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Effects of multicultural education on student engagement in low- and high-concentration classrooms: the mediating role of student relationships

• Original Paper
• Open access
• Published: 17 March 2023
• Volume 26 , pages 951–975, ( 2023 )

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• Ceren S. Abacioglu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9931-1401 1 ,
• Sacha Epskamp 2 ,
• Agneta H. Fischer 1 &
• Monique Volman 3  

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Having positive and meaningful social connections is one of the basic psychological needs of students. The satisfaction of this need is directly related to students’ engagement—a robust predictor of educational achievement. However, schools continue to be sites of interethnic tension and the educational achievement of ethnically-minoritized students still lags behind that of their ethnic majority peers. The goal of the present study was to provide a quantitative account of the current segregated learning environments in terms of multicultural curriculum and instruction, as well as their possible impact on student outcomes that can mitigate these challenges. Drawing upon Self-Determination Theory, we investigated the extent to which the use of multicultural practices can improve students’ engagement and whether this relationship is mediated by students’ peer relationships. With data from 34 upper primary school classroom teachers and their 708 students, our multigroup analysis using structural equation modeling indicated that, in classrooms with a low (compared with high) minoritized student concentration, peer relationships can mediate the positive as well as negative effects of different dimensions of multicultural education on student engagement.

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Introduction

Having positive and meaningful social connections (i.e., relatedness ) is one of the basic psychological needs of students. The satisfaction of this need is directly related to students’ intrinsic motivation and engagement—a strong predictor of positive academic outcomes (see Self-Determination Theory, SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985 ). Present educational institutions, however, are struggling to create learning environments in which all students experience equal levels of opportunities, representation, and belongingness (Huijnk et al., 2016 ). Interethnic tensions between students and their peers and teachers, and structural barriers such as mainstream education that do not relate to minoritized students’ personal experiences and frames of reference (Stevens et al., 2017a , b ), seem to be at the core of this challenge.

These challenges are especially costly for the minoritized students that are more disadvantaged in the societal ethnic hierarchy (Thijssen et al., 2021 ). They indicate feeling less and less at home, experiencing high levels of discrimination and low levels of acceptance, and feeling more pessimistic about having equal representation and opportunities in the Netherlands over the last decade, where the current study was conducted (Huijnk et al., 2016 ). Accordingly, they perform lower on academic indicators such as standardized test scores at the end of primary school and higher drop-out rates compared with their majority group peers (CBS, 2020 ).

One potential way to tackle this challenge is to incorporate into education more multicultural practices that have the potential to benefit all students. These practices are designed to mitigate inequality in education opportunities and improve intergroup relationships (Banks, 1995 ). Despite an increased interest in multicultural classrooms, it is noteworthy that very little is empirically known about the influence of different aspects of multicultural practices on the desired student outcomes. Yet, the growing demand for diversity research indicates a necessity to provide more-detailed accounts of learning environments in how they accommodate the diversity of their students and what this means for students’ social and academic functioning (Alt, 2017 ).

Drawing upon SDT, the current study examined whether different aspects of multicultural practices can be useful in increasing students’ engagement—an important predictor of positive academic outcomes (Fredricks et al., 2019 ), through its influence on students’ peer relationships and hence relatedness . As Dutch schools are highly segregated along ethnic lines (Huilla et al., 2022 ), we tested the proposed relationships in learning environments that afford different conditions for peer relationships, namely, classrooms with low and high ethnically-minoritized student concentrations.

The learning environment

The Social Identity Approach (Abrams & Hogg, 1990 ; Reicher et al., 2010 ), which includes the Social Identity and Self-Categorization Theories (Tajfel & Turner, 1979 ; Turner et al., 1987 ), contends that children learn about socially-significant group distinctions and define themselves and others in terms of their group memberships from an early age. This act of self-categorization into a group offers familiarity and pertinent cultural information about oneself and one’s group and serves as the starting point for understanding intergroup dynamics. The resulting ‘us’ (the ingroup) and ‘them’ (the outgroup) division is a significant source of influence on children’s attitudes and behavior toward their ingroup and outgroup (Liberman et al., 2017 ; Rhodes & Baron, 2019 ), and can result in prejudices between the majority and minoritized groups so that the ingroup is favored and outgroup members are occasionally disliked and rejected.

The learning environment is one element that can augment or counteract prejudice between groups. Cortés ( 2000 ) calls the sociocultural elements that affect and mould students’ attitudes toward various ethnic and racial groups the ‘societal curriculum’. Indeed, through both a manifest and a hidden curriculum, learning environments frequently promote and uphold the unfavorable stereotypes about ethnic groups that young people learn about in the wider world.

Lesson plans, textbooks, bulletin boards, curriculum guides, and other observable environmental elements make up the manifest curriculum . These can make remarks about the school's beliefs regarding ethnic diversity because the ethnic groups that appear in textbooks and other instructional materials tell students which groups the school thinks are significant or unimportant. The curriculum that all students acquire, but no teacher openly teaches, is known as the hidden curriculum . This curriculum expresses many of the important values of the school regarding cultural diversity through the teacher–student interactions, learning characteristics, language, motivational systems, and culture that are fostered by the school (Banks, 2004a , 2004b ).

