Students educated in high-diversity institutions are better learners and more effective citizens, according to a study produced by University psychology Prof. Pat Gurin.
Gurin's study is part of her expert witness testimony for two lawsuits challenging the University's use of race in admission policies in the Law School and the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. The lawsuits, filed by the Washington D.C.-based Center for Individual Rights, claim two white applicants were denied admission into the College of Literature, Science and the Arts and one was denied admission into the Law School based on their race.
"The most important thing is that we have evidence that students with diverse experiences in college become more active learners and more thoughtful learners, and are more prepared to function in a heterogeneous democracy," said Gurin, who currently serves as LSA's interim dean.
For a long time, educators have assumed there are educational benefits to diversity, Gurin said, but her research is the first empirical evidence to support that belief.
"This study supports my experience as an educator in an important way," Gurin said.
University spokesperson Mark Haas said the University is intrigued by Gurin's study. The study was released with other reports from expert witnesses that all support "the compelling need for diversity in higher education," - the title given to the 265-page document supporting the University's position in each lawsuit.
The study is "enormously helpful in understanding the relationship between diversity and education," University President Lee Bollinger said.
"Pat's material is new and of national significance," Haas said. "The other parts of (the report) are not new and they are legal arguments."
Gurin said the other expert witnesses, William Bowen and Derek Bok, authors of the book "The Shape of the River," use the research for the book to refute the argument that blacks do not belong at selective universities. Bowen and Bok's study focuses on the effects of diversity during the college years, while her study explores post-graduation life, Gurin said, adding that Bowen and Bok's testimony alone would not suffice.
But Terry Pell, senior legal counsel for CIR, said Gurin's report also fails to suffice because it does not answer the question facing the court: are racial factors in admissions constitutional?
"It's not clear what the relevance of the report is," Pell said, adding that in Bakke vs. the University of California Regents, Justice Louis Powell stated that "race diversity does not justify the use of race by government officials."
The educational value is beside the point, Pell said, explaining that racial preferences having good consequences is a legally irrelevant argument.
"The courts are concerned with the purpose for which race is used and the extent to which it is used," Pell said. "Nothing the University has said refutes our contention that race plays a very heavy role in the admissions process - well beyond the positive factors permitted by Powell's opinion."
Gurin's said her study aims to answer the question: does diversity have an educational impact?
The answer, which Gurin said is yes, came after analyzing three existing data sets never before analyzed for this purpose. Gurin did not use her own outside research.
Gurin's conclusion utilizes this data and the argument that during the late adolescent years when people are more inclined to challenge stereotypes and conventions thus becoming more racially accepting.
"Patterns of racial segregation and separation historically rooted in our national life can be broken by diversity experiences in higher education," Gurin said.
The study also found that students learn to accept and relate to others' opinions, which allows them to function more effectively in a diverse environment.
"Just to bring students together on a campus is not enough," Gurin said. We need "diversity in experience."
Before Gurin's study, many believed the educational benefits of diversity were confined to minorities. But her report states that white students in diverse environments and diverse informal interactions show increased complex thinking capacity, increased motivation, elevated self-confidence, better coping with social difference and are more likely to live in diverse neighborhoods after graduation.
The report states that students who went to high-diversity universities were 2.5 times more likely to have diverse acquaintances, 2 times as likely to live in diverse neighborhoods and 1.5 times as likely to have diverse co-workers.
Gurin said this information applies to the Detroit area in a powerful way because Detroit is the second most segregated area in the country.
"Parents want their children to succeed in the world; we live in a diverse world," Gurin said, adding that parents should be concerned about why diversity is important to their children and to answer the question, "what is the point of all this?"
Gurin called her research "genuine," adding that from the social-science perspective, the study has many strengths.
Gurin's three sets of data - national, state and university - were examined equally.
One set, conducted by the University of California Los Angeles, examined more than 180 educational institutions and included more than 9,500 students. Another set, the Michigan Student Study, tracked 1,200 white and 200 black students through their college years and into post-graduate life. The final set of data came from the University's Program on Intergroup Relations, Conflict and Community, a University-wide study that focused on students' experiences with diverse environments during and after college.
The study examines the effectiveness of diversity over time, not "just a snapshot" of the present, Gurin said.
