Shakeer Abdullah, Ph.D.Assistant Vice President for Equity and Diversity, UMTCHigher Education Recruitment Consortium Spring 2014 Joint Membership Meeting6/3/14

CREATING A MULTICULTURALLY COMPETENT COMMUNITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: GOING BEYOND OUR CAMPUS BORDERS

Shakeer A. Abdullah, PhDAssistant Vice President for Equity and Diversity University of Minnesota

Supports the Chief Diversity Officer and provides vision and guidance to our student-driven units while offering a creative voice on pre-college access, recruitment, retention, academic success, and graduation.  In addition to those duties, will also offer a commitment to our campus relations, community initiatives, external relations, and alumni development. 

An emerging practitioner-scholar with publications in the area of multicultural competence and other areas. Research interests include African American men, the experiences of diversity services staff, and Muslim student identity development.

  Remains an active national presenter, consultant, and

trainer. Currently serves as the Vice President for the Association For Black Cultural Centers.

  Doctor of Philosophy in Administration of Higher

Education from Auburn University, Master of Arts in Higher Education and Student Affairs from the Ohio State University, Bachelor of Arts in Management from Wittenberg University. Education includes international study in Lumbadzi, Malawi and participation in programs at the University of Cairo (Cairo, Egypt) and Lancaster University (Lancaster, England).

 

Outline• Background of the study• A bit of UMTC History• OED Org Chart• Literature review• Methods• Findings• Implications for the field

• The University of Minnesota graduated its first African American student, Andrew Hilyer in 1882.

• The University of Minnesota College of Medicine and Surgery’s first graduating class of 23 students included two women.

• The first black medical student, Walter B. Holmes, graduated in 1895.

• January 15, 1969 Morrill Hall Takeover

• Led to the creation of African American and African Studies department in1969 (one of the first in the Country)

UMN History

UMN History

Business and Community Economic Development

Office for Equity and Diversity

Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Ally Programs Office

Women’s Center

Assistant Vice President

AssociateVice Provost (.5 FTE)

Disability ServicesDonna Johnson

DirectorOffice for Diversity

in Graduate Education

Institute for Diversity, Equity and Advocacy

(IDEA)

Office for Conflict Resolution

Vice President

Associate Vice President

Office of Equal Opportunity and

Affirmative Action

Disability Resource Center

Education

North StarSTEM Alliance

Communications

Retention Initiatives

AssistantVice Provost

May 2014

Cultural Competence Experience Required• UMN OED• Demonstrated experience and an ongoing commitment to

working effectively with and across diverse communities:  including people of color, underrepresented groups and new immigrant populations; American Indians; people with both visible and invisible disabilities; women; people of various gender and sexual identities and expressions; and first-generation students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. 

• UC San Diego and other institutions• Diversity Statements on Faculty Applications

My Research

• Purpose• Desire to measure multicultural competence of

diversity staff• Wanted to learn about the things that contribute to

MCC and interest in diversity services• Desire to find out who is best prepared to do this work

Limitations

• All responses were self-reported and the possibility exists that some respondents may inflate their credentials. The impact of self-reporting may also have a negative effect on the multicultural competency scores derived from the MCSA-P-2 (Pope and Mueller, 2000)

• Limited to the members of NASPA, ABCC and people who qualify to be members of NASPA and ABCC

Assumptions

• That the respondents provided honest answers to the survey and demographic profile form

• That diversity services staff are interested in being multiculturally competent in order to best serve their diverse student body and campus community

• That institutions are serious about living up to their missions and meeting their stated diversity goals

• Finally, I assumed the participants were familiar with the field of diversity services

Outline• Background of the study• Literature review• Methods• Findings• Implications for the field- AKA- “Why being a person of color is not enough”

Literature

• History of diversity services• Experiences of diversity staff• Multicultural competency

History of Diversity Services

1960-1977 Black student

enrollment in higher

education, increased from

less than 250,000

students to more than 1 million.

Title IV of the Higher Education Act of

1965 Amendments of 1968

Serviceman’s readjustment act of 1972 (GI Bill) led to increased access for

Black students

1968 student protest as SFSU

led creation of 1st black Studies

Dept. and set the stage for campus protest and the

creation of diversity offices

in higher education

1990’s saw expansion of

diversity services from primarily serving Black students to embracing a

broader range of students including

women, Latino, and GLBT students

Experiences of Diversity Staff in Higher Education

• Multicultural myth (Longerbeam, Sedlacek, & Balon 2005)• Staff contributing to students’ sense of being at home away from home seen as an essential function for diversity staff (Strayhorn, Terrell, Redmond & Walton 2010)• Professional isolation and marginalization (Sutton and McCluskey-Titus 2010, Wallace, Ropers-Huilman, & Abel 2004)• Staff assumes multiple and varied roles (Longerbeam, Sedlcek & Balon 2005)• Lack of professional and academic preparation for diversity positions (Jenkins 2010)

Multicultural Competency

• Multicultural competence is the awareness, knowledge, and skills needed to work with others who are culturally different from self in meaningful, relevant, and productive ways and to address cultural issues with someone who is culturally similar to you (Pope, Reynolds, & Mueller 2004)

• Sue et. al. (1982) introduced multicultural competency in counseling psychology

• Pope & Reynolds (1997) and others have since adapted the theory for higher education

• Pope and Mueller (2000) created the MCSA-P2 tool to measure multicultural competence in student affairs staff after modifying the MCSA-P1

• MCSA-P2 measures general multicultural competence (Pope, Reynolds, & Mueller 2004)