In Dutch educational institutions, the curriculum, materials, and instruction tend to be primarily from the perspective of the dominant group, resulting in less relatable educational content and pedagogical practices that do not support ‘alternative’ ways of learning. As a result, minoritized groups’ histories and cultures are usually added as a mere side note to the regular curriculum and mentioning of social biases is kept to a minimum, thereby perpetuating the acceptance of existing inequalities and not providing equitable opportunities for development.

For instance, when Weiner ( 2018 ) looked at the representation of immigrants, multiculturalism, and tolerance in all Dutch primary school history textbooks released between 1980 and 2011, 81.3 percent of the 203 textbooks, workbooks, and activity books in 18 series produced since 1980 completely exclude minoritized cultures and identities. When they are discussed in textbooks, they are separated from the rest of Dutch society and placed in their own distinct sections. They are portrayed as culturally alien outsiders from underdeveloped, impoverished, and violent cultures who create issues for the Dutch community that kindly welcomes them.

These biases, in addition, are often mirrored in interpersonal interactions between students and teachers, and between peers (Thijs & Verkuyten, 2014 ). Weiner ( 2016 ) spent two days a week for three months in a diverse eighth group (equal to the sixth grade in the US) classroom in Amsterdam North, a district chosen for its ethnic and racial variety and relative socioeconomic homogeneity. According to Weiner's ( 2016 ) research, the White teacher reified cultural norms and discourses prevalent in Dutch culture, and positioned Dutch students without a migration background as superior and normative, even when they engaged in disruptive activities while placing students with a migration background in an inferior position in the country's ethnic and racial hierarchy.

Peer relationships and student engagement

Such cultural discontinuity between majority and minoritized students can result in difficulties considering the experiences and perspectives of the non-dominant group members (Dovidio et al., 2017 ) or name-calling from peers and exclusion from peer groups (Huijnk et al., 2016 ; Thijs & Verkuyten, 2014 ). Against this background, children rarely have friendships and casual contact with peers of a different ethnic background in multicultural Dutch classrooms (de Bruijn et al., 2020 ; Fortuin et al., 2014 ).

SDT posits that learning environments that feature conditions that satisfy students’ feelings of relatedness can stimulate greater student engagement—the extent to which a student is actively involved in learning activities (Skinner et al., 2016 ). Lower levels of feelings of relatedness, on the other hand, can inhibit learning motivation and engagement (Fredricks et al., 2019 ), which is manifested in multiple dimensions.

The behavioral dimension of engagement includes students’ efforts in initiating learning activities, and attention, concentration, persistence, and involvement during these activities. The emotional dimension of engagement includes enthusiasm, interest, enjoyment, and satisfaction states during learning activities. The cognitive dimension of engagement includes goal strivings, mastery orientation, self-regulation, and the use of coping strategies preceding and during learning activities. Some studies do not distinguish between cognitive and emotive components. Despite the fact that we frequently distinguish ‘rational thought’ from ‘emotion,’ both factors work together to influence our actions. Thus, some researchers combine the notions into a single term known as ‘cognitive-affective states’ rather than separating them (Baker et al., 2010 ). On a similar account, to the best of our knowledge, the measures that assess students’ engagement in primary-school-aged children do not separate the emotional and cognitive dimensions.

Previous research shows that the satisfaction of basic psychological needs positively influences different dimensions of student engagement to different extents (Dincer et al., 2019 ). These dimensions capture related but independently emerging factors that influence a student's active involvement in school (Salmela‐Aro et al., 2021 ), and they can have varying positive effects on academic outcomes based on the dimension (Lei et al., 2018 ). Therefore, we focused on the emotional and behavioral aspects of engagement separately, but without an isolated cognitive dimension, and consider multicultural education as a tool to improve students’ engagement through its influence on students’ peer relationships, hence relatedness.

• Multicultural education

Concerned with critically examining inequitable structures, providing students with equal opportunities, understanding cultural diversity, and incorporating multiple perspectives into education (Nieto, 2004 ), multicultural education offers a set of practices that are designed to enhance intergroup relations and reach similar educational achievement levels by considering the needs of students from all backgrounds (Klein, 2012 ). Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985 ; Reeve, 2002 ) connects these two outcomes together through the relationship between satisfaction of the basic psychological need for relatedness and student engagement. We, therefore, examine the influence of multicultural education on students’ peer relationships (as a proxy to relatedness) and engagement using the SDT framework.

