Cultural Diversity In Higher Education Research Articles

Multilingualism and internationalisation in doctoral education: Discourse, positioning and agency

AbstractDespite the growing linguistic and cultural diversity in higher education and research, little is known about how students and researchers use their plurilingual repertoire for writing and publishing. In particular, the roles of the national language(s) and the linguistic repertoire(s) vis-à-vis English as the lingua franca for academic writing and publishing have not been closely examined. This paper explores how doctoral researchers in Luxembourg position themselves in relation to macro-level discourses about language and academic success within their complex lingua-cultural and socio-economic setting. By analysing interview transcripts of two multilingual doctoral researchers from Russia and Germany, I show how in spite of their similar starting situations they negotiate agency to varying degrees. In particular, the prevalence of English and the pressure to publish in international journals seem to make them struggle to use their full linguistic repertoire in writing their theses.

A Seat at the Table: Strategic Engagement in Service Activities for Early-Career Faculty From Underrepresented Groups in the Academy.

Many academic institutions strive to promote more diverse and inclusive campuses for faculty, staff, and students. As part of this effort, these institutions seek to include individuals from historically underrepresented groups (URGs)-such as women, people from racial/ethnic minority populations, persons with disabilities-on committees and in other service activities. However, given the low number of faculty members from URGs at many institutions, these faculty members tend to receive more requests to provide service to the institution or department (e.g., serving on committees, mentoring) than their counterparts from majority groups. Faculty members from URGs, especially early-career faculty, thus risk becoming overburdened with providing service at the expense of working on other scholarly activities required for promotion and tenure (i.e., conducting research, publishing). Although many scholars and others have written about this "minority tax" and its implications for early-career faculty from underrepresented racial/ethnic minority groups, fewer have published about how this tax extends beyond racial/ethnic minorities to women and persons with disabilities. Further, the literature provides scant practical advice on how to avoid overburdening early-career faculty from URGs. Here, a group of multidisciplinary early- and mid-career faculty members from URGs seek to provide their peers from URGs with practical strategies for both evaluating the appropriateness of service requests and declining those that are not a good fit. The authors also provide institutional leaders with actionable recommendations to prevent early-career faculty from URGs from becoming overburdened with service.

Exploring the Situated and Cultural Aspects of Communication in the Professions: Implications for Teaching, Student Employability, and Equity in Higher Education

One of the problematic features of the “skills discourse” is the view that skills are decontextualized bits of knowledge and disposition. Instead, how skills such as communication are defined and used are shaped by cultural, political, and situational factors. In this article, we integrate theory from communication studies, critical discourse analysis, and cognitive anthropology to examine how 96 students, educators, and employers in nursing and engineering define and describe communication skills. Thematic and social network analyses revealed multiple “genres” of communication, their association with specific situations, variation in the structure of situated notions of communication by role group, and cultural models underlying their use. Results suggest new approaches for research and practice regarding teaching and cultural diversity in higher education.

Tools to promote Cultural Diversity in Higher Education - The HE4u2 project

During the last decade Europe has faced an increasing flow of migrants arriving from regions affected by war, conflict or disaster in search of an opportunity and a better life. In 2015, the photograph of the young child dead on the beach shocked thousands of people – finally the World paid attention to what was happening. The forced mobility of all these individuals arriving to Europe compelled our societies to respond and to include these newcomers in our current systems in the best way possible. We are continuing to learn how best to facilitate this process. These changes in our society require attention at different levels - not every professional is prepared or has access to tools that help him/her to deal with it. There is a clear need for the education system to respond, including providing training for teachers working with migrant or ethnic minority students, to reform the delivery of support for these learners, integrating at the same time an intercultural dimension for all learners in the classrooms in an inclusive approach. The HE4u2 project tried to respond to the above context by developing an approach to the intercultural dimension of existing curricula, developing a set of guidelines and a generic CPD course for staff to understand how cultural diversity can enhance their work, and a set of policy recommendations focusing on the curricula and the teachers of adults in HE, who often provide access for disadvantaged groups.

Cultural Diversity in Higher Education Benefits and Challenges

Diversity is a symbol of life everywhere including educational settings. The present study was aimed to find out the benefits and challenges for inclusion of diversity in higher education. It was a qualitative study, and document analysis was used as method of inquiry .The population comprises selected documents related to cultural diversity in higher education. Theoretical sampling was used as sampling method. It was found that there were many advantages of diversity including students satisfaction and inter and intra-cultural acceptance. It was also found that the biggest challenge for diversity its acceptance. The biggest challenges are its acceptance and taking it as a burden. It was recommended that there is a need for acceptance of Diversity at all levels and inclusion of multicultural education in teacher education program.

