The Seventeenth International Conference on The First-Year Experience
June 2004
The Multicultural Competence Among Faculty and
Administrators in a Predominantly White Institution
Outline
The Problem
“Diversification of the United States” (Sue & Sue, 2003)
Statement of the Problem
Despite the growing complexity of multicultural dynamics at many
predominantly White institutions, there is a need for higher education
professionals to be prepared to address multicultural issues and
acquire certain skills necessary to work effectively with culturally
diverse populations
Research Design
Mixed Methods
Can answer questions that other methodologies cannot
Provides stronger inferences
Provides the opportunity to present a greater diversity of divergent
views
Tashakkori & Teddlie (2003)
Data Collection
Observations, Focus Group Discussions, MCSA-P2
Date Analysis
Descriptive Statistics, Mean Scores, T-test, Regression, Reliability
Implications
Relationship between training, racial identity and Multicultural
competence
Recommendations
Intentional and on-going training
Dr. Brenda L. H. Marina
The University of Akron
[email protected]
The Seventeenth International Conference on The First-Year Experience
June 2004
Literature Review
Global trends indicate that the world’s largest growth populations
will be
students of color (Banks, 1991; Seeberg, Swadener, Vanden-Wyngaard
& Rickel, 1998). These demographic implications strongly suggest that
many American universities will undergo a transformation. Despite the
growing interest in multicultural issues, and the increasing need for
higher education professionals to have certain skills to effectively
address these issues, few studies have specifically identified and
addressed multicultural competencies for effective and ethical
practice in higher education (Barr & Associates, 1993; Pope &
Reynolds, 1997). Within the field of higher education, the need for
concrete and specific multicultural skills has been acknowledged
(Ebbers & Henry, 1990; McEwen & Roper, 1994); however, little has
been done to specify core multicultural competencies for higher
education. For higher education professionals to become more
multiculturally competent, training programs need to be developed to
further explore multicultural issues in higher education.
The disciplines highlighted in this section are attempting to meet the
needs of a changing population. Achieving multicultural competence is
Dr. Brenda L. H. Marina
The University of Akron
[email protected]
The Seventeenth International Conference on The First-Year Experience
June 2004
a challenge for many professions. Primary and secondary education
researchers have done significant work in examining multicultural
issues (Giroux, 1981; Banks, 1994;
Giroux & McLaren, 1994). According to Sowers-Hoag & Sandau-Beckler
(1996), generalist social work practitioners must be educationally
prepared to effectively
serve multicultural populations. Sowers-Hoag and Sandau-Beckler
(1996) developed a curriculum model for the incorporation of
knowledge and skill content for the development of culturally
competent generalist practitioners.
The counseling psychology literature provides useful information for
addressing issues of multicultural competence, education, and training
(D’Andrea, Daniels, & Heck, 1991; Lafromboise, Coleman, &
Hernandez, 1991; Sodowsky, Taffe, Gutkin, & Wise, 1994; Pope-Davis &
Dings, 1995; Ponterotto, Rieger, Barret, Harris, Sparks, Sanchez, &
Magids, 1996). Higher education professionals appear to be unsure
about the definition of the term multicultural, as well as about, how
they can systematically and effectively participate in creating a
diversity-positive climate and a multicultural campus environment
(Pope, 1993; Stage & Hamrick, 1994). The disciplines and highlighted
are not the only ones developing multicultural programs for the helping
Dr. Brenda L. H. Marina
The University of Akron
[email protected]
The Seventeenth International Conference on The First-Year Experience
June 2004
professions, but they do provide examples of current approaches from
which higher education institutions can begin to frame their own
programs.
Research Findings/Study
A mixed methods design was utilized for this research study.
Qualitative approaches get close to people and situations to personally
understand the realities. The qualitative methods employed were focus
group discussions and observations. Focus group discussions allow for
interactions to stimulate participants to state feelings, perceptions, and
beliefs (Fontana & Frey,
2000). Observations provide knowledge of the context of specific
behaviors that can be used as reference points (Merriam, 1998). The
quantitative method employed for this research was the Multicultural
Competence of Student Affairs- Preliminary 2 Scale (MCSA-P2).
Quantitative methods require the use of standardized measures so that
the very perspectives & experiences of people can be fit into a limited
number of predetermined response categories, to which numbers are
assigned (Patton, 1990).
Sample
The participants for the study were First Year Experience instructors. These are
instructors which teach a first year course called the Student Success Seminar. The
demographic make up of the participants were: mean age of the 43.8, White – 62.1%,
Dr. Brenda L. H. Marina
The University of Akron
[email protected]
The Seventeenth International Conference on The First-Year Experience
June 2004
African American – 27.6%, Asian/Pacific Islander – 3.4%, Other – 6.9%. The degree
attainment of the participants included: Masters – 62.1%, Doctorate – 37.9%
Procedures
A request for participation letter was mailed to all faculty and
administrators that teach or had taught the FYE course. A follow-up
email was sent for confirmation. The survey (MCSA-P2) was
administered followed by the focus
group discussion. The discussions was facilitated by a researcher from
Counseling Psychology whose research includes operationalizing
multicultural competencies in that field. The discussions and
observations were Recorded and scribed by the researcher.
Data Analysis
The
observations
yielded
an
interesting
pattern
silence,
immediate responses, or head nods. From the discussions, a theme
was developed through classifications of questions with responses
related to the research questions and classifications of responses
related to knowledge, awareness, and skills. The quantitative analysis
of the MCSA-P2 scale included descriptive statistics, which included
high mean scores and low standard deviations which indicated a high
level of agreement for some questions; the T-test revealed that items
Dr. Brenda L. H. Marina
The University of Akron
[email protected]
The Seventeenth International Conference on The First-Year Experience
June 2004
of significance at the p<.05 level involved social & systemic
multicultural issues rather than personal multicultural issues.
When the stepwise regression method was performed, it revealed
that
conference attendance and courses taken were significant and not by
chance, to
the level of multicultural competence of the faculty and administrators
in this
study. The reliability analysis yielded a high alpha of .9205, which
demonstrated that the MCSA-P2 scale was a reliable instrument
for
the
measurement
of
the
construct
of
multicultural
competence.
Implications and Recommendations
The results of this study seem to suggest that racial/ethnic
minorities define multicultural competence in a different way than their
Euro-American counterparts. The results of this study have implications
for the training and
development of multicultural competence. Higher education
professionals, at all levels of experiences and responsibility, can
benefit from multicultural training.
It is recommended that training for the FYE faculty and
administrators should be provided. Training should be ongoing and a
systematic process to serve as a guide for the transformation to
Dr. Brenda L. H. Marina
The University of Akron
[email protected]
The Seventeenth International Conference on The First-Year Experience
June 2004
multiculturally competent First Year Experience higher education
professionals. Higher education professionals can draw on the
experience of other helping professions to benchmark the
effectiveness of such training programs. The results of the statistical
analyses suggest that additional training will increase multicultural
awareness, knowledge and skills.
Dr. Brenda L. H. Marina
The University of Akron
[email protected]