Banks ( 2004a , 2004b ) provides a detailed conceptualization of multicultural education that includes five distinct but highly interrelated dimensions. We used these dimensions to investigate the relationships between multicultural education, peer relationships, and engagement. In his conceptualization, teachers should employ content integration from a variety of cultures in what they teach, reflecting and representing the diversity of their students through texts, histories, values, beliefs, and varying perspectives from different cultures. Moreover, teachers should increase their students’ awareness of the knowledge construction process and help students to be critical about who the knowledge serves and from whose perspective it was constructed (e.g., cultural references, biases). Next, teachers should aim for prejudice reduction by modifying their students’ attitudes through teaching methods, materials, and dialogue to decrease negative and improve positive intergroup relations by actively counteracting social biases (i.e., prejudice, stereotyping, discrimination). Further, teachers should aim for an empowering school culture and social structure , by examining disproportionality in attendance and achievement between groups in various aspects of school (e.g., to giftedness programs). Lastly, teachers should strive for equity pedagogy (i.e., equity in how they teach, by modifying their teaching to include various teaching and assessment styles to facilitate the learning and academic achievement of all students). This requires avoiding standardized, one-size-fits-all approaches to teaching and learning, relating content to students’ lives, and creating opportunities for them to engage with learning in various forms (e.g., cooperative learning, problem-based learning, role-playing, simulations).

Therefore, multicultural education, through promoting student representation and involvement in the educational curriculum, instruction, and materials, improves students’ abilities to understand and interpret the perspectives, worldviews, frames of references, and values and behaviors that are normative to ethnic and racial groups other than their own (Banks, 2004a , 2004b ). It integrates content from a variety of cultures into instruction and provides opportunities to critically examine content from a variety of perspectives. Thereby, it provides students with an opportunity to express their voices and makes teaching relevant and meaningful for all students (Banks, 2004a , 2004b ).

Such teaching activities are more likely to be engaging for students because they acknowledge students’ experiences and emotions related to a topic (Skinner et al., 2016 ). They tend to include content that deals with issues and problems that relate to students’ worlds, including their norms, values, identities, and struggles (Banks, 2004a , 2004b ; Gay, 2013 ). A recent path analysis study, conducted with 110 ethnically-minoritized middle-school students from the United States, for instance, examined whether culturally-responsive teaching and teacher expectations had positive associations with Latinx students’ academic outcomes (Garcia & Chun, 2016 ). They found that, when teachers try to find out what students find interesting and what they already know, build on that knowledge and use it to exemplify new teaching content (i.e., content integration ) by using various teaching techniques (i.e., equity pedagogy ), and have high expectations of their students, they are more likely to help students to engage in learning and to have more positive beliefs about their achievement outcomes.

Moreover, students infer whose culture and history are worth studying and whose experiences are worth mentioning from the content studied in their classrooms. When the content includes multiple voices and perspectives as to how life can be experienced and understood, it not only makes the content more relevant for more students but also promotes positive ethnic identity and gives ‘permission’ to students to be their authentic selves and to accept each other as they are (Piper, 2019 ).

For instance, in a study conducted with children between the age of 6 and 11 years (Hughes et al., 2007 ), researchers compared pretest and posttest results of prejudiced attitudes towards African Americans in an experimental and in a control group. The experimental group learned about acclaimed African American leaders, together with discussion of examples of their experiences with discrimination (i.e., prejudice reduction ). In contrast, the control group only received biographical information about the leaders without any discussions on racism. Compared with the control group, European American children in the experimental group showed lower degrees of prejudice towards African Americans, and both African American and European American children displayed greater valuing of ‘interracial’ fairness.

Multicultural education not only has the potential to improve students’ engagement through offering content that is relevant to students’ lives, but it also has the potential to increase student engagement through improved understanding, positive peer relationships, and thus improved feelings of relatedness.

(Un)Equal status environments

It is evident from previous research that the learning environment can help students to become less prejudiced and acquire more democratic attitudes, values, and behaviours—fostering dialogue about issues related to prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination, and creating an appreciation of differences as a resource for social and academic development (Banks, 2004a , 2004b ).

However, decades of research on Intergroup Contact Theory (Allport, 1954 ; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006 ) suggests that instruction must be designed especially for this purpose and must take place in a learning environment that has several identifiable characteristics, including equal status between groups. Similarly, the Social Identity Approach (Abrams & Hogg, 1990 ; Reicher et al., 2010 ) stresses that psychological processes are influenced by the local and larger sociocultural context rather than general ingroup favouritism (Verkuyten, 2022 ).

Thus, depending on the characteristics of the learning environment, one’s group membership can become salient and relevant. Importantly, in situations in which the perceived status of the groups is unequal, which can be influenced both by the ethnic group hierarchies and the ethnic composition of the environment (Olonisakin, 2021 ; Radke et al., 2017 ), disadvantaged groups might try to change the status quo, whereas dominant groups might legitimize inequality in order to defend their position as the dominant group (Pehrson et al., 2017 ). Evidence suggests that disadvantaged groups could attempt to alter unstable status through higher levels of ingroup favouritism in order to make up for perceived disparity and/or to compete for future status and attain equality with the dominant outgroup (Rubin et al., 2014 ). Similarly, in environments where the dominant group members are in the numerical majority, they can develop in-group favoritism if their perceived representativeness of the larger social group is challenged (Mummendey & Wenzel, 1999 ; Steffens et al., 2017 ; Wenzel et al., 2007 ) by, for example, bringing out the diversity of perspectives and values. In such environments, dominant group members are more likely to see themselves as highly representative of the larger group (e.g., Dutch people in the Netherlands) compared with environments in which they are likely to see themselves as just another ethnic group among many others and therefore are in the numerical minority (e.g., Dutch people in Europe).