The Exclusion of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge in the Higher Education: The Case of Traditional Medicine and the Mexican Medical Education

This paper analyzes the level of inclusion of indigenous traditional knowledge about traditional medicine in Mexican medical training, showing an angle of the place that maintains cultural diversity in higher education nationally. Using a quantitative, cross-sectional, exploratory and descriptive design, instruments were applied to survey the 85 institutions registered with the Mexican Association of Colleges and Schools of Medicine (known by its Spanish acronym AMFEM); the data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Of these institutions, only 27.05% include teaching about traditional medicine in 36 subjects related to the topic, 50% of which is optional, 41.66% of short duration, 52.62% with few credit hours and, in some cases, with a pejorative orientation. It is noted that the area of the Mexican medical education reflects a broader political problem of asymmetry and inequality between stakeholders and their knowledge, so that the rejection of indigenous traditional knowledge in the Mexican medical education is only a reflection of the many other places where these groups, and their knowledge, have been excluded before.

Why Interculturalisation? A neo‐Marxist approach to accommodate cultural diversity in higher education

The paper offers a neo‐Marxist framework of interculturalisation to accommodate the increasing cultural diversity in the internationalisation of higher education with specific reference to Chinese students in New Zealand. At present, there are few official strategies in place to provide for the needs of international students in New Zealand universities. Tolerance is often promoted to cope with differences in general, but this notion is not sufficient to embrace and encourage cultural diversity in higher education. The paper reviews neoliberal and neo‐Marxist perspectives of interculturalism/interculturalisation. In order to move beyond mere tolerance of cultural diversity, which is seen as a problem to be overcome, the paper concludes that a national and institutional policy for internationalisation in higher education should be underpinned by neo‐Marxist principles of interculturalism.

‘Sit in the corner and don’t eat the crayons’: postgraduates with dyslexia and the dominant ‘lexic’ discourse

The lack of cultural diversity in higher education is recognised by policy objectives and a current focus on the development of widening participation for a range of students, including those with disabilities. Amongst this group are those with dyslexia who might previously have been disenfranchised from formal education and under‐represented within it. This paper explores the personal narratives and learner histories of six postgraduates and academics with dyslexia from their earliest memories of learning to their present experiences. It examines how literacy, as a dominant form of discourse, has defined concepts of academic ability resulting in the early exclusion of these learners from formal education. It is argued that this dominant discourse can be challenged by non‐authorised, informal learning resulting in stories of resistance.

Beyond the Story Itself: Narrative Inquiry and Autoethnography in Intercultural Research in Higher Education

STENHOUSE's (1981) differentiation between research on education and research in education contributed much to the development of practitioner research in educational settings, yet exemplars of university teachers researching their own practice are rare. Even rarer, in spite of pleas from international for reciprocal dialogue with local academics and students to recognise the value of many different realities and knowledges (KOEHNE, 2006), are practitioners who reflect critically on the personal and professional impact of cultural diversity in higher education (BRUNNER, 2006). In this article, I critique how a narrative inquiry paradigm supported and challenged me to explore different realities and knowledges about learning and teaching in a UK higher education context in my doctoral research with postgraduate students from many different cultures. Practitioner research is, inevitably, an iterative process—research and practice are inextricably linked and continuously evolving. Thus, the autoethnographic exploration of my own practice, my subject positions, social locations, interpretations, and personal experiences continue to be examined through the refracted medium of narrators' voices (CHASE, 2005, p.666), glimpses of which will be seen as the article unfolds. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0901308

Instilling the Dream of Higher Education in African American Women at a Southern HBCU

This article examines sociological variables associated with 160 Black university women to learn what factors propelled them to a university career. The findings of this study suggest that mothers with a university degree or some collegiate exposure were instrumental in influencing their daughters to attend college, in spite of their socioeconomic status. Cultural diversity in higher education may only be achieved when we learn the source of motivation and inspiration for young minority women and replicate those secret ingredients.

Cultural Diversity in Higher Education (Australia): International Sudents from Asia

Cultural Diversity in Higher Education (Australia): International Sudents from Asia

Write on or write off? An exploration of Asian international students’ approaches to essay writing at an Australian university

This paper investigates the approaches taken to essay writing by five Asian international students at an Australian university. Analysis of their in‐depth interviews reveals links between their perceptions of learning, their perceptions of essay writing, their motivation for completing the task, and their awareness of the structural conventions of the essay as a genre. These links are apparent, irrespective of whether the students were taking a deep or a surface approach to the task. In addition, analysis of the interviews shows that the students who were taking a deep approach to writing had developed high levels of cross‐cultural awareness, specifically in relation to the learning cultures, and the discursive structures of academic writing in Australia and their home country. Implications for the practice of teaching academic writing within the context of increasing cultural diversity in higher education are discussed.

