Over this past summer, the summer of 2013, through the Research Mentoring Program (RMP) I was paired with Kristin McCann who was (is currently a doctor, yay!!!) a doctoral candidate in Higher Education to assist her with her dissertation research. This was my first research experience and I was able to gain not only important research skills but professional and academic guidance and support.

1. K R I S T I N I . M C C A N N , P H . D . C A N D I D A T E , H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N
L A U R E N A D A M S , 3 R D Y E A R U N D E R G R A D U A T E S T U D E N T , W O M E N ' S S T U D I E S
G E N D E R S T U D I E S , M A J O R E D U C A T I O N P O L I C Y S T U D I E S , M I N O R
MASTER’S STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES WITH
MULTICULTURAL CURRICULUM

2. BACKGROUND & PURPOSE
• 73% of graduate preparation
programs require students to take a
multicultural competency course
• To understand master‟s students
experiences with multicultural
competency and social justice
curriculum in a graduate preparation
program

3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• How, if at all, did students‟ understandings of
core concepts of the multicultural
competency course change over time?
• What, if any, changes were due to experiences
students had in the required course?
• What, if any, changes were due to experience
students had outside of the required course?
• How, if at all, did educators‟ approach to
the multicultural and social justice
curriculum impact students‟ experiences?

4. LITERATURE
• Dearth of research focusing on multicultural
competency in the higher education literature
(Pope et al., 2009).
• Little is known about master‟s students‟ experiences
with multicultural curriculum (Pope & Mueller, 2005;
Pope et al., 2009)-especially from a qualitative
perspective.
• Today, there is still a need to understand “how best
to successfully prepare multiculturally student affairs
professionals” by talking to faculty who teach
multicultural courses (Kelly & Gayles, 2010, p. 84).

5. METHODOLOGY
• Conceptual framework: Literacy
theory and modified components of
Hurtado, Milem, Clayton-Pederson, &
Allen‟s (1998, 1998) framework for
understanding campus climate.
(Attention to the context in which
students experienced the curriculum.)
• Basic qualitative approach (Merriam,
2009)
• Constructivist approach (Jones,
Torres, & Arminio, 2006)
• How do people make meaning of their
experiences?
• How do people construct their worlds?
• Crystallization approach (not
triangulation) (Ellingson, 2006)

6. DESIGN
• 12 Master‟s students
• 3 Educators
• One-on-one interviews
• Document analysis
• Photo elicitation project

7. PHOTO ELICITATION PROJECT
• Part 1
• Students took 2-3 photos of
what they considered to be
representative of privilege,
oppression, and social justice
in their everyday lives.
• Paragraph justification
• Part 2
• Students had opportunity to
re-justify and/or replace
photos.
• 5 page extended essay on
their learning over the course
of the semester

8. CHANGE OVER TIME: SELECT THEMES
• Privilege
• Part 1: Economic/socioeconomic privilege
• Part 2: Similar themes in the photo elicitation project; however, new themes
gleaned from part 2 essay and interviews
• New awareness; complicated thinking
• Ex: Students became more aware of privileges they did not realize they had (e.g., religion;
sexual orientation; sex/gender); students had a layered understanding of their privilege
• Oppression
• Part 1: Marginalized populations=oppression
• Part 2: Similar themes in the photo elicitation project; however, new themes
gleaned from part 2 essay and interviews
• Oppression as a system; individual implication in systems of oppression
• Social Justice
• Part 1: Volunteerism/charity=social justice
• Part 2: Social justice as a never-ending process; challenges to social justice;
connections to one‟s professional practice; allyship as a way to enact
social justice
• Both White and students of color experienced these themes.

9. SELECT IMPLICATIONS
• Research
• Continue to apply new frameworks to understand the phenomenon of
multicultural competency.
• Consider other methods for research (e.g., case study; mixed
methods; phenomenological interviews; ethnography)
• Focus on diverse student populations who are engaged with required
multicultural-related courses.
• Focus on White educators who teach multicultural-related courses.
• Practice
• Educators should consider teaching practices that both challenge
and support students‟ learning—such as via the Learning Partnerships
Model (LPM) (Baxter-Magolda, 2004)
• Educators should consider more attention to the „action‟ component
of social justice in higher education

10. NEXT STEPS
• Kristin‟s Defense
• Graduate School for Lauren
• Research Team
• Summer 2014 Research
• McNair Scholars Program
• The College Experiences of Black
Female Alumni at Predominately
White Institutions
• Loyola Undergraduate Research
Opportunities Program
• Social Justice Fellowship
Kristin & Lauren in action at a weekly meeting

11. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• Kristin McCann
• Dr. Bridget Kelly
• Dr. Jessica Horowitz (RMP)
• Dr. Andrew Warne (LUROP)