children have in the child-rearing relationship, and the …

Intergroup Dialogues, Building Community And Relational Justice, Bennett M. Judkins

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum

Intergroup Dialogues, Building Community and Relational Justice

Abstract

Research suggests that civic engagement in American communities and connections among their residents seem to be in decline. With demographic changes indicating a greater population diversity, many are concerned about the social fabric that binds people together. One solution offered in the last two decades is engagement in intergroup dialogues - efforts to bring diverse populations into face-to-face facilitated conversations that attempt to craft better understanding, stronger relationships, and possible social action. This paper will look at the current research on "intergroup dialogues" to address three questions. First, why might such dialogues …

Home-School Relationships: A Qualitative Study With Diverse Families, Betty Cardona, Sachin Jain, Kathy Canfield-Davis

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative case study explored how families from diverse cultural backgrounds understood family involvement in the context of early childhood care and educational settings. Participants in the study included nine members from six families who had children enrolled in three early childhood care and education programs. The primary method of data collection included in-depth interviews with the parents of these children. A second data source was obtained through non-participant observations in each of the three programs. Findings revealed that the way families understand parent involvement is strongly influenced by issues of ethnicity, social class, level of education, and language.

Rethinking Notions Of Diversity In The Context Of Homelessness, Rick Csiernik, Carolyne Gorlick, Helene Berman, Cheryl Forchuk, Susan Ray, Elsabeth Jensen, Libbey Joplin

Rick Csiernik

No abstract provided.

Diversity, Networks And Performance: An Empirical Analysis Of Metropolitan Planning Organizations In The United States, Yujin Choi

Public Administration - Dissertations

Achieving network performance is a vital goal in response to the increase of inter-organizational networks public organizations involve. The primary aim of this research is to examine the factors that predict performance in public management networks by disentangling the idea that collaboration requires both diversity and unity. Drawing upon diversity theories, social capital theory and management literature as theoretical lenses, this dissertation serves to investigate the following questions:

1. What is the collaborative decision-making process in inter-organizational networks?

2. How does social capital mediate the relationship between network member diversity and performance?

3. How does network management strategy moderate the …

Final Report As A Member Of The Lgbtq Center Staff, Joseph A. Santiago

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

It is with a heavy heart that I write my final report as a member of the LGBTQ Center Staff. I have been part of the Center since 2002 and have seen it grow in many ways over the years. It is my hope that it will continue to improve and establish the programs and services that make it a leader and innovator in LGBTIQQ and cultural studies. The following is a brief breakdown of the spring 2012 semester.

Cultivating Respect For Difference: Exploring The Enactment Of Community At Hope Garden In Parkdale, Toronto, Monica J. Kelly

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The following MA thesis is based on research I conducted in the summer of 2010 at HOPE community garden, located in the gentrifying neighborhood of Parkdale, Toronto. Drawing on the literature on community gardens in North America, as well as anthropological theorizing on the subject of community, I explore how a sense of collective belonging is built around HOPE garden. Through an ethnographic study that focuses on the activities, interactions, and perceptions of gardeners, volunteers and coordinators involved with HOPE, this thesis shows how the differences and interpersonal conflicts that surface in the day to day working of the garden …

Content Analysis Of 50 Picture Books For Latino Immigrant Children: Implications For Supportive Bibliotherapy, Robert Jeffrey Gomm

Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzed the content of 50 children's picture books, specifically award-winning picture books created for and/or about Latino immigrant children. Familiar artwork, situations, and characters help Latino immigrant children identify with the stories. Information from this analysis will help parents, teachers, and school mental health professions select appropriate books for bibliotherapy aligned with Latino immigrant children's needs. Based on this study's analyses, two resources are included: (a) a list of 20 children's picture books that address four or more Latino immigrant challenges and (b) a handout with common challenges facing immigrant children and books to specifically meet each of …

Confronting The Juggernaut: Establishing Pro-Diversity Initiatives At Institutions Of Higher Learning, Norman Powell

Norman W. Powell

As general and student populations become increasingly multicultural, institutions of higher learning have taken steps to implement diversity initiatives and programs. Regional and national accrediting bodies and councils have included requirements calling for the implementation of diversity initiatives at universities and colleges. In response, these institutions have established offices, created high-level administrative positions, and have developed campus centers that focus on diversity and intercultural issues. Based on previous and current experience, the author describes several diversity programs and strategies that have been implemented at post-secondary institutions. Much of the impetus for these institutions to develop diversity programs comes from the …