Responding to Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in Higher Education

Responding to Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in Higher Education

Afrocentricity

The concept of cultural diversity in higher education in the United States has been significantly restricted. Discussions and debates have focused primarily on enhancing the presence of students and faculty of color, with a special emphasis on recruitment and retention (Blackwell, 1987, 1988; Carter & Wilson, 1994; Epps, 1989; Oliver & Brown, 1988; Pettigrew, 1991). In other words, cultural diversity has been conceptualized primarily as the diversification of racial characteristics of students and faculty. A more important dimension of cultural diversity that has received scant attention is the diversification of the philosophical foundation of higher education. Although there appears to be considerable diversity in the knowledge base of higher education in the United States, the philosophical underpinnings of higher education are shaped primarily by one dominant worldview. That is, to the extent that a society's institutions of higher education reflect the predominant values found in that society, it is reasonable to assume that the predominant values undergirding the philosophical foundation of higher education in the United States are Eurocentric in nature. Eurocentric means that these values emanate exclusively from a European-American view of the world. Thus, by being Eurocentric, the philosophical base of higher education in the United States has become ethnocentric and uninclusive. This has resulted in the omission of worldviews of other ethnic groups found in the United States and, more specifically, in institutions of higher education. To diversify the philosophical foundation of higher education, alternative worldview or philosophical models' need to be consid-

Increasing minorities in higher education in nursing: faculty consultation as a strategy.

This article describes some of the issues surrounding cultural diversity in higher education in nursing. The representation of minority faculty in higher education in general, and in nursing education in particular, is inadequate to support the needs of students, faculties, and the institutions. Examples of common concerns and dilemmas faced by minority faculty demonstrate the urgent need for change to enhance the academic environment for minorities. Because the numbers of minority faculty in higher education are unlikely to change substantially within the next few years, the authors present faculty consultation as a strategy to support the cultural diversity mission of the college.

The Role of Student Affairs in Fostering Cultural Diversity in Higher Education

(1991). The Role of Student Affairs in Fostering Cultural Diversity in Higher Education. NASPA Journal: Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 121-128.

Nurturing Cultural Diversity in Higher Education: A Critical Review of Selected Models

Canadian universities and colleges are becoming increasingly ethnoculturally diverse. Two major social forces have contributed to this change: immigration and increasing enrolment of international students. Minority and international students bring their values, language, culture and educational background to our campuses, to add to and enrich our educational environments. To build an inclusive education, we have the ethical and educational responsibility to embrace such difference and diversity and to integrate it into all aspects of university life, including teaching and learning. However, in our daily encounter with cultural diversity we still confront many challenges, such as the colourblind and the “difference as deficit” perspectives, partially resulting from a lack of knowledge and readiness to approach diversity. The goal of this article is to bridge this gap by examining three selected models commonly used to nurture cultural diversity in higher education: the intercultural education model, the multicultural education model, and the anti-racist education model. It is hoped that this discussion will benefi t the university community in Canada as well as in other countries where diversity prevails.
 Du fait de l’immigration et de l’augmentation du nombre d’étudiantes et d’étudiants internationaux, les universités et collèges du Canada sont de plus en plus diversifi és sur le plan ethnoculturel. Les étudiantes et étudiants issus des minorités ethniques ainsi que d’autres pays apportent avec eux leurs valeurs, langues et cultures, ce qui enrichit d’autant le milieu éducatif. Il est de notre responsabilité à la fois morale et éducative, si nous voulons créer un environnement inclusif, d’intégrer ces différences et cette diversité dans tous les aspects de la vie universitaire, y compris l’enseignement et l’apprentissage. Toutefois, dans nos rencontres quotidiennes avec la diversité culturelle, nous sommes confrontés à plusieurs défi s, notamment les modèles dits « aveugles à la couleur » et la perception de « la différence comme défi cit ». Ces perspectives résultent en partie d’un manque de connaissances et d’attitudes peu disposées à accueillir la diversité culturelle. Le but de cet article est de répondre à ces défi s en examinant trois modèles fréquemment employés pour encourager la diversité culturelle dans l’enseignement supérieur : l’éducation interculturelle, l’éducation multiculturelle et l’éducation anti-raciste. Nous espérons que cette discussion aura des effets positifs pour la communauté universitaire du Canada et d’autres pays marqués par la diversité.