• More than any other variable, a knowledge of diversity is correlated with increased multicultural competence (Castellanos, Gloria, Mayorga, and Salas 2007)

Research Design

• Survey method• MCSA-P2 • Demographic information form• Open ended question about diversity services field• Instrument validated via pilot study• Electronic data collection

Population and Sample• NASPA and ABCC members or those eligible for membership who work in diversity services across the country• N= 808 Diversity staff across the country• n=155 responses for a response rate of 19%

Data Collection•Surveys were distributed via SurveyMonkey.com •Data were collected electronically

Data Analysis• Demographic data was analyzed and compiled for reporting purposes• Qualitative data was analyzed using ATLAS.ti 5.0 2nd Edition to determine relevant themes• Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS

Education Level• The respondents were highly educated with 86.6 percent possessing a master’s degree or higher. Slightly less than half (47.1 percent) of the respondents indicated that they were first generation college students. The respondents ranged in age from 21-65.

Reported Gender

65%

34%

1%

FemaleMaleTransgender

Racial Demographics

African American/ Black56%

Asian/ Asian American5%

Causcasian/White21%

Hispanic/Latino11%

Multiracial7%

Religious Identity

Athiest/Agnostic20%

Christian77%

Muslim3%

Other1%

Sexual Identity

Bisexual5%

Heterosexual79%

Gay7%

Lesbian2%

Pansexual2%

Queer5%

Years in position

0 to 242%

2 to 528%

6 to 1015%

10 plus14%

Time Spent Abroad

Less than one month47%

one to six months22%

six months to a year6%

more than one year2%

1-5 years11%

More than 5 years12%

Qualitative ThemesNeed for professional development

•  “there is no formalized training to be a Diversity Officer. It is a ‘baptism by fire’ profession.”

Qualitative ThemesPassion for diversity work

• “in my experiences, I have noticed that not only is cultural competence required to be an effective diversity staff person, but it is also vital for staff members to feel passionately about serving and helping the student populations that they work with.”

Qualitative ThemesProfessional isolation

• “It is shameful that even higher administrative positions such as Diversity CEOs are isolated and often relegated to deal with minority issues only or still referred to the individuals and departments that are responsible for combating racism and equity on campus.”

 

Qualitative ThemesJob related stress

• “how we approach it, it can cause extra unwanted stress on the overall vision and mission of the unit.”

Qualitative ThemesLeadership issues

• “who we work for in a supervisory level impacts our ability to do the work needed for our institutions and many times supervisors who do not accept the research about racial inequities can marginalize and negate our work.”

Qualitative ThemesProfessional recognition

• “I fear diversity work is now out of vogue in university settings, but I do not believe the need for or value of that work has diminished at all.”

Qualitative Themes 

Increased resources 

• “it is a highly politicized and underpaid position, considering the education, skill sets, and stress required to be good in these roles.”

 

Analysis of Findings Related to Research Questions• Question 1-Which demographic characteristics of the respondents correlate with high multicultural competence scores?

• This study also found that personal demographic characteristics were not statistically significant in determining multicultural competence scores.

Analysis of Findings Related to Research Questions• Question 2- How significant are personal characteristics (ie. age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual identity, religious identity) when compared with formal education and professional experience in determining multicultural competence scores?

• The findings of this study indicate that people who have at least a bachelor’s degree and have a graduate degree in any field other law are more likely to have statistically significant higher multicultural competence scores than others in the sample.

Analysis of Findings Related to Research Questions• Question 3- Is there any difference in multicultural competence in respondents on the basis of the following identities; gender, ethnicity, educational level, socioeconomic status growing up, religious identity, sexual orientation, years working in diversity, age, and first generation college status?

• There also was no statistically significant difference in multicultural competence between genders, ethnicity, socioeconomic status growing up, religious identity, sexual orientation, years working in diversity, age, or first generation college status.

Implications• The literature states that ongoing and continuous training for diversity staff is essential, however my findings show that this is not taking place. •  While higher education institutions strive to prepare students to thrive in a global society, diversity officers are not viewed as being helpful in achieving that goal. • The idea that a person’s ethnicity, gender, national origin, religion, or sexual identity makes them qualified to serve as diversity staff is not sustained by this study.

Professional Development

• Professional development opportunities related to diversity should be ongoing for staff at all levels in diversity services• Conversations about issues of difference should be encouraged• Understanding of the community dynamics is important• Professional conferences related to diversity issues should be made available to staff at all levels in diversity services offices

Diversity Courses in Higher Education

• Diversity courses should be mandatory for higher education students• Higher education programs are designed to prepare institutional staff and leaders and a lack of required diversity courses leaves graduates unprepared to address issues of diversity on their respective campuses. • Diversity courses should be made available to all diversity staff• Community Connections should be emphasized and used in recruiting faculty, staff, and students

Conclusion• There is much more to learn about multicultural competence and

diversity staff in higher education. This study provides some insight into the academic, personal, professional experiences and multicultural competence of diversity staff in higher education, but it cannot address the entire range of experience of diversity staff in the field. • If institutions are truly committed to achieving their missions and

goals related to diversity and global engagement, then they should hire and train staff who want to and are capable of educating their staff and student body on issues of diversity and multiculturalism. • We now know that more coursework and access to professional

development is needed to help produce more multiculturally competent diversity staff in higher education. We also know that a commitment to diversity is as important as any training or background traits in helping to identify strong candidates for diversity services positions.

More Information

• Shakeer A. Abdullah, PhD sabdulla@umn.edu

Questions

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