Gurin's report uses many measurements of diversity experiences and the outcomes of these experiences. In the UCLA study, for example, more than 82 percent of the 280 possible outcomes gave the same result - that diversity is beneficial in higher education.
Gurin said the study controlled for many institutional characteristics such as SAT scores, high school grades, reputations of high schools and neighborhoods where the students lived.
educational benefits to diversity, Gurin said, but her research is the first empirical evidence to support that belief.
"This study supports my experience as an educator in an important way," Gurin said.
University spokesperson Mark Haas said the University is intrigued by Gurin's study. The study was released with other reports from expert witnesses that all support "the compelling need for diversity in higher education," - the title given to the 265-page document supporting the University's position in each lawsuit.
"Pat's material is new and of national significance," Haas said. "The other parts of (the report) are not new and they are legal arguments."
Gurin said the other expert witnesses, William Bowen and Derek Bok, authors of the book "The Shape of the River," use the research for the book to refute the argument that blacks do not belong at selective universities. Bowen and Bok's study focuses on the effects of diversity during the college years, while her study explores post-graduation life, Gurin said, adding that Bowen and Bok's testimony alone would not suffice.
But Terry Pell, senior legal counsel for CIR, said Gurin's report also fails to suffice because it does not answer the question facing the court: are racial factors in admissions constitutional?
"It's not clear what the relevance of the report is," Pell said, adding that in Bakke vs. the University of California Regents, Justice Louis Powell stated that "race diversity does not justify the use of race by government officials."
The educational value is beside the point, Pell said, explaining that racial preferences having good consequences is a legally irrelevant argument.
"The courts are concerned with the purpose for which race is used and the extent to which it is used," Pell said. "Nothing the University has said refutes our contention that race plays a very heavy role in the admissions process - well beyond the positive factors permitted by Powell's opinion."
Gurin's said her study aims to answer the question: does diversity have an educational impact?
The answer, which Gurin said is yes, came after analyzing three existing data sets never before analyzed for this purpose. Gurin did not use her own outside research.
Gurin's conclusion utilizes this data and the argument that during the late adolescent years when people are more inclined to challenge stereotypes and conventions thus becoming more racially accepting.
"Patterns of racial segregation and separation historically rooted in our national life can be broken by diversity experiences in higher education," Gurin said.
The study also found that students learn to accept and relate to others' opinions, which allows them to function more effectively in a diverse environment.
"Just to bring students together on a campus is not enough," Gurin said. We need "diversity in experience."
Before Gurin's study, many believed the educational benefits of diversity were confined to minorities. But her report states that white students in diverse environments and diverse informal interactions show increased complex thinking capacity, increased motivation, elevated self-confidence, better coping with social difference and are more likely to live in diverse neighborhoods after graduation.
The report states that students who went to high-diversity universities were 2.5 times more likely to have diverse acquaintances, 2 times as likely to live in diverse neighborhoods and 1.5 times as likely to have diverse co-workers.
Gurin said this information applies to the Detroit area in a powerful way because Detroit is the second most segregated area in the country.
"Parents want their children to succeed in the world; we live in a diverse world," Gurin said, adding that parents should be concerned about why diversity is important to their children and to answer the question, "what is the point of all this?"
Gurin called her research "genuine," adding that from the social-science perspective, the study has many strengths.
Gurin's three sets of data - national, state and university - were examined equally.
One set, conducted by the University of California Los Angeles, examined more than 180 educational institutions and included more than 9,500 students. Another set, the Michigan Student Study, tracked 1,200 white and 200 black students through their college years and into post-graduate life. The final set of data came from the University's Program on Intergroup Relations, Conflict and Community, a University-wide study that focused on students' experiences with diverse environments during and after college.
The study examines the effectiveness of diversity over time, not "just a snapshot" of the present, Gurin said.
Gurin's report uses many measurements of diversity experiences and the outcomes of these experiences. In the UCLA study, for example, more than 82 percent of the 280 possible outcomes gave the same result - that diversity is beneficial in higher education.
Gurin said the study controlled for many institutional characteristics such as SAT scores, high school grades, reputations of high schools and neighborhoods where the students lived.
03-18-99
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