ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A STUDENT EVALUATION OF MULTICULTURAL AWARENESS AND ATTACHMENT

Abstract

This study explored student perception of attachment and institutional multicultural initiative awareness in relation to student demographics. Participants were 150 undergraduate students in one Northeast Kansas public higher education institution. Students were given a Multicultural Initiative Awareness Survey (MIA), a measure of institutional specific awareness, and the University Attachment Scale (UAS), a measure of school attachment. Results indicated non-male students had significantly higher scores on the MIA scale than male students, indicating non-male students were more aware of institutional multicultural initiatives. Results of eight Fisher’s r to z tests found that the relationship between awareness of multicultural initiatives and university attachment is not moderated by the students’ agent or target status. However, results of a Pearson correlation coefficient determined that multicultural initiative awareness is positively correlated with university attachment.