Grand Challenges: Student Readiness to Engage in Efforts to Reduce Racial and Economic Inequality, 2022-05-13

File

Identifier: Grand Challenges: Student Readiness to Engage in Efforts to Reduce Racial and Economic Inequality

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The International Conference on Global Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education took place May 12-13, 2022 in the Gemmell Student Complex at Clarion University of Pennsylvania (USA). This collection contains conference proceedings from the event.

The official conference program contains the following introductory statement:

"In today's globalized economy, educational, and social interactions with international students from different parts of the world can provide U.S. students with 'real educational' and 'career' benefits. International students make campuses and classrooms more vibrant and diverse, plus, it makes economic sense to have international students because for every 7 international students, 3 U.S. jobs are created or supported. About 1.1 million foreign students studied in U.S. in 2018-19 and contributed $44.7 billion to U.S. economy, along with supporting 460,000 jobs. More than 60% students manage funding on their own or their government, which enables schools to offer student aid to other students. Despite the above facts, it is found that many colleges and universities are not able to reach and support the diverse and underrepresented populations of international students, due to lack of awareness and training.

Additionally, despite the economic and social benefits of international students to a university, it is found that international students encounter adjustment difficulties such as culture shock, loneliness, anxiety, discrimination, loss of social support, language barriers, depression, homesickness, and academic adjustments. These factors impact student satisfaction negatively and influence student persistence, retention rates, and graduation rates. International students' satisfaction is linked to their satisfaction with the educational experience, academic success, satisfaction with college including administration, faculty, and campus. According to many studies, the experiences and social integration of international students affects their academic success with the faculty, classroom, and campus community. it is important that faculty members understand the cultural factors that influence the improvement of international students in higher education. it is the responsibility of universities to provide opportunities, resources, and programs to promote academic success for international students. In order to encourage international students' academic success; it is important that faculty members and advisors understand international student needs and prepare to meet students not only academically but also socially and culturally. Thus, this conference can be extremely helpful to fulfill the purpose of global inclusiveness. With an increasingly diverse student population enrolled in education systems, it is imperative that educators and administrators continue to strengthen their skills, knowledge and competencies in diversity, equity, and inclusion to ensure that global education is not only accessible, but designed to support all students.

Therefore, the purpose of this conference is to share ideas on the importance of global diversity and inclusion in higher education sector and to promote learning and training on this critical issue among faculty and students. The goal is to share knowledge, research findings, build community, and collaborate to advance international diversity, equity, and inclusion in global education and cultural exchange."

Dates

2022-05-13

Creator

Rine, Christine (Person)

Extent

From the Collection: 16 Files

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Grand Challenges for Social Work establish a comprehensive and action oriented agenda that positions practitioners as leaders of change in efforts to achieve large-scale differences in defining and strengthening the social safety net of society. This initiative brings opportunities to strengthen our commitment and contributions to addressing complex social problems across fields of practice (Barth, 2018). This sizable undertaking calls for innovative, research-based, and applied macro approaches that require a breadth and depth of professional competency with which social work students must be equipped. The overarching purpose of this study is to explore means to assess, support, and improve social work student preparedness to lead change efforts through the Grand Challenges (Flynn, 2017; Gehlert, Hall, & Palinkas, 2017). Since the Grand Challenges position practitioners as leaders of change, assessing if and how they acquire the knowledge and skills needed to address these goals is fundamental. Thus, this study explores social work student preparedness to address these challenges with particular attention to reducing racial and economic inequality. An instrument titled ‘Student Grand Challenges Skills Assessment’ was developed to capture acquisition of knowledge, values, skills, and meta-competencies needed to engage in social change efforts outlined in the Grand Challenges for Social Work. This self-rating survey was administered to students (n=354) at two points in time within a large MSW program. Items ask respondents to indicate their current level of ability and the extent to which the program’s curriculum and field experience facilitates such. Data specific to ability to reduce racial and economic inequality are explored. Findings indicate significant differences in cumulative scores; items related to racial inequality alone suggest that students were best prepared for these tasks. In fact, they were notably higher than both individual and average scores among all challenges variables. However, those related to economic inequality, without racial dimensions, had the lowest discrete and average scores among all challenges. Although a limited number of scholars have examined the implementation of the Grand Challenges in professional degree programs, it remains unclear if social work education is adequately preparing students to meet them. Regardless of the intersectionality between racial and economic inequality, students reported better preparation to engage in efforts to reduce racial inequality without economic considerations. This suggest that students need increased support in appreciating intersectionality, particularly in field settings. Means to improve students’ ability to appreciate and implement related practices are highlighted.