Pluralism: Student-Student and Student-Faculty Interactions and Institutional Attractiveness

From Freshman to Graduate: Recruiting and Retaining Minority Students

“…Concerning recruitment, White colleges are recruiting and contacting White males at higher rates than other groups. Minority males are contacted at lower rates than other groups (Kimweli & Richards, 1999). The fact that minorities are not being recruited is disconcerting because, in a study of a sample of 293 minority high school students from 23 public high schools in five of the nation's largest urban school districts, 90% of the students connected college attendance with future career aspirations (Noeth & Wimberly, 2002).…”

“…Institutional barriers to Black student retention include lack of understanding of the culture of Black students, unawareness of and inability to address the needs of Black students, inappropriate academic standards, inability to assist Black students in navigating the university system, and negative attitudes of Black students by university personnel and administration (Credle & Dean, 1991). Currently, teacher education programs don't have the infrastructures necessary for managing the changes caused by diversity (Kimweli & Richards, 1999). Lewis, Chesler, and Forman (2000) identified six themes concerning pressures, demands, and experiences of 75 minority students at a predominately White university in their research of intergroup relations.…”

“He's Really Setting an Example”: Student Contributions to the Learning Environment

“…Developing and maintaining strong supportive interpersonal relationships in college is key to student success, and peer relationships help create a supportive learning environment (Kimweli & Richards, 1999). Without such relationships, students often feel socially isolated and experience impaired learning.…”

“…Numerous scholars have examined faculty contributions to the college learning environment by investigating faculty-student relationships (Blau, 2011;Campbell, Eichhorn, Basch, & Wolf, 2009;Dobransky & Frymier, 2004;Docan-Morgan & Manusov, 2009;Jin, 2005;Kimweli & Richards, 1999;Long & Coldren, 2006;Myers, 2006;Sher, 2009). Several studies, particularly recently, have looked at students' influence on one another (Drouin, 2008;Fassinger, 1995Fassinger, , 1997Jin, 2005;Johnson, 2009;Kimweli & Richards, 1999;Ladenheim, Kuhns, & Brockington, 2011;Sher, 2009;Sidelinger, Bolen, Frisby, & McMullen, 2011;Sidelinger & BoothButterfield, 2010;Teven & McCroskey, 1997).…”

“…Several studies, particularly recently, have looked at students' influence on one another (Drouin, 2008;Fassinger, 1995Fassinger, , 1997Jin, 2005;Johnson, 2009;Kimweli & Richards, 1999;Ladenheim, Kuhns, & Brockington, 2011;Sher, 2009;Sidelinger, Bolen, Frisby, & McMullen, 2011;Sidelinger & BoothButterfield, 2010;Teven & McCroskey, 1997). However, the overwhelming majority of these studies have utilized quantitative methods-typically surveys-to confirm the importance of student-to-student interactions (Drouin, 2008;Fassinger, 1995Fassinger, , 1997Johnson, 2009;Kimweli & Richards, 1999;Ladenheim et al, 2011;Sher, 2009;Sidelinger et al, 2011;Sidelinger & Booth-Butterfield, 2010;Teven & McCroskey, 1997). Little is known about the process by which students influence one another to co-create their learning environment.…”