Abstract
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 socioeconomic heterogeneity of a student body is significantly related to reported CCI. We use hierarchical linear modeling to identify predictors of reported CCI in the 2003 Freshman/2007 College Student Survey from the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute. In the final model, students who attended more socioeconomically diverse institutions and more racially diverse institutions reported higher levels of CCI. Findings suggest that reported CCI is linked to the actual socioeconomic heterogeneity of a student body. Measures of racial diversity (percent of students of color and diversity engagement), both at the institutional and student level, also predicted reported CCI. Thus, reported CCI is likely influenced by the racial diversity of a student body and other aspects of the campus racial climate, in addition to socioeconomic diversity. Implications for campus climate, diversity, and equity research are discussed.
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Notes
We recognize that much of the research actually examines “racial/ethnic diversity,” but for the sake of simplicity, we refer to “racial diversity” in the remainder of the paper.
We tested various iterations of the SSD variable, with differing “peaks” at 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 %. We then correlated each of these different inverted-U shaped variables with CCI to examine which one was associated with the most CCI. The correlations showed that institutions with 50 % of students receiving aid were associated with the most frequent student reports of interactions across class.
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This study was supported by the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Projects funding scheme [DP1094417].
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Park, J.J., Denson, N. When Race and Class Both Matter: The Relationship between Socioeconomic Diversity, Racial Diversity, and Student Reports of Cross–Class Interaction. Res High Educ 54, 725–745 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-013-9289-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-013-9289-4