2. GOALS FOR TODAY
Position the rationale for engaging diversity in
higher education in affirmative action cases
Make a case for its educational importance
beyond affirmative action – a case based in
three major challenges the U.S. faces
Present intergroup dialogue as one educational
approach that addresses these challenges
Discuss 21st education – cosmopolitan and
outward oriented
3. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION CASES
Baake; Grutter vs.
Bollinger; Fisher v.
University of Texas
Amicus briefs provide
impressive evidence for
educational value of
diversity
But much broader
rationale
4. THREE CHALLENGES
The Demographic Challenge –
Changing Demographics in the U.S.
The Democratic Challenge – Engagement of
all in light of growing economic inequalities
The Dispersion Challenge – “Rise of the Rest”
5. DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGE
1,970,000 1,980,000 1,990,000 2,000,000 2,010,000 2,020,000
White Babies No Longer Majority in the U.S.
U.S. births in the year ending on July 2011 - the Census Bureau
2,019,176
1,988,824
Non-White
Babies
White
Babies
9. Wealth Distribution in the U.S
The top 10% of
households have 80%
of the financial wealth
The bottom 80% have
7% of the wealth
(Domhoff, 2012)
10. Country/Overall Rank Gini Coefficient
1. Sweden 23.0
4. Norway 25.0
7. Austria 26
11. Finland 26.8
12. Germany 27
19. Denmark 29
29. Netherlands 30.9
34. Spain 32
36. Canada 32.1
44. Switzerland 33.7
60. India 36.8
87. China 41.5
99. Iran 44.5
101. United States 45
118. Costa Rica 50.3
123. Mexico 51.7
(Central Intelligence Agency, 2008)
The United States ranks
101st in the world in terms
of income inequality
Nine European countries
have less inequality than
the U.S.
So does Canada
And India, China, and Iran
11. DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGE
Democracy challenge from increasing
economic inequality
2007 Family Incomes
Poverty
Unemploymen
t
Incarceration
Whites Latinos African Americans
13. FAREED ZAKARIA
At the politico-military
level we will remain in a
single-superworld world.
But in every other
dimension –
industrial, financial, educ
ational, social, cultural –
the distribution of power
is shifting, moving away
from American
dominance.
15. Knowledge and Skills for
21st Century Education
Broad knowledge across many disciplines
Communication, problem
solving, collaboration across differences
Critical, creative, adaptive, flexible thinking
ENGAGING DIVERSITY
American Association of Colleges and Universities; Partnership for 21st Century Skills
16. INTERGROUP DIALOGUE: ONE APPROACH
TO 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION
The goals of intergroup dialogue:
Intergroup Understanding
Positive Intergroup Relationships
Intergroup Collaboration
Engaging diversity through:
A distinctive pedagogy
And communication processes
17. WHAT IS INTERGROUP DIALOGUE?
Two social identity
groups
Two facilitators
10-12 week course
4-module curriculum
18. FOUR-MODULE CURRICULUM
Module 1 Module 2 Module 3 Module 4
Learning
how to
dialogue
Learning
about
identity,
inequalities
& power
Dialoguing
about “hot
topics”
Alliance
building for
collaboration
19. PEDAGOGY
Content: Readings, Written Assignments
Structured Interaction, Equal numbers of
statuses, Active learning exercises
Facilitative Guidance
20. WHAT MAKES IT WORK?
DISTINCTIVE COMMUNICATION PROCESSES
Dialogic Process
Active Listening
Asking questions, follow-up, inquiry
Sharing
Critical Process
Identifying assumptions
Critical analysis of inequalities
Personal and collective critical reflection
21. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Does Intergroup Dialogue work?
Evidence of Effects
How does it work?
Evidence of processes that account for effects
22. MULTDIVERSITY RESEARCH PROJECT
Arizona State University
Occidental College
Syracuse University
University of California (San Diego)
University of Maryland
University of Massachusetts
University of Michigan
University of Texas
University of Washington
24. PARTICIPANTS
52 Dialogue Experiments (26 race, 26 gender)
DIALOGUE GROUP n = 726
26%
24 %26 %
24%
Within People of Color:
38% African American
36% Asian/Asian American
21% Latino/a
5% Other
WAITLIST CONTROL GROUP n = 721
28%
23%27 %
22%
25. QUALITATIVE METHODS
Videotaping early, mid, and late session of 10
race and 10 gender dialogues
Interviewing all students in the dialogues that
were videotaped – 248 students
Content Analysis of the final papers of students in
all 52 dialogues – 720 papers
32. SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS OF DIALOGUE
ON:
20 of 24 measures of psychological
processes, intergroup
understanding, relationships, and action
In both race and gender dialogues
For all 4 groups of students
Still evident a year later, time 1-3, on 21
34. BACK TO THE CHALLENGES
A cosmopolitan education – Appiah & Nussbaum
Comprised of:
