While numerous studies have highlighted the consequences of exclusion in STEM, fewer studies have empirically tested the benefits of inclusion in peer relationships. We focus on the impact of having cross-racial or cross-gender study partners among one's close friends in a national sample of 408 STEM majors. Using structural equation modeling, we…

Scholars and institution professionals alike think broadly about campus climate; yet, few have examined the climate for social class diversity (SCD) on campus, despite growing class divide in the United States. We examined climate for SCD and identity awareness through interviews with 31 diverse students about their interactions across class at a…

This chapter describes how race, ethnicity, religion, and spirituality uniquely interact for Asian American college students, including a discussion of the diverse religious and spiritual backgrounds of this population.

Background/Context: The role of race in the university continues to be a contentious issue. Proponents of college diversity often cite the importance of fostering a diverse and deliberative democratic society, but the link between student experiences and postcollege citizenship has received limited attention. Purpose/Objective: This study explores…

Using structural equation modeling, this study examined the effects of peer environments on collegiate interracial friendship and how such effects vary by students' race. The results show that the peer environment of Greek life mediated the relationship between structural diversity and interracial friendship in college, in that students…

Few qualitative studies consider how high school experiences affect readiness for diversity engagement in college. Using data from an ethnographic case study, three central trends (student experiences within homogeneous high schools, racial divisions within diverse high schools, and students who attended diverse high schools but had little…

This article considers whether the socioeconomic diversity of the undergraduate student body and experiences with cross-class interaction (CCI) are significantly related to cross-racial interaction (CRI) and engagement with curricular/co-curricular diversity (CCD) activities. Individual students who reported higher levels of CCI had significantly…

This paper delves into a facet of socioeconomic diversity relatively unaddressed in the literature: student reports of cross-class interaction ("reported CCI"). Previous research has found that student interaction across social class is a significant predictor of cross-racial interaction, but it is unknown whether the actual…

Research on diversity in higher education has evolved to consider the nature of interracial contact and campus climate as well as the factors that may foster meaningful interactions. While some studies have explored predictors of cross-racial interaction (CRI) and interracial friendship (IRF), it remains unclear whether and how the same precollege…

Religion is the most segregated arena of American life, but its effect on collegiate diversity outcomes has been overlooked, despite the significance of both race and religion in many students' lives. This study examines whether religious observance, religious worldview identification, and participation in a religious student organization are…

This ethnographic account highlights four Korean American students deciding between participating in a racially diverse campus fellowship versus an ethnically homogeneous group. Despite religious convictions about the importance of diversity, students experienced tensions between their ideals concerning diversity and the difficulty of actually…

A key argument for affirmative action is that college students benefit from engagement in a racially diverse student body. Because many students have few meaningful experiences with diversity prior to college, exposure to divergent viewpoints and perspectives is an essential part of spurring student growth and development. Engagement with…

This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Freshmen to examine the racial/ ethnic composition of student organizations as well as the relationship between student organization participation and close interracial friendship. White students were the most likely to be in majority White environments in fraternities and sororities,…

In order to better understand faculty attitudes towards diversity, specifically racial/ethnic diversity, the authors created a composite variable that taps into a variety of faculty attitudes towards diversity including their commitments to promoting racial understanding and their views on the role of diversity in undergraduate education. The…

Using a national longitudinal dataset of college students, this study examines satisfaction with the ethnic diversity of the student body and faculty at traditionally White institutions. The strongest predictor of satisfaction with diversity for White and Latino/a students was the heterogeneity of the institution; the strongest predictors for…