Chandler Puhy, Nalini Prakash, Clarissa Lacson and Joke Bradt
Increased student diversity in universities across the USA has increased the need for post-secondary educators to develop multicultural teaching competence (MTC). Most studies of…
Abstract
Purpose
Increased student diversity in universities across the USA has increased the need for post-secondary educators to develop multicultural teaching competence (MTC). Most studies of MTC focus on educators teaching grades K-12. The purpose of this study is to determine how faculty members rate themselves in terms of MTC, what multicultural knowledge and skills faculty report and how they integrate these skills into their teaching practice and what barriers exist to developing and implementing MTC. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that impact undergraduate faculty integration of multicultural awareness and attitudes into their teaching practices to enhance student learning.
Design/methodology/approach
A convergent mixed methods study used survey and interview data from undergraduate faculty. Select items from the MTC Inventory (MTCI) and social justice scales (SJS) were administered. Interviews (N = 7) were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. Quantitative and qualitative data were compared to examine convergence and divergence.
Findings
Quantitative results revealed undergraduate faculty’s awareness, knowledge and skills as indicated by percent agreement with items from the MTCI and SJS instruments. Qualitative findings included the following four themes: knowledge building, addressing diversity in the classroom, barriers and challenges, and needs and recommendations. Qualitative data corroborated or explained many of the quantitative results and provided insight into these trends and barriers that impact MTC.
Originality/value
This is the first study of its kind, to our knowledge, that has used a mixed methods research design to examine factors that impact MTCs and associated barriers among a sample of undergraduate faculty across disciplines in one urban university.
Details
Keywords
The aim of this paper is to develop the idea of recognition in organizations, arguing that recognition is a fundamental building block of workplace dignity, and a key element of…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to develop the idea of recognition in organizations, arguing that recognition is a fundamental building block of workplace dignity, and a key element of cultural respect in the workplace.
Design/methodology/approach
As a conceptual paper, the current work approaches discussions of human resource management through the lens of recognition theory, applying ideas of recognition and reification to workplace issues.
Findings
Workplace reification can be observed in diverse areas of human resource management, reflecting a “human capital” view of employees. The paper traces this view in terms of measurement and incentives, as well as individual and group diversity within the workplace.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the literature on care in human resources by briding ideas from management and critical social theory, contributing to the former by couching workplace dignity in terms of social theoretic foundations of recognition, and contributing to the latter by showing how the workplace can form an important site for recognition.