We investigated the role of multicultural education practices on students’ peer relationships and engagement in learning environments that differ in their conduciveness to equal status based on the demographic complexion of the classrooms. In doing so, we examined the role of both the pedagogical elements of the learning environment (i.e., how hidden and manifest curricula are enacted) and the structural elements of the learning environment (i.e., the degree to which the classrooms afford contact between students from different backgrounds) in students’ social and academic functioning. Specifically, in the Netherlands, schools are segregated along ethnic lines. Schools where 70% or more children come from migrant backgrounds, and schools where 70% or more children have no migration history, are accepted as highly concentrated with minoritized and majority group students, respectively (Wielzen & van Dijk-Groeneboer, 2018 ). In the current study, therefore, we defined classrooms with ethnically minoritized student concentration equal to or less than 30% as low-concentration, 30–70% as mixed , and 70% or higher as high-concentration classrooms. To reach comparable sample sizes, we combined the mixed and high -concentration classrooms.

Current study

Our hypothesized model depicted in Fig.  1 is tested low- and high-concentration classrooms. It presents both a direct relationship between multicultural practices and student engagement because we can expect multicultural education to provide education that connects to students’ lives and hence is more relevant and engaging, and an indirect relationship that is mediated by students’ peer relationships (relatedness) as we can expect multicultural education to improve understanding and rapport between members of different groups.

Structural equation models. Note. The solid lines represent the significant relationships that vary in thickness depending on their strength. The standardized regression coefficients of the significant relationships are indicated in the figures. The observed indicators for the latent student variables are omitted from the graph for clarity. * =  p  < .05, ** =  p  < .01

A body of student- and teacher-level control variables also was incorporated into our models. Previous research has shown a normative steady decline in engagement throughout school years, and more so for male students (Wigfield et al., 2015 ). Moreover, multicultural education has been suggested as having positive effects on majority and minoritized students through varying mechanisms (Abacioglu et al., 2019 ). However, we did not investigate these mechanisms in the scope of our study. Therefore, student-level control variables included students, age, gender, and ethnic background.

Moreover, teachers from minoritized backgrounds themselves have been suggested to relate to the cultural discontinuity that students might be experiencing and thus practise multicultural education more frequently (Rychly & Graves, 2012 ) and effectively (Bingham & Okagaki, 2012 ). Similarly, because women have been found to be more sensitive to people’s distress (Christov-Moore et al., 2014 ), female teachers might be more vigilant about challenges that students experience and might be more likely to engage in practices such as prejudice reduction (Banks, 2004a , 2004b ). Additionally, teachers might learn more about different cultures, value differences in backgrounds, and develop more-positive interethnic and intercultural attitudes with increasing years of teaching experience and exposure to different cultures (Dovidio et al., 2017 ). Lastly, there is a distinction made between public and so-called ‘denominational’ schools in the Netherlands. Although both types of schools are publicly funded, the latter teach on the basis of religion, a specific philosophy or vision of education, whereas the former do not, which could affect the degree to which teachers employ multicultural practices. Therefore, we included teachers’ gender, ethnicity, teaching experience, and whether they teach in public or denominational schools as teacher-level control variables in our models.

Participants

Participants were recruited from schools that collaborate with the Primary Teacher Education Program of [removed for peer review]. In total, data were gathered from 34 upper primary school classroom teachers and their 708 students. We removed one student for missing more than 75% of the responses. Footnote 1 The remaining sample included teachers with a mean age of 38.87 ( SD = 11.20), who were predominantly female (64%) and without a migration history (82.7%) based on whether either of their parents had a migration history, or who identified with an ethnic identity other than or in addition to Dutch. Teachers had an average of 12.20 years of teaching experience ( SD = 9.36). Additionally, about half of the teachers were appointed in denominational schools (47.9%).

Participating students’ ages ranged from 7–13 ( M age  = 10.66, SD  = 1.11). About half of the students were female (52.6%). Based on whether either of their parents had a migration history, or whether they identified with an ethnic identity other than or in addition to Dutch, about 45% of students were identified as belonging to a group with a migration history.

Teacher-level measures

Teachers responded to 13 statements on a 5-point Likert-type scale, about their practices in student assessment, curriculum and instruction, classroom management, and cultural enrichment. The items were based on the Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy Scale (Siwatu, 2007 ), but were shortened and adapted to measure practices in the classrooms. The scale has been successfully used in previous research (e.g., Abacioglu et al., 2020 ). It is referred to as the Culturally Responsive Teaching Scale (CRTS; α = 0.81) from hereon. An example item from the survey is “I make use of examples that are relatable for students from culturally different backgrounds” (1 = ‘never’, 5 = ‘always’).

Some items were excluded from the original 40-item scale before data collection because of the following reasons: they did not focus on cultural aspects of teaching and instruction (e.g., “I communicate with parents regarding the progress of their child’s education”), they were too subject-specific, or they were too similar to other items. A previous study provided us with data from the full Culturally Responsive Teaching Scale that was adapted to measure teacher practices (Abacioglu et al., 2020 ). We therefore could check with a different sample about whether excluding these items would have a big impact on the reliability of the scale. Cronbach’s alpha for that sample was 0.90 before and 0.88 after the item reduction. Therefore, we felt confident to exclude these items from the scale.

