ERIC Number: ED532613
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 134
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: ISBN-978-1-1094-9596-6
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Faculty Perspectives on Diversity at a Rural Community College
Richardson, James C.
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Capella University
As the United States has become progressively more diverse in rural areas, America's higher education system has wrestled to comprehend and resolve issues related to diversity in higher education. Community colleges enrolled nearly 50% of culturally diverse college students (Cohen & Brawer, 2002) because they often afford the only points of admission to higher education for first-generation and minority students. However, demographic findings (Witty, 2001) showed that minority populations were underrepresented in faculty at community colleges making it more difficult to model diversity behaviors for their students (Gay, 2000). Thus the study's purpose was to discover the impact of diversity in a rural community college classroom by identifying and describing the experiences of the educators who participate in a diverse, rural community college classroom. The research design used was a mixed methods case study which replicated a study done in a high school by Janet Bustrin (2006) and designed by Patricia Marin (2000) to gather qualitative information about diversity and its effect on faculty. A purposive sampling was used to select the classes. A faculty diversity questionnaire (Maruyama and Moreno, 2000) was used quantitatively to establish a foundation of faculty beliefs about diversity and to evaluate faculty's personal experience with diversity. This study has shown that the diverse multiracial/multi-ethnic college classroom may be what is needed to connect people with different beliefs and backgrounds. The results of this study suggest that this northwest community college's faculty members agree with Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, and Gurin (2002) that diversity helps create positive outcomes in higher education because it reinforces cultural awareness, a better understanding of self, encourages intellectual growth, reduces racial stereotyping and prejudice, and furthers the state of equality and leadership. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Research Design, Community Colleges, Cultural Awareness, Diversity (Faculty), Rural Areas, Minority Groups, Faculty, Student Diversity, Identification
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A