The session will focus on the consideration of the diversity experiences of undergraduate students as preparation for graduate studies as well as the overall benefits of diversity experiences within higher education. Specifically discussion about ways to create opportunities for interaction with and awareness building between diverse students will occur. Presenter Amber Mollhagen University of Houston

1. CONSIDERING DIVERSITY
EXPERIENCE AS A PREDICTOR
OF SUCCESS FOR
GRADUATE ADMISSIONS
Amber M. Mollhagen
University of Houston
2014 TxGAP
Summer Institute
June 13, 2014

2. Today’s Session
• Introductions
• Candidacy Research Project on Diversity Experience as a
Predictor for Success in Graduate School
• Benefits of Diversity in Higher Education
• Thoughts for Practice
• Discussion

3. “Recognize yourself in he and she who are not like you
and me.”
- Carlos Fuentes

4. Diversity Experience Literature
Patricia Gurin’s work:
Three forms of diversity experience
• Structural diversity is the numerical representation of diverse groups on a college
campus.
• Informal interactional diversity involves the opportunity to interact with diverse peers
with a focus on the frequency and the quality of interactions.
• Classroom diversity is the incorporation of content knowledge about diverse groups
and the opportunities to interact with diverse peers in the classroom.
Two sets of outcomes
• Learning outcomes – capacity for critical or active thinking
• Civic and democratic outcomes – the motivation and capacity of individuals to
participate in an heterogenous and complex society
Other researchers of undergraduate diversity experiences include Sylvia Hurtado, Gerald
Gurin, Mitchell Chang, Victor Saenz, Shaun Harper.

5. Pluralistic Orientation
The ability to see the world from another’s perspective,
have tolerance for difference, openness to having one’s
views challenged, the ability to work cooperatively with
diverse others, and ability to discuss controversial issues.
Engberg, Meader, Hurtado, 2003

6. Candidacy Project
• RQ 1: Does structural diversity of a
MSW student’s undergraduate institution
predict student success (as defined by grades and field
evaluation scores) in the graduate social work
program?
• RQ 2: What types of undergraduate informal
interactional diversity experiences emerge from
students’ MSW graduate applications and are there
differences in the patterns of diversity experiences
between successful students and not successful
students?

7. Data Source RQ 1
• Secondary data from Fall 2012
• 161 entering MSW students
• 31 Advanced Standing students
• 15 students missing undergraduate campus ethnic diversity scores
• 10 students missing field scores
• Final Sample N=105
• Considered data at conclusion of three semesters
• Fall, Spring, Summer

8. Variable B SE B β
Age .000 .004 .007
Undergrad Campus Ethnic Diversity Score
.490 .128 .350***
Undergrad GPA .064 .067 .083
Gender .040 .086 .040
Ethnicity -.015 .023 -.058
GRE Writing .082 .036 .242**
GRE Verbal .001 .004 .032
GRE Quantitative .007 .005 .178
Results
Regression Analysis Summary for Admission Variables Predicting MSW GPA
*<.05, **<.01, ***<.001

9. Results
Critical Thinking Field Score
A test of the full model against a constant only model was
statistically significant, indicating that the predictors as a
set reliably distinguished between advanced and non-
advanced critical thinking scores (χ2(11)= 21.852, p < .05).
Nagelkerke’s R2 of .256 indicated a relationship between
prediction and grouping. Prediction success overall was
63% (70.7 for non-advanced and 55.6 for advanced).

10. Data Source RQ 2
• Secondary data from Fall 2012
• Purposeful sampling of MSW students
• N=20 (10 successful, 10 unsuccessful)
• Worked with Student Affairs Office
• Resumes, transcripts, and personal
narrative statements
• Focused on applicants’ diversity themed
content

11. Results
Informal Interactional Diversity Experiences
All ten students within Group 1 identified various informal interactional
diversity experiences taking place during their undergraduate education.
Seven students out of Group 2 identified diversity experiences, however
types of experiences were limited.
Student
Orgs
Service
Learning
Study /
Travel
Abroad
Intern
-ships
Vol
Service
Read
Interest
Staff /
Fac
Dialog w/
Students
Group 1 X X X X X X X
Group 2 X X X