CRTS items corresponded to only three out of five multicultural education dimensions delineated by Banks ( 2004a , 2004b ). We used these categories to formulate the multicultural education variables that we used in our structural equation models Footnote 2 : teachers’ content integration (α = 0.62), prejudice reduction (α = 0.61), and equity pedagogy (α = 0.76).

Demographics

Teachers reported on the proportion of ethnically minoritized students in their classrooms, whether their school is a denominational school, their own age, gender, ethnic background, and years of teaching experience in years.

Student-level measures

• Peer relationships

A revised version of the Well-being in Relation to Fellow Students questionnaire (Peetsma et al., 2001 ) was used to assess students’ peer relations. It previously was used in a large-scale Dutch research mapping school careers of students from primary until the end of secondary school (COOL 5−18 ; Driessen et al., 2009 ). The original scale of 6 items was combined with 4 items from the Social Integration in the Class questionnaire from Van Damme et al., ( 2002 ). Students responded to 10 statements about (not) getting along with their peers in the classroom (1 = ‘not correct at all’, 5 = ‘very correct’). A sample item includes “In my class, I sometimes feel alone” (see Supplementary Materials for the items). Cronbach’s alpha for the combined scale was 0.86.

• Student engagement

Students responded to 12 statements on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 = ‘no, that is not true’, 5 = ‘yes, that is true’) about their engagement in the classroom. Items were based on the Engagement Versus Disaffection with Learning Scale (Skinner et al., 2008 ) and have been successfully used in previous research (e.g., Abacioglu et al., 2019b ). Half of the statements measure students’ attention, effort, and persistence in initiating and participating in learning activities, reflecting their Behavioral Engagement (α = 0.77). The other half measure students’ motivated participation during learning activities, reflecting their Emotional Engagement (α = 0.65). Examples of items from the subscales are “I try hard to do well in school” and “I enjoy learning new things in class”, respectively. While the reliability of the Emotional Engagement subscale was below optimal, the construct showed good model fit when tested with confirmatory factor analysis (detailed in Supplementary Materials).

Students reported their age, gender, and ethnic backgrounds. Students were assigned to the ethnically minoritized group if they reported either of their parents as having a migration history or if they identified with an ethnic identity other than or in addition to Dutch; the rest of the students were categorized as the ethnic majority group.

Data analysis

Structural equation modeling (SEM) has the advantage of testing complicated mediation models in a single analysis, simultaneously allowing multiple independent and outcome variables (Gunzler et al., 2013 ). Therefore, we chose to use SEM to investigate our data. We validated our latent constructs, namely, the multicultural education factors that we suggested for the Culturally Responsive Teaching Scale items, and the peer relationships and student engagement factors using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), which is detailed in the Supplementary Materials. After CFA, we continued to define our structural model and examined its fit across two groups by looking at measurement invariance and conducting a multigroup analysis. We used the statistical software R (RStudio Version 1.2.1335) package lavaan version 0.6–5 (Rosseel, 2012 ) to specify, estimate, and analyze our models.

Structural equation modeling

Based on the CFA results, we expanded the measurement models by specifying the relationships between the latent variables (i.e., formed the structural model), by creating a non-saturated model, using sum scores for the multicultural education factors (content integration, prejudice reduction, and equity pedagogy) and reflective latent factors for the rest of the variables: student peer relationships, and behavioral and emotional engagement.

We initially planned on using multilevel structural equation modeling to account for the hierarchical nature of our data. To find support for a multilevel approach, we examined the proportion of variance in the student-level variables that was explained by the grouping variable (i.e., teacher). We calculated the ratio of group-level error variance to the total error variance (Intraclass Correlation Coefficients; ICC1) for each item of the latent student-level factors, using the residual data set, which ranged between 0 to 0.006. Given the small values, we decided to use a simpler non-multilevel approach, coupled with bootstrapped standard errors to give us more robust results because of increased power.

At this stage of our analyses, control variables should be included in the structural model as observed variables, and their relationships to our main variables should be defined. We identified the following variables: teachers’ years of teaching, ethnic backgrounds and gender, and whether they are appointed in a denominational school; and students’ ethnic background, age, and gender. Note that student ethnic background could also be considered as a moderator between teacher multicultural education factors, peer relationships, and emotional and behavioral engagement. However, the correlations for ethnic background (using mean scores) indicated no outstanding differences in the strength of the relationships for students with and without a migration history. Therefore, this variable was not considered a moderator.

Including all of these variables in our analyses would lower our power drastically, especially because we wanted to test our model in two independent samples (further detailed below). To overcome this limitation, we used single imputation to deal with missing data (2.2% of the data), using predictive mean matching based on available cases for each variable that is the default method of the mice package (van Buuren & Groothuis-Oudshoorn, 2011 ) in R. Moreover, we used multiple regression analysis to control for our covariates before running the main analysis. This process entails running regression analyses to predict the main variables of interest using control variables and taking the residuals from these predictions to create residual variables. This is a common method that is used to estimate, simplify, and enhance the utility of primary structural model (Asparouhov & Muthén, 2022 ). This allowed higher statistical power because we did not enter the covariates into the structural equation models as separate variables and estimated lower number of parameters. We use the resulting data set from here onwards.