Pluralistic perspective
Critical thinking, often outside one‟s comfort zone
Empathy
Integration of specific group-based identities with
broader identifications
35. HOW DO WE DO THIS?
Deliberate use of diversity to foster
communication, problem solving, collaboration
across differences
Pedagogy that creates active learning and
communication processes, especially listening
and inquiry
Collective and private reflection
Connecting substantive & disciplinary knowledge
to intercultural competencies
36. EPILOGUE: STUDENT GRADUATES
The influence Intergroup Dialogue played in
their professional and personal directions
Addressing the demographic, democratic, and
dispersion challenges
38. DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGE
QUESTION:
In what ways are you professionally and
personally engaged with people from various
identity groups and how are you bridging
differences by bringing people from different
backgrounds together?
39. DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGE
Aaron James
“My own life has been circumscribed
by living in liberal, urban enclaves.
Now I am working in economic
development in rural areas and I am
trying in many ways to cross cultural
boundaries, to understand their
perspectives, and bond (including
learning to hunt) with rural residents.”
40. DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGE
Chloe Gurin-Sands
“My personal and professional lives
are completely intertwined. My circle
of friends includes people from all
identity groups. . . I feel I am bridging
differences and bringing people
together all the time. Intergroup
dialogue has educated me that the
personal is political (and vice versa).
41. DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGE
QUESTION:
What are you currently doing professionally
and how did your experiences in intergroup
dialogue play a role in your professional
direction?
In what ways is your work addressing
inequalities and aimed at created greater
social justice?
42. DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGE
Denny Chan
“During my first two summers of law
school I helped litigate cases involving
federal voting rights laws. I also
worked on a gender discrimination
case against a large corporate retailer
and on a financial mortgage case
involving one of the nation‟s largest
banks. I see now how I can express
my concerns for social justice in
public sector law.”
43. DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGE
Tara Hackel
“Participating in intergroup dialogue
helped me to better recognize
inequalities that I faced as a woman
in the engineering program. . . Then
becoming more in touch with
problems within the STEM fields
helped me recognize inequalities
affecting others, not just women.”
44. DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGE
Kartik Sidhar
“My multiple responsibilities in
The Program on Intergroup
Relations has sharpened my
understanding of health
disparities and deepened my
commitment to create change
in that arena.”
45. DISPERSION CHALLENGE
QUESTION:
In what ways are you involved with people in or
from other countries? In what ways do you
consider yourself a global citizen?
46. DISPERSION CHALLENGE
Clare Wrobel
“I gained a commitment in intergroup
dialogue to learn about what I don‟t
know and to keep up-to-date about
international political movements. It
should not be up to my Egyptian-
American friend to explain to me
what is going on in Egypt. It is my
responsibility to continue to educate
myself and to have meaningful
conversations with people from
many countries.”
47. DISPERSION CHALLENGE
Adam Falkner
“In my classroom, I am constantly
trying to create settings that „uncork‟
creativity and grant my students
permission to connect with the
universal human desire for
communication. In my life and work as
an artist, the local is global and vice
versa. To me, being a global citizen
means to consider one‟s own role as a
contributing member of a society and
not in isolation from the most pressing
and urgent of global concerns.”
49. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
W.T. Grant Foundation
Ford Foundation
Russell Sage Foundation
National Center for Institutional
Diversity, University of Michigan
Division of Student Affairs, College of
Literature, Sciences and the Arts, Department of
Psychology, University of Michigan
Census Bureau confirmed minorities outnumbered whites: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/05/17/us/largest-generational-gaps.html?ref=censusbureau
The top richest 10% of the populations - hold 80% of the nation’s financial wealth – the part in blue – if things were fThe bottom 80% of the population holds only 7% of the wealth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mxJZ6Jhnrk
MAY BE ADDING A SHORT VIDEO DEMONSTRATING WHAT DIALOGUE LOOKS LIKE
“What I learned the most was understanding the different privileges and discriminatory practices that affect social, gender, ethnic, and religious groups. I learned through readings but especially from the life stories of my classmates.”“Through dialogue, especially the Web of Oppression, I learned how institutions (media, education, government, etc.) reinforce gender roles and racial inequality. I just didn’t “get” it before.”
“I learned that forming alliances means getting out of your comfort zone. Alliances arise from our differences but they are made possible because we conceive of similarities as well. We had a common goal: to shed light on the issue of race and ethnicity within our society.”
