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One of my ongoing personal and intellectual interests in the field of sociology is the study of diversity, multiculturalism, and race relations in American society. Nearly ten years after I began my graduate studies, I drew upon this interest and knowledge to help me conceive and conduct a campus-wide multicultural climate study at a 10,000-student urban community college in Seattle during winter and spring 1992. In all, I surveyed over 1000 students and nearly 500 employees at the college using separate survey instruments.A copy of my final report has been made available through the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS), and is officially listed with the number ED356807. In addition, this study has been cited as an exemplary project in diversity research from an institutional research perspective in the quarterly journal, New Directions for Institutional Research, Number 81, Spring 1994 issue on "Studying Diversity in Higher Education" edited by Daryl Gl. Smith, Lisa E. Wolf, and Thomas Levitan.
During the years that immediately followed the 1992 climate survey, I served as a state and local consultant to 2-year and 4-year postsecondary institutions on multicultural student research. I also led statewide workshops at the annual Washington Assessment Group conferences on methods of assessing the campus climate for diversity and gender equality with the goal of improving student retention and educational satisfaction.
As part of my consulting work I provided research assistance to the Seattle Coalition for Educational Equity (SCEE), a citywide minority student retention project funded by the Ford Foundation. The goal of SCEE was to identify strategies for improving the retention and program completion rates of students of color as they emerged from the Seattle Public Schools system and entered the Seattle Community College District and ultimately, transferred to 4-year institutions for completion of the baccalaureate degree.
In 1993, I presented a paper entitled "Conducting Institutional Research About Multicultural Issues on Campus: It's More than Black and White" to the annual forum of the Association for Institutional Research as part of a forum session devoted to "best regional papers." It is available from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service as ERIC Document ED356809. This report provides a critique of existing institutional research about diversity issues and proposes an action plan for accomplishing institutional change through rigorous research and analysis. It also contains a 10-page bibliography of references on diversity, climate studies, and two-year colleges.
In 1994, as a result of two years' efforts in collaborative research between the fields of institutional research and outcomes assessment, I published "Assessment and Diversity" with Patricia Britz in the Winter 1994 issue of New Directions for Community Colleges , Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 53-60. Of particular interest in my ongoing inquiry about diversity issues in education and the workplace is the interplay between class and race/ethnicity and its impact on opportunities for social mobility.
The sites linked to this page reflect my effort at identifying materials focused inside and outside of higher education that address racial, multicultural, and diversity issues.
Online Resources
Studies Conducted by the Higher Education Extension Service (HEES):
- "Prejudice and Discrimination on the College Campus"
- "Prejudice and Ethnoviolence on Campus"
- "Recent Initiatives to Institutionalize Pluralism on Predominantly White Campuses"
Additional Online Resources
Further Resources Note: Additional resources on multiculturalism are located in the Cultural Studies collection of Scott's Library. Information about diversity issues of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals is also available.
American Council on Education (ACE) 15th Annual Status Report on Minorities in Higher Education (Summary and Ordering Details)
National Center for Urban Partnerships (NCUP) in K-16 Education
Multicultural Paths: Web Site Directory from the Univ. of Virginia
Voice of the Shuttle: Minority Studies Research Page
Affirmative Action and Diversity Research Page, from UC Santa Barbara
Diversity Pathways: Using the Internet to Find Multicultural and Diversity Resources
The English Server's Race References (excellent academic research source)
Yale Archive: Minorities & Race Relations
American Studies Web: Race and Diversity Resources Online
African-American Male Research (AAMR) Newsletter
"The State of Black Male America, 1996", by Chris Booker (from AAMR)
The Black World Today: News and Research
N.O.W. and Racial and Ethnic Diversity Resources
African Genesis: Information on African and African-American History, Religion, and Culture
Jei's Interracial Resources Page
Brian's Blackboard: Information for African-American Educators
Diversity Pages: Ohio State University Fisher School of Business
Black History: African-American Resources Page
Library of Congress: African-American Resources Online
Native American Resources Page
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