Defining the comparison groups

In line with the accepted categorization of schools in the Netherlands, schools with 70% or more children from migrant backgrounds and schools with 70% or more children with no migration history are considered to be highly concentrated with minoritized and majority group students, respectively (Wielzen & van Dijk-Groeneboer, 2018 ). Therefore, we defined classrooms with ethnically minoritized student concentration equal to or less than 30% as low concentration (46% of the sample), 30–70% as mixed (13.8% of the sample), and 70% or higher as high concentration classrooms (40.2% of the sample). The concentration of classrooms was defined based on students’ reports of their ethnic background. However, because statistical procedures compare two groups at a time, and because the mixed group was comprised of only 13.8% of the sample whereas the other two groups were about three times its size, we merged the mixed and high-concentration classrooms into one group. The analyses should be interpreted because 74.5% of the combined group had an ethnically minoritized student concentration of 70% or higher. The groups that we compare are referred to as Low Concentration and High Concentration groups from here on. Correlation matrices of the Low and High Concentration groups used in SEM can be found in Supplementary Materials.

Measurement invariance

Our specified baseline model is depicted in Fig.  1 to be tested for measurement invariance between the low- and high-concentration groups. We followed the multistep approach during which we gradually introduced constraints to the baseline model for 1) factor loadings, 2) factor loadings and intercepts, and 3) factor loadings, intercepts, and residuals, respectively, to be equal across the two groups. Each model was compared with the previous one to decide on the best-fitting model. The results of model comparisons are shown in Table 1 . A significant χ 2 Diff indicates that the models differ significantly, with smaller AIC, BIC, and χ 2 values indicating a better fit, and a higher df indicates fewer parameters in a model and hence a more parsimonious one . The latent variables were allowed to covary, with the first item of each latent variable being constrained to have a factor loading of 1 for scaling purposes.

Model 1 was significantly different from the baseline model based on the significant χ 2 Diff test statistic , more parsimonious based on the df, and a better fit based on BIC but not AIC. χ 2 Diff between Model 1 and 2 was not significant. However, both AIC and BIC values indicated that Model 2 fits better than Model 1 and is more parsimonious based on the df . Model 3 was significantly different from Model 2 based on the significant χ 2 Diff test statistic , more parsimonious based on the df, and a better fit based on BIC but not on AIC. We chose to further investigate the most constrained model, namely, Model 3, because it featured the lowest BIC, comparable AIC to other models, and was the most parsimonious. Our decision means that we constrained all model parameters to be equal between the low- and high-concentration groups, except for regression coefficients.

Multigroup analysis

The multigroup analysis allows testing whether groups show significant differences in their coefficient estimates. We used this analysis to test our proposition that the relationships between multicultural education, peer relationships, and student engagement can change as a function of classroom composition.

We specified Model 4 to define equal regression coefficients between the two groups, in addition to Model 3 constraining factor loadings, intercepts, and residuals.

The model without regression equality constrains (Model 3) fit the data significantly better than the model with constrains (Model 4) according to the Chi Square Test statistic, χ 2 (11) = 32.823, p  < 0.001, and the AIC value, but not the BIC value. Therefore, there is some evidence to suggest differences between groups. We thus investigated the differing relationships between our main variables.

Descriptive statistics

We used latent variables and sum scores in our structural models. For more comparable statistics, we calculated average mean scores for each variable for descriptive statistics. The results are presented in Table 2 for each concentration group and are reported separately for majority and minoritized students when applicable.

Teachers’ mean Content Integration ( t (19.443) = -0.14, p  > 0.05), mean Prejudice Reduction ( t (31) = -0.09, p  > 0.05), and mean Equity Pedagogy ( t (19.601) = -0.35, p  > 0.05) did not significantly differ between Low and High Concentration groups. The majority group students’ Behavioral Engagement was significantly higher than that of the minoritized students in the High Concentration group, t (256.377) = 2.141, p  < 0.05.

Finally, compared with the Low Concentration group, students in the High Concentration group in general had significantly better Peer Relationships ( t (608) =− 2.224, p  < 0.05), Behavioral Engagement ( t (604.620) = − 2.466, p  < 0.01), and Emotional Engagement ( t (605.833) = − 2.905 p  < 0.01).

Structural equation models

Following the multigroup analysis results that indicated that regression coefficients were not equal across Low and High Concentration classrooms, we examined the structural models for further interpretation in Fig.  1 . Significant relationships are indicated with non-dashed lines. The thicker the lines, the stronger the relationships between the two variables. The standardized regression coefficients of the significant edges are shown in Fig.  1 . For the rest of the parameter values see Supplementary Materials, Table S3.