12. Results
Themes include:
• Positive transformation
Clarification of skills, interests and professional goals
Commitment to Social Justice
• Personal identification as a minority
• Diversity/inclusion as part of future goals
• Pluralistic orientation
• Acknowledgement of importance of diversity for learning

13. Group 1
• “These experiences have confirmed my interest in working with
children in the U.S. but also abroad and have been my greatest
motivators for wanting to enter into the social work field.”
• “I have had to face the challenges of being undocumented in a
time when laws that limit immigrants' human treatment, their
economic, educational, political and social prospects have only
increased in number and severity. I have faced the social
stigma that accompanies being an 'illegal alien', a 'criminal' and
have had to accept my suppressed political voice.”
• “Being a social worker, and in turn a professional advocate for
human rights, would allow me to begin my long-aspired journey
of creating a better world for women and people of all gender
identities to live in.”

14. Group 2
• “I feel that I could be exposed to more life experiences and
more world diversity opportunities.”
• “I went to public school my entire life and was lucky enough to
be exposed to all different types of people. We never thought
twice about someone being black, or Jewish, or poor. They
were just our friends. I feel that my ability to be around a wide
range of people and see things from their worldview will be of
significant advantage to me in both my academic and
professional pursuits.”
• “My place of employment at (county hospital) has inspired me
to continue my pursuit to become a social worker. I am deeply
committed to the service of others. I work with patients and
families from diverse backgrounds, including minority and
underprivileged groups.”

15. Dissertation Interviews
• Empathy development
• Critical thinking
• Expansion of worldview

16. Why Diversity Matters
• 1. Diversity expands worldliness.
• 2. Diversity enhances social development.
• 3. Diversity prepares students for future career success.
• 4. Diversity prepares students for work in a global society.
• 5. Interactions with people different from ourselves
increase our knowledge base.
• 6. Diversity promotes creative thinking.
• 7. Diversity enhances self-awareness.
• 8. Diversity enriches the multiple perspectives developed
by a liberal arts education.
A. Thompson, 2009

17. The Danger of the Single Story
“The single story creates stereotypes and the problem with
stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are
incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”
- Chimamanda Adichie,
Author

18. “I got to pondering after an insightful conversation about
the importance of complexity in organizations and social
structures. Because we live in a culture that is so invested
in linear, reductionist and industrial thinking, it can be hard
for any of us to wrap our heads around what it takes to live
with, and even encourage, complexity.”

19. Diversity is Key to Sustainable Farming,
So Why's It So Damn Hard?
“But in reality it is not just the diversity of species, but also
the diversity of useful relationships between those species,
that builds resilience. It's not the individual points of diverse
elements, but rather the network of complex
interrelationships between those elements, that ultimately
builds a web that is so hard to break.”
Treehugger.com

20. “Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with,
and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be
without.”
- William Sloane Coffin Jr.

21. So, what do we do?
Admissions
• Study supports the consideration of diversity experience as
additional criterion.
• Information not to be used to exclude individuals.
• Affirmative Action and Alternatives
• Self Awareness
• Critical Mass

22. “There were no actual villains, just inertia. The
administration genuinely wanted more diversity for reasons
of its image as well as fairness, notwithstanding the cranky
alumni letters in The Daily Princetonian. ... Hiring
committees had not a clue where to look for or how to
attract suitable candidates. And so, though a high-level
recruitment plan existed on paper, there was only foot-
dragging and defensive excuse making.”
- Sonia Sotomayor, My Beloved World

23. So, what do we do?
Student Affairs
• Literature supports creation of diversity
experiences/environment for students
• Critical Mass
• Dialogue Groups
• Diversity Courses
• Self Awareness

24. “Men often hate each other because they fear each other;
they fear each other because they don't know each other;
they don't know each other because they can not
communicate; they can not communicate because they are
separated.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.

25. Discussion
• Are your institutions/programs diverse?
• Do minority students feel a sense of belonging within your
organizations?
• What practices do you employ to diversify?
• How do you create environments in which diversity thrives
and its benefits are maximized?
• How do you practice self-awareness?

26. QUESTIONS AND
COMMENTS

27. References
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28. References
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29. References
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