1. The Impact of the College Experience on Students’ Learning for a Diverse Democracy Sylvia Hurtado, Mark Engberg, and Luis Ponjuan University of Michigan Association for the Study of Higher Education Portland, Oregon November 14, 2003

2. Introduction Role of higher education in educating students for a diverse democracy Workforce preparation in a diverse society Assessment of learning and democratic outcomes

3. Theory and Research Hypotheses Democratic learning occurs through social interaction, especially among diverse peers Campus practices that structure student opportunity inside and outside the classroom can influence democratic outcomes Societal influences work through college environment to also produce democratic skills and dispositions

4. Methods Data Source Longitudinal survey of students at 9 public universities Sample 4403 students 68% female students 71% white students Analysis Factor scales EM algorithm (missing data) Weighting T-test Blocked hierarchical regressions

5. Democratic Outcomes Ability to See Multiple Perspectives Conflict Enhances Democracy Importance of Social Action Engagement Background Characteristics Pre-college Socialization Institutional Characteristics and Climate College Interaction with Diverse Peers Curricular/Co-Curricular Context Societal Influences Influence of Pre-college and College Variables on Democratic Outcomes

6. Perspective takingConflict enhances democracy Social action engagement BackgroundLatino*SAT***Female***, SAT***, Low income**, Mothers College** and High School (-) *** Institutional characteristics Negative diversity climate (-)*** Negative diversity climate (-)* Moderate Structural diversity (-)* Interactions with diverse peers Positive***, negative (-)*** quality, Informal context* Positive*, negative(-)* quality, Frequency*** Positive quality***, Frequency** Curricular and Co-curricular diversity activities IGR**, diversity course** IGR***, diversity course*** Service learning***, diversity course***, Co-curricular*** Societal InfluencesSeptember 11 th** engagement September 11 th*** engagement September 11 th*** engagement

7. Discussion Attention to the quality of students’ interaction with diverse peers – promotes dispositions for citizenship in a diverse democracy Educators must become more intentional about civic education in college IGR, diversity courses, service learning, diversity programs Importance of period effects in college impact research

8. For More Information Diverse Democracy Project University of Michigan 610 E. University, 514 SEB Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259 Phone: 734.647.7439 E-mail: divdemo@umich.edu Website: http://www.umich.edu/~divdemo/