In both groups, Peer Relationships were significantly related to students’ Engagement. In the Low Concentration group, the relationships were stronger, which is especially the case for Emotional Engagement (but difference in the strength of these individual associations between groups has not been formally tested for significance). Figure  1 illustrates that, for the Low Concentration group, the relationship between Content Integration and Emotional and Behavioral Engagement and between Equity Pedagogy and only Emotional Engagement were mediated by students’ Peer Relationships. The standardized indirect effect of Content Integration on Emotional Engagement (β = -0.20, p  < 0.01) and on Behavioral Engagement (β = -0.15, p  < 0.05) were statistically significant. Additionally, the standardized indirect effect of Equity Pedagogy on Emotional Engagement was significant (β = 0.11, p  < 0.05) and on Behavioral Engagement was marginally significant (β = 0.09, p  = 0.07). In addition, Equity Pedagogy showed a weak but significant relationship with Prejudice Reduction and a strong relationship with Content Integration. Expectedly, Emotional and Behavioral Engagement showed a strong significant positive correlation.

In the High Concentration group, the direct effect of Equity Pedagogy on Emotional Engagement (β = 0.24, p  < 0.05), and the direct effects of Peer Relationships on Emotional (β = 0.23, p  < 0.05) and on Behavioral Engagement (β = 0.27, p  < 0.05) were significant. The results of the fitted model yielded no significant indirect effects in this group, because none of the relationships between the Multicultural Education factors and Peer Relationships reached statistical significance. In addition, all three Multicultural Education factors showed moderate to high positive correlations with each other. Similarly, Emotional and Behavioral Engagement were very strongly correlated.

In the current study, we examined the role of both the pedagogical (i.e., multicultural practices) and structural elements of the learning environment (i.e., minoritized student concentration). Self-Determination Theory postulates that learning contexts that support students’ basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness can positively affect their motivation to learn (for an overview, see Fredricks et al., 2019 ). We argue that multicultural education can especially help to fulfill the needs of relatedness for students, by stimulating meaningful contact (see also ICT), and therefore improve students’ engagement. Previous research findings support the positive effect of multicultural education on student engagement but, to the best of our knowledge, the unique influence of different multicultural education dimensions and the mediating role of students’ relatedness has never been tested.

In classrooms with low minoritized student concentration, we found support for this mediation hypothesis with equity pedagogy having a positive effect and content integration having a negative effect on emotional and behavioral engagement, which was mediated by students’ peer relationships. In the high-concentration classrooms, however, only a direct effect of equity pedagogy on emotional engagement was found.

The low-concentration group

The low minoritized student concentration emphasizes the existing inequalities in society (Leonardelli et al., 2010 ), by also putting minoritized students in the numerical minority. This does not naturally create an equal status for the contact between groups. On the contrary, it creates the basis for the majority group members to perceive themselves as highly prototypical and representative of the larger social group, be it the classroom, school, or the Netherlands. In these unequal status environments, the Social Identity Approach (Abrams & Hogg, 1990 ; Reicher et al., 2010 ) predicts that the members of the dominant group try to keep their status against identity and status ‘threats’, whereas the members of disadvantaged groups show higher ingroup favouritism to make up for the perceived disparity in their status (Olonisakin, 2021 ; Radke et al., 2017 ). Indeed, Steffens et al. ( 2017 ) previously showed that multicultural education can backfire in such unequal contact environments.

In the Low-Concentration learning environments, the positive influence of equity pedagogy and the negative influence of content integration on peer relationships could be attributable to the majority group perceiving multiculturalism to be identity and status threatening, while the minoritized group perceived it as identity supporting and status improving (Deaux et al., 2006 ).

Content integration requires explicit acknowledgment of different cultures and their characteristics and contributions. This can directly challenge the majority group members’ perceived prototypicality of their group for the larger social category, in environments where they are likely to perceive themselves as being highly prototypical. This has been shown to increase negative attitudes toward the outgroup (Steffens et al., 2017 ). Supporting their findings, we also found that content integration negatively influences peer relationships directly and student engagement indirectly. While prejudice reduction practices might have been able to prevent this, our results indicated that teachers who engaged in content integration did not necessarily engage in prejudice reduction (see Fig.  1 or Table B1 for correlations between factors).

Equity pedagogy, on the other hand, is a subtler way of facilitating equal status in contacting parties that can be employed without activating group differences. It disrupts existing structures that perpetuate inequality by expecting all students to learn according to the way in which the instruction is delivered and instead requires tapping into students’ strengths and using tailoring teaching approaches to teach in the way students learn (Banks, 1995 ). Therefore, it adds to the conditions under which multicultural education can increase positive attitudes and hence can improve peer relationships—most importantly, under which students experience equal status (Allport, 1954 ; Dovidio et al., 2017 ).

However, we can expect a larger negative effect size of content integration on peer relationships compared with the positive effect of equity pedagogy by looking at the path coefficients. Based on these effects, we would have expected the majority group members’ reported peer relationships to be more positive compared with the minoritized group students if content integration ignited ingroup favoritism only in the majority group. Yet, the majority and minoritized students reported having similar average peer relationship qualities (see Table 2 ). This could signal that the ingroup favoritism in the minoritized groups, predicted by the Social Identity Approach (Abrams & Hogg, 1990 ; Reicher et al., 2010 ), is activated by content integration.