Digital Community Voices Committee Initial Agenda, Joseph A. Santiago, Dana F. Neugent

Digital Community Voices Committee

The overarching goal of this committee is to encourage dialogue around diversity education while encouraging a digital media literacy skillset. This committee will serve as a hub for different departments, associations, and individuals representing a wide spectrum of populations within the URI community and will serve to manage the program in a collegial manner. The Digital Community Voices Committee will utilize writing, the production of multimedia content, and educational digital media products (E-books, TV shorts, podcasts, DVDs, and streaming videos) that showcase diversity, inclusion and community of the URI community. The target audience for the program will be the URI …

Looking For A Diverse Teacher Force, Guy Trainin, William England, Britney Tonniges

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

At some point over the next 10 to 12 years, the nation’s public school student body will have no one clear racial or ethnic majority. But the makeup of the nation’s teacher workforce is not keeping up with these changing demographics. At the national level, students of color make up more than 40 percent of the public school population. In contrast, teachers of color—teachers who are not non-Hispanic white—are only 17 percent of the teaching force. (Boser,2011- Teacher Diversity Matters) This infographic presentes a snapshot of the situation in Nebraska 2012.

Must Economics Always Determine Academic Destiny? Achievement Across Time In Two Academically Equivalent But Socioeconomically Diverse Same City Catholic Schools, Roseanne L. Williby, John W. Hill

John W. Hill

The study analyzed the pretest-posttest results of high stakes test scores, absence frequencies, and high school eligibility cut scores of students who completed fourth-grade through eighth-grades in two academically equivalent but socioeconomically diverse same city Catholic schools. Study outcomes were compared for a naturally formed group of students (n = 28) who had completed fourth-grade through eighth-grades in an urban Catholic school representing fewer family socioeconomic advantages and 40% eligibility for free and reduced price lunch program participation and tuition assistance and a randomly selected group of students (n = 28) completing fourth-grade through eighth-grades in a suburban Catholic school …

Inclusive National And Community Service: Bringing Together Service And Disability Communities, Paula Sotnik, Jewel Bazilio-Bellegarde, George Jesien, Felicia L. Wilczenski, Gayann Brandenburg, Debra Hart, Sheila Fesko, Stephan Hamlin-Smith, Alice Krueger

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

National service and volunteer programs, seeking to reflect the diversity of their communities, are increasing the participation of individuals with disabilities as members, volunteers, and leaders and working to ensure each individual has a meaningful service experience. In order to support their inclusive efforts, the National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP) brings together the national service and disability communities at a local, state, and national level. Through partnership building, strategic planning, and resource sharing, there have been measureable increases in numbers of service participants with disabilities and the quality of their experience.

Applying Indices Post-Grutter To Monitor Progress Toward Attaining A Diverse Student Body, Roger W. Reinsch, Sonia Goltz, Hong Chen, Joel C. Tuoriniemi

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

The Supreme Court decision in Grutter v. Bollinger provided more definitive guidance for institutions of higher education desiring to use racial preferences in an effort to achieve a diverse student body. This Article first examines Grutter and other relevant cases to set forth the parameters established by the Supreme Court concerning how university preferences, including but not limited to race, may be used in an admissions policy. This Article then provides a framework for creating and using diversity indices that can help institutions implement the guidelines found in these court decisions and monitor whether or not the goal of diversity …

Korean Americans And Multiculturalism: Beyond The Demographics, Gabrielle Kim

Global Tides

Samuel P. Huntington and the theory of the political good claim that any interactions between different religious and ethnic groups will bring about conflict. Therefore, “multiculturalism” only connotes the existence of more than one culture, with no hybridization between them. However, with increasing globalization and migration, it is becoming more difficult for a state to maintain one political identity. Through the example of Koreans in America and Korean-Americans, it will be shown that multiculturalism is not just a source of conflict, but actually connotes the harmonious combination of multiple cultures in one entity, becoming an identity itself.

