Diversity in Higher Education Yi-Chen (Jane) Lu University of South Dakota

Questions 1. What benefit to the university is associated with the presence of international students? 2. What benefit to the resident students is associated with the presence of international students on campus? 3. What should a university make to provide for the presence of international students? 4. What sort of linkages between American universities and institutions of higher education in other countries would be most productive?

Facts •

Over 571,000 international students come to the US in past five years (Chin & Gallup-Black, 2004; Gardner & Witherell, 2005).

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Brought 13.3 billion dollars to the US economy last year (Gardner & Witherell, 2005)

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90 percent of the public believe diversity is important and higher education has an important role to foster it (Smith & Schonfeld, 2000)

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Diversity can help schools prepare students to work in diverse environments and increase students’ critical thinking and creativity skills (Smith & Schonfeld, 2000)

Benefit to Universities 1. The schools may have the opportunity to develop particular strength with funding and supports 2. Accessing resources and areas of expertise in other schools and countries, the schools may have the benefit from the diversity in the wider system 3. The schools may be financially benefited

Diversity in Higher Education Cited by Robert Birnbaum, Stadman mentioned, The benefits of diversity in American higher education includes: 1) to give more diverse opportunities and choices to learners, 2) to make higher education available to everyone, 3) to match education to the needs, goals, learning styles, speed, and ability of each individual learner, and 4) To encourage institutions to select their own missions and “confine their activities to those that are consistent with their location, resources, levels of instruction, and clienteles” (Birnbaum, 1980; Card, 2002)

Benefits to Resident Students •

“A diverse student body creates a unique learning environment that leads to increased probability that students will interact with peers from different background” (Umback & Kuh, 2006)

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Internationals students provide resident students the opportunities to ¾ To look the world in different ways ¾ Learn some of the realities of the multicultural world ¾ Have better respect the dignity of all human being ¾ Have better knowledge in cultural awareness and be more sensitive to gender issues, diverse cultures, international perspectives, and variety of issues calling for social justice.

What Schools Can Do Better? •

Adjustment Difficulties

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Four Issues: 1. Restrictions on working 2. Impact of failing or poor grades 3. Unwillingness to seek out psychological services 4. Discrimination based on nationality, ethnicity, language, food preferences, and leisure styles (Berg-Cross, Craig, & Wessel, 2001)

Linkages between Universities and the Institutions of HE in Other Countries •

More than 90% of Americans believe it is important to prepare future generations for a global society and to have higher education be more internationalized (NAFSA, 2006).

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Exchange programs ¾ To study or work in the other countries ¾ To experience different cultures

References Alemán, A. M. M., & Salkever, K. (2003). Mission, multiculturalism, and the liberal arts college: A qualitative investigation. The Journal of Higher Education, 74(5), 563-596. Berg-Cross, L., Craig, K., & Wessel, T. (2001). Multiculturalism at historically black colleges and universities: A case study of Howard University. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (pp. 849-868). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Card, K. (2002). Focus lecture notes AHED 720: Higher education diverse institutions: University of South Dakota. Chapdelaine, R. F., & Alexitch, L. R. (2004). Social skills difficulty: Model of culture shock for international graduate students. Journal of College Student Development, 45(2), 167-184. Chin, H.-K. K., & Gallup-Black, A. (Eds.). (2004). Open Doors 2004: Report on international educational exchange. New York: Institute of International Education. Fulbright. (2006). Teacher exchange program. Retrieved April 21, 2006, 2006, from http://www.fulbrightexchanges.org/ Gardner, D., & Witherell, S. (2005, March 15, 2006). Open Doors 2005: Report on international educational exchange. Retrieved April 21, 2006, from http://opendoors.iienetwork.org/ Hutchinson, S. R., & Hyper, P. (2002). The campus climate for diversity: student perceptions. Blacksburg: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. NAFSA. (2006). An International Education Policy For U.S. Leadership, Competitiveness, And Security. Retrieved April 21, 2006, from http://www.nafsa.org/public_policy.sec/united_states_international/toward_an_international Smith, D. G., & Schonfeld, N. B. (2000). The benefits of diversity: what the research tells us. About Campus, 5(5), 16-23. Umbach, P. D., & Kuh, G. D. (2006). Student experiences with diversity at liberal arts colleges: Another claim for distinctiveness. The Journal of Higher Education, 77(1), 169-192.