Do Diversity Experiences Help College Students Become More Civically Minded? Applying Banks’ Multicultural Education Framework

Abstract

In this longitudinal, single institution study, we utilized Banks’ five dimensions of multicultural education framework to examine whether and to what extent involvement in various diversity experiences helped students become more civically minded. The findings suggested that greater involvement in service learning, multicultural courses, interracial interactions, racial awareness workshops, student-faculty interactions, and campus racial harmony significantly and positively contributed to civic mindedness. Asian students, when compared to their White counterparts, were more likely to report growth in civic mindedness after four years of college. We discuss scholarly and practical implications of the study results at the end.