Diverse Teacher Candidates' Perceptions Of A University's Special Education Preparation Program, Ashleigh Jay Cramer

Theses and Dissertations

As part of a four year professional development program centered on increasing cultural responsiveness at Brigham Young University, special education faculty members conducted interviews with teacher candidates who had completed the special education program. The interviews primarily focused on the candidates' experiences during their time in the program. The interviews were audio and/or videotaped and transcribed verbatim. The transcriptions were then analyzed using the inductive analysis design for qualitative research (Hatch, 2002). The candidates expressed what types of learning activities as well as what professors did or did not do that helped them to be successful. Also emerging from the …

Giving Voice To The "Voiceless:" Incorporating Nonhuman Animal Perspectives As Journalistic Sources, Carrie Packwood Freeman, Marc Bekoff, Sarah M. Bexell

Carrie P. Freeman

As part of journalism's commitment to truth and justice by providing a diversity of relevant points of view, journalists have an obligation to provide the perspective of nonhuman animals in everyday stories that influence the animals' and our lives. This essay provides justification and guidance on why and how this can be accomplished, recommending that, when writing about nonhuman animals or issues, journalists should: 1) observe, listen to, and communicate with animals and convey this information to audiences via detailed descriptions and audiovisual media, 2) interpret nonhuman animal behavior and communication to provide context and meaning, and 3) incorporate the …

The Roles Of Flourishing And Spirituality In Millenials’ Leadership Development Activity, Allison L. O'Malley, Denise E, Williams

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Confronted by today’s epidemic of corporate meltdowns, broken institutional paradigms, unethical decision-making, and demand for innovative competencies in order to remain competitive, educators and researchers are challenged to examine how today’s future leaders develop the skill and will to be effective. Whether labeled GenY, Generation Next, Generation Tech or Millennials (i.e. individuals born between 1982 and 2003), this group of change agents differs in attitudes, behaviors, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivations from older generations (e.g. Taylor & Keeter, 2010; Twenge, Campbell & Freeman, 2012). The scholarly debate on the role of meaning making (Park, 2005) describes the Millennial on a …

Sociology By Any Other Name: Teaching The Sociological Perspective In Campus Diversity Programs, Meghan Burke, Kira Hudson Banks

Scholarship

This article suggests that the way in to sociology may not always be through the front door. The authors demonstrate how students in a three-day campus diversity program develop a sociological imagination despite not having a formal affiliation with the sociology department. In particular, students demonstrate a move from color blindness into racial consciousness and a shift from individual prejudice into institutional privilege when understanding both diversity issues and their own personal biographies. In short, despite not knowing the phrase, they develop a sociological imagination. While the goal is not to diminish the significance of traditional sociology classrooms, the authors …

Discursive Fault Lines: Reproducing White Habitus In A Racially Diverse Community, Meghan Burke

Scholarship

This is a qualitative study detailing the links between racial discourse and social action. Specifically, this article provides evidence for the ways in which a white habitus is reproduced in a racially diverse community, despite the best intentions of its community members. This is chiefly due to the influence of national color-blind ideologies and the diversity discourse that follows. Because this ideology and discourse are individual in nature and centered on a white norm, it chiefly produces consumption-driven actions for individuals and collective action that protects those with racial privilege. While prior studies have detailed the influence of this ideology …

Applying Feminist Perspectives To Teaching Diversity: The Experiences Of Two Female Professors, Roudi Nazarinia Roy, Kelly Campbell

Psychology Faculty Publications

In this paper, we narratively describe our perspectives and experiences as two female professors teaching courses on family diversity. We begin by outlining our subjectivities, including an explicit identification of the ways in which our identities are privileged versus not privileged. We then use a feminist lens to discuss the teaching goals and strategies used in our courses. The teaching goals discussed in this paper include: self-awareness of the instructor, reducing hierarchy in the classroom, empowering students, and caring for the individual student. Our strategies include: promoting dialogue, encouraging respect, and creating a class environment in which individuals feel safe …

Chapter 8, Individuals, In Intimacy And Community In A Changing World: Sikaiana Life 1980-1993, William Donner

Sikaiana Ethnography

The lives of 5 different Sikaiana individuals. I give a brief description of their lives and also my different relationships with them.

A related website is at www.sikaianaarchives.com

Attracting Black Male Students To Research Careers In Education: A Report From The Grad Prep Academy Project, Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D., Andrew C. Porter, Ph.D.

Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D.

This report is about the University of Pennsylvania’s Grad Prep Academy, a project that prepares Black undergraduate men for graduate study and research-related careers in the field of education. The project is also a longitudinal research study that enables us to analyze Black men’s trajectories from undergraduate study through graduate degree programs and eventually into their careers. Eighteen students participated in our first two cohorts of Academy Scholars. The project described in this report, as well as the recommendations we offer, can be instructive for other schools of education and a range of stakeholders who are concerned about the diversity …