Assessing inclusiveness and engagement in cultural diversity and global learning: Lessons from NSSE's Topical Modules

Abstract

The assessment of inclusivity and cultural responsiveness and global learning are current imperatives for higher education. The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) added two new modules asking students more about inclusive educational practices and perceptions of their global learning experiences. Despite articulating goals to advance globalization and diversity, institutions have sometimes fallen short in the ways they have enacted these goals. Further, students' perceptions of institutional commitment to these goals vary and this in turn influences their experience. Therefore, it is important to understand the specific ways in which institutions enact their commitments and what influences students' perceptions of these commitments. This session highlights findings from these sets, examines how results vary by student characteristics, what results suggest about global learning practice and inclusivity. Discussion will then focus on campuses' use of these findings to create environments that support all students and to leverage the educational benefits of diversity and internationalization, including for example, to make the case for a more integrated campus diversity plan and a more comprehensive campus climate survey, and to spur further analyses of the impacts of students' perceptions of institution's emphasis on diversity and supportive environment on student success rates (e.g., academic standing, retention).