DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY 1 STRUCTURAL DIVERSITY 2 MULTICULTURAL

DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY 1. STRUCTURAL DIVERSITY 2. MULTICULTURAL DIVERSITY 3. CONTEXT DIVERSITY

DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY STRUCTURAL DIVERSITY Characterized by: Ø compliance-oriented Affirmative Action, Ø support programs created to recruit/retain underrepresented students/faculty and Ø to help people overcome barriers for access, Ø success is measured by increasing the numbers of under represented populations.

DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY STRUCTURAL DIVERSITY Basic Assumptions: Ø Assimilation Ø Critical Mass Ø Remediation

DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY MULTICULTURAL DIVERSITY Characterized by: Ø infusing diversity via cultural customs into our institutions, Ø valuing underrepresented populations for potential to recruit and retain others, Ø initiatives that contribute toward enhancing campus climate and, Ø more awareness of multicultural issues.

DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY MULTICULTURAL DIVERSITY Basic Assumptions: Ø Celebrate differences Ø Multicultural awareness Ø Improve campus climate Ø Achieve critical mass Ø Affirmative Action compliance

DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY CONTEXT DIVERSITY Characterized as: Ø An emerging paradigm that emphasizes reframing rather than reforming academic cultures to meet the needs of all populations and especially underrepresented groups. Ø Striving to create a learning community with myriad ways to attract diverse populations and have them thrive in an academic or workplace environment.

DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY CONTEXT DIVERSITY Characterized by: Ø attempts to change academic culture to address the needs of the recent demographic shifts in US populations over the last few decades. Ø Shifting diversity initiatives from current concepts about recruitment and retention to concepts that emphasize attracting and thriving

DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY CONTEXT DIVERSITY Ø Results are measured not only by how well we attract diverse populations, but also by how well we enhance our campus cultures to improve upon the academic and work performance among all students, faculty and staff. Ø The focus is on increasing diversity by building diversity into the context of the higher education system, our learning community and beyond.

DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY CONTEXT DIVERSITY Basic Assumptions: Ø The concern for access and achieving critical mass are no longer the main problems. Ø The lack of underrepresented populations is a symptom not the problem. Ø Underperformance issues and conflict over the cultural context of higher education surface as major problems.

DIMENSIONS OF DIVERSITY CONTEXT DIVERSITY New solutions: Ø find creative ways to generate systemic change in campus climate and academic cultures, Ø Reframe (expand/shift) pedagogy and curriculum without giving up good educational practices, Ø Include a variety of cultural contexts, learning/teaching styles that serve the needs of a growing multicontextual population.

THE EMERGING MULTICONTEXT WORLD A growing number of individuals now entering higher education bring with them a mix of individualized characteristics described as their cultural context

THE EMERGING MULTICONTEXT WORLD These learned preferences influence how they interact and associate with others, use living spaces, perceive concepts of time, process information, respond to various teaching and learning styles, perform academically or in the workplace, and include many other cognitive factors that were imprinted on them in childhood by family and community and continue to help shape their world view.

THE EMERGING MULTICONTEXT WORLD Cultural groups that exhibit low context tendencies include Northern European populations, such as English, German, Swiss, and Scandinavian people. US populations are varied and exhibit to varying degrees the low or high context imprinting of their heritage. Mainstream American culture is primarily low context. North American men are generally more low context than North American women.

THE EMERGING MULTICONTEXT WORLD Cultural groups that exhibit high context tendencies include Asians, Arabs, people from other Middle Eastern and Mediterranean-based countries, Africans, Latin Americans, and native North American Indian groups. High context populations are increasing in the United States and in the world.

Low Context High Context Multicontext ACADEMIC SYSTEMS LC disciplines – mainly sciences, engineering, math ACADEMIC SYSTEMS HC disciplines – mainly humanities, education, liberal arts Scientific thinking is emphasized Practical thinking is valued Academic/teaching style is technical Academic/teaching style is personal Science relies on Linneanstyle taxonomies Science includes folk taxonomies

Teaching and Learning LOW CONTEXT Knowledge is obtained by logical reasoning HIGH CONTEXT Knowledge is gained by a gestalt model Analytical thinking is important Comprehensive thinking is important Students learn best by following directions Students learn best by demonstration Learning is oriented toward the individual Learning is group oriented Creative learning process is externalized Creative learning process is internalized

Experiential Learning Theory Kolb’s Learning Cycle Ibarra’s Multicontextual Model HIGH CONTEXT Concrete Experience (do it) Action Reflective Experimentation Observation (take a lesson) (watch it) LOW CONTEXT Abstract Conceptualization (go to a lecture/read a book)

Designing a High Context Educational Experience An educational experience infused with high context characteristics might include the following elements: Relational learning – interpersonal interactions. Problem solving – exploring questions through experience. Collaborative learning. Short-term interpersonal feedback. Interrelationship of affective and cognitive development. Resolving conflict and dealing with contention. Participating in long-term relationships with formal obligations outside the classroom. Process is as important as product. Knowledge is created (not consumed). Knowledge is inter- and trans-disciplinary. Research is engaged and has application.

Ibarra: Reframing the Cultural Context of the Academy Chapter 8

The Problem “the growing problem of high-context, fieldsensitive students who are abandoning (or never entering) graduate schools, which are dominated by low-context, field-independent professors. ” (p. 243)

Why hasn’t change occurred? • “an institutional sense of invulnerability” (p. 225) • “a lack of incentives for faculty” (p. 225)

Strategic change • “effecting organizational change requires working on multiple components of an institution simultaneously, and change is more likely to occur if it is implemented systematically” (p. 234) • “By focusing on processes within academic units, the entire mission of the university can be advanced while maintaining the integrity, autonomous structure, and culture of the departments. ” (p. 234)

Process for contextualizing academic cultures (p. 250) 1. “establish and initiate a campuswide process for determining the kinds or patterns of academic culture. ” (p. 250) 2. “recruit entrepreneurial departments, programs, and faculty willing to review and rethink both their educational tradition and faculty priorities to include high-context cultural values. ” (p. 250) - Tenure Review - Teaching and learning styles and curriculum content - Research and application 3. “create or adapt successful high-context-oriented projects and implement them in appropriate academic departments. ” (p. 2)

4. “identify and establish contact with discipline-focused minority organizations to coordinate collaborative initiatives” (p. 251) 5. “use ethnic studies programs and student service programs as learning resources and as sources for developing critical knowledge” (p. 251) 6. “close the cultural and structural gap between minority service programs and the departments or disciplines” (p. 251) 7. “adopt strategic marketing and advertising plans that publicize both internally and externally the results of specific pilot projects…that have embraced multicontextuality. ” (p. 253)

Higher Education Research Institute, UCLA, Faculty Survey. Changes in Faculty Reports of “During the past two years, have you collaborated with the local community in teaching/research? ” During the past two years have you collaborated with the local community in teaching/research?