1. Impact on Student Experience and Outcomes
Campus Diversity:
Impact on Student Experience and Outcomes
Xiaohui Zheng, UC Office of the President
Allison Cantwell, UC Riverside
Aye Mon Htut-Rosales, UC Los Angeles
Presentation at CAIR Conference November 14-16, 2018
Greeting, welcome, intro.
4/7/2019

2. Background the state of being diverse; variety. unlikeliness
[uncountable] the condition of having composed of different elements, the inclusion of different types of people (such as races, culture)
Aye: diverse definitions of diversity, variety, difference, unlikeliness, inclusion, individuals. Uncountable but we’ll attempt to measure and examine the impact on our students’ experiences and outcome.
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3. Background
Diversity is defined as all characteristics and experiences that define each of us as individuals.
Diversity includes Race and Ethnicity, Gender, Religious beliefs, Political beliefs, Socio-economic status, Disability, Immigration status, and Sexual Orientation.
A diverse environment aims to create an inclusive culture that values and benefits from the contributions of all individuals.
Hypothesis -> Campus Diversity has positive impact on students experience and outcomes.
Aye: It could include many things. For the purpose of the research, we are focusing on: Race and Ethnicity, Gender, Religious beliefs, Political beliefs, Socio-economic status, Disability, Immigration status, and Sexual Orientation.
We believe campus diversity has positive on students. And we are fortunate to have rich UC survey data that we collect systemwide to test our hypothesis.

4. Previous Research on Diversity
A racially diverse campus environment has a positive relationship with:
Educational outcomes
Beliefs that diversity is important
Discussion of and engagement with diversity activities
Discussion of and engagement with diversity activities/Cultural engagement have a positive relationship with:
College satisfaction
Academic self-efficacy/confidence
Sense of belonging
Allison: Educational outcomes = retention, learning outcomes, GPA
Discussion of racial issues
Engagement with diversity activities: courses/curriculum, research activities, clubs
Cultural engagement: interactions with others from different cultures/cross-racial interaction
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5. Previous Research on Diversity
Campus commitment to diversity and inclusion has a positive impact on:
Student academic success
Personal growth
Strengthening community
Allison
4/7/2019

6. Research Questions
How do students with different backgrounds perceive diversity on campus?
What effect does diversity have on the college experience of UC students?
For students with similar backgrounds, do students in more diverse environments have better academic and social outcomes?
Xiaohui: This study focuses on three main research questions. First, we look at how students with different backgrounds perceive diversity on campus. Next, we examine the effects diversity had on the experience of college students with various backgrounds. Based on that, we search the answer for students with similar backgrounds, do students in more diverse environment have better academic and social outcomes.
4/7/2019

7. UC Undergraduate Experience Survey
UCUES 2018
UCUES: biennial systemwide population survey
Population: 208,205 current freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors
Response rate: 33% (67,894 undergraduates)
Contents and Structure
Xiaohui: This study uses data from UCUES UCUES stands for UC Undergraduate Experience Survey. It is a biennial systemwide population survey. The 2018 Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES) was administered to over 200,000
current freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors enrolled at UC’s nine undergraduate campuses in spring The survey gathered responses from a total of 67,894 undergraduate students across the system at a response rate of 33%.
UCUES 2018 study consists of a core section and a module section. The core section covers multiple topics about undergraduate experience and is given to all students. The module section is given to students not taking a campus-specific wildcard module. It covers three main topic areas including academic experience, student development and civic engagement. The core section has a comprehensive list of campus climate questions.
Next, Aye will provide a detailed description about the diversity dimensions we constructed based on these questions.
4/7/2019

8. Student Experiences and Outcomes
Methodology: Diversity Operationalized
Respect for Identities
Exposure to Diversity
Perception
on Institution’s Commitment to Diversity
Campus Climate
Diversity
Student Experiences and Outcomes
Aye: Based on previous studies and theory, and conducting Principle Component Analysis for data reduction, we came up with 4 constructs.

9. Methodology: Key Independent Variables
Student Level Diversity dimensions/Factor analyses (agreement likert scale from 1 to 5)
Aye (5 mins)
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10. Methodology: Key Independent Variables
Student Level Diversity dimensions/Factor analyses
Aye (5 mins)
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11. Methodology: Key Dependent Variables
Student Level Diversity dimensions/Factor analyses
Aye (5 mins)
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12. Methodology Outcome Variables Cumulative UC GPA Academic engagement
Student Satisfaction
Sense of belonging
Background Variables
Gender
Ethnicity
Matriculation status
Campus affiliation
First-generation
Major discipline
Xiaohui: We identified 5 outcome variables representing student’s academic and social outcomes in college.
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13. Diversity Score by Gender
Xiaohui
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14. Diversity Score by Matriculation
Xiaohui
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15. Diversity Score by Ethnicity
Xiaohui
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16. Diversity Score by Discipline
Xiaohui
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17. Effects of Diversity on College Outcomes & Experience
Xiaohui
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18. Effects of Diversity on College Outcomes & Experience
Xiaohui
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19. Summary
Student perceptions of diversity vary by student characteristics.
Dimensions of diversity have impacts on student academic outcomes and the student experience.
The influence is stronger for:
campus climate
exposure to diversity
commitment to diversity
On:
academic engagement
sense of belonging
student satisfaction
Allison
4/7/2019

20. Summary
The strongest relationships for each of our outcomes, holding student characteristics and campus constant are:
Respect to identities to College GPA
Exposure to diversity to Academic Engagement
Campus commitment to diversity to Sense of belonging and Student satisfaction
Allison
4/7/2019

21. Methodology: UC Diversity
Fall 2016
UCB
UCD
UCI
UCLA
UCM
UCR
UCSD
UCSB
UCSC
Staff Racial/Ethnic Diversity Index
0.73
0.61
0.70
0.74
0.66
0.71
0.67
0.56
Faculty Racial/Ethnic Diversity Index
0.58
0.52
0.57
0.60
0.50
0.54
Undergraduate Racial/Ethnic Diversity Index
0.76
0.78
0.75
0.77
% Pell Recipients
27.7%
38.4%
42.3%
33.8%
60.7%
55.8%
34.3%
36.5%
39.3%
% First Generation
27.6%
42.5%
50.3%
34.6%
70.2%
57.7%
37.9%
42.4%
42.0%
Diversity Index as indicator of heterogeneity = 1−∑Pi2
Pi=proportion of i racial/ethnic category
Racial/Ethnic Diversity across campuses are similar
Greatest differences in % Pell and % First Generation
Allison
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22. Future Directions
Consider campus diversity in an Hierarchical Linear Model
Current study has few schools for level 2 indicators of diversity
Level 2 indicators within this sample are relatively homogenous
Allison
4/7/2019

23. Discussion Questions
What is the climate on your campus based on your observation?
What are the initiatives your campus is doing that you would like to share?
What are the challenges you face in improving the campus climate and overall experiences of the students?
What are the lessons learned that are worth sharing?
What are the future areas of research you would like to see in this area?
Aye: UCLA Initiatives: IDHE (Institute for Democracy and Higher Education) project, Civil discourse, IGD (Inter-group dialogues), Diversity Requirement
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24. Thank you!
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25. EXAMPLE