Claremont Independent

Claremont McKenna College’s Associate Professor of Psychology Shana Levin has co-authored a study, The Diversity Challenge: Social Identity and Intergroup Relations on the College Campus, which tracked 2,000 UCLA students over time and surveyed their attitudes toward race and how various college activities and interactions affected those attitudes.  For example, the study found that being roommates with a member of another ethnicity has “a positive impact on racial attitudes [toward] those of other races and ethnicities.”

Perhaps more interestingly, the book also surveyed “participation in student groups associated with racial or ethnic groups or that were predominantly populated by members of one group.” They found that participation in such group enhances feelings of victimization, and they wisely recommended against participating in such groups. That includes BSU and retreats for Asian-American students, for example.

An earlier survey also showed that membership in such groups hinders academic progress. In that study, published this summer in the Journal of College Student Development, the researchers found that Hispanic students who participated in ethnic groups were “marginalized” from “the customary values of their disciplines.” Put simply, they performed worse in class.

More specifically, the study surveyed STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) students, and the findings “indicated that studying with another student and attending diversity functions negatively affected Latino students’ GPA.” The authors, Darnell Cole and Araceli Espinoza, both of USC, conclude that “Latino students may use these types of interpersonal interactions as a support mechanism in response to feelings of alienation and marginalization experienced within their academic programs.”

Thus, they themselves speculate exactly what Levin and her colleagues found in their more recent study: such groups, because participating in them is a response to feeling alienated and marginalized, probably only make their members feel more alienated and more marginalized. What is worse, Cole and Espinoza find, such associations not only increase feelings of victimization as Levin et al found, but also decreases academic performance.

The authors themselves hesitate to make the logical conclusion that participation in such groups is simply bad for academics. They attribute the decrease in performance to time spent away from studying. But that is hardly convincing. No college student spends all of his time studying, and the Latinos surveyed who did well most likely participated in other extracurriculars, which, unfortunately, the study did not consider. But the negative correlation was specifically associated with diversity functions. Perhaps those students who participated simply spent more hours away from studying than their counterparts, but it’s hard to escape the conclusion that the alienation, marginalization, and victimization that these groups probably encourage leads to poor academic performance.

Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that the study found that “‘negative feedback about academic work’ did not significantly impact students’ performance.”

So much for self-esteem pow-wows and group power. Many studies, the above two included, have demonstrated the schools, both high school and undergraduate, should stop worrying so much about supporting diversity groups and having “feel good” discussions about inclusion and tolerance in orientation. It turns out that hard work and study are what lead to success, and criticism doesn’t impair it while essentially every diversity exercise does.

CMC, of course, has a diversity committee that, among other functions, promotes such diversity exercises. The committee does conduct other activities, including providing grants. “The committee has in the past offered mini-grants to faculty and students for research projects and program funding,” Lisa Cody, head of the diversity committee and associate dean of the faculty at CMC, told the Claremont Independent. “This has included supporting such diverse topics as a faculty member’s research on the baby boom generation and student research on healthcare in developing nations.” Such research can probably be quite valuable.

However, Cody herself has acknowledged that due to budget cuts, they will be cutting back on providing such grants. “Because of budget constraints, the committee has decided to focus on sponsoring events and activities for the CMC community, including our first event of the semester which is to provide refreshments to all who would like to watch the Presidential Inauguration the next day at the Athenaeum,” said Cody. Such events, which include all members of the community, are of course welcome. But the committee would do well to be wary of promoting the kinds of activities which research has now shown to be counterproductive to academic achievement. 

Ilan Wurman CMC ‘10 is editor emeritus of the Claremont Independent.

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