Higher ingroup favoritism and outgroup discrimination are consistently found in numerically smaller groups (Leonardelli et al., 2010 ), which is suggested to reflect the greater salience and distinctiveness associated with their small group size (Bettencourt et al., 1999 ). In this case, our minoritized group is both in the numerical minority and placed lower in the ethnic societal hierarchy, making them a disadvantaged but distinctive group. In line with this view, such distinctive groups have been shown to be more satisfied with their ingroup compared to non-distinctive groups. This is because a distinctive group is a source of positively valued social identity because it provides sufficient inclusiveness within the ingroup and sufficient differentiation compared with the outgroup, fulfilling both the need to belong and the need to be unique (see Optimal Distinctiveness Theory Brewer, 1991 ; Leonardelli et al., 2010 ). Thus, activating the distinctiveness of groups and providing further validation for the minoritized group through content integration might have led to heightened ingroup favoritism not only in the majority group but also in the minoritized group.

The high-concentration group

Contrary to the low-concentration group, in the high-concentration group, multicultural education factors did not have a significant effect on peer relationships. Nevertheless, students in this group reported having better relationships and higher engagement compared with students in the low-concentration group. These findings might stem from more balanced intergroup interactions because of the demographic landscape of these classrooms. Therefore, we might no longer see the significant negative effect of content integration on peer relationships: Majority group students no longer might perceive their group as highly prototypical of the larger social category of classroom or school because they are in the numerical minority and are thus just another ethnic group within their classrooms. Similarly, the minoritized students might no longer experience an optimal distinctiveness from the outgroup because they are no longer in the numerical minority. In turn, peer relationships in this group are not as strongly related to student engagement, especially emotional engagement, as they were in the low-concentration group. This could signal that, when relationships are less harmonious, they can become a more central factor in students’ educational lives and how much they enjoy it.

Interestingly, the reported quality of peer relationships was higher for the majority group students compared with the minoritized group students in this group. Although this difference was not significant, it might provide some support for the explanation based on the Optimal Distinctiveness Theory that we proposed above for the low-concentration group. Because the majority group members are mostly in the numerical minority in the high-concentration classrooms, they could experience more ingroup favoritism compared with the minoritized students who are now in the numerical majority. Yet, this might be to a lesser extent for the majority group members in the high-concentration group than for the minoritized students in the low-concentration group, because majority group members are still in numerical majority outside their classrooms and schools.

Moreover, because the contact status is likely to be more equal in this group because of minoritized students being in the numerical majority, the positive effect of equity on peer relationships might not be too salient. Yet, equity pedagogy was still directly related to students’ emotional engagement. When learning environments support students’ functioning equitably, regardless of their backgrounds, students seem to enjoy and show more enthusiasm for learning. This, in turn, is highly related to behavioral engagement, indicating that children who enjoy learning also put more effort into it. However, also in this group, the majority group members reported having, on average, significantly higher behavioral engagement compared with their minoritized counterparts. This is in line with previous research that points to the effects of factors such as low teacher expectations (Gershenson et al., 2016 ) or more challenging social environments in and out of school (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2019 ) for the minoritized students, which we did not cover within the scope of this study.

Lastly, in the high-concentration group, teachers who engaged in one aspect of multicultural education seem to have engaged also in others. In line with previous research that revealed that multicultural education is more prevalent in high-concentration classrooms (Agirdag et al., 2016 ), teachers in this group, on average, also engaged more in multicultural education than teachers in the low-concentration group (see Table 2 ). Attention to multicultural education in these classrooms might simply be a natural outcome of the classroom demographics.

Both groups

In both concentration groups, our results supported the propositions of SDT in that peer relationships were positively related to both emotional and behavioral student engagement. However, multicultural education factors would have been anticipated also to have direct effects on student engagement because of their possible influence on other basic psychological needs than relatedness, namely, autonomy and competence . Previous research showed that teachers’ own attitudes can moderate the effect of multicultural practices on student engagement so that only teachers who lead by example themselves and practise what they preach are thought to have a positive effect on students (Abacioglu et al., 2019 ). This could explain the lack of significant relationships in our case. Content integration and prejudice reduction necessitate that teachers explicitly talk about issues around diversity and engage in dialogue that can expose their own stance on these topics, which might not seem authentic to students in certain cases such as employing these practices because of school policy without necessarily having important insights into the realities of their students (Kreber, 2010 ).

Limitations and future research

Our results signal varying effects of multicultural education on peer relationships and engagement, based on the demographic complexion of the learning environment most probably, with different social identity processes in the majority and minoritized students being activated. However, in order to further validate the interpretation of our results, important variables such as ingroup identification and satisfaction, as well as classroom diversity (i.e., how many different groups there are) and ingroup size should be considered in relation to peer relationships (Leonardelli et al., 2010 ). Moreover, the status of the outgroup and its relationship to the ingroup has been suggested as being relevant for such research (Steffens et al., 2017 ). Different ethnic and cultural groups in the Netherlands have different migration histories and occupy different hierarchical positions within society, with minoritized groups from former colonies on the top and the groups with history of migration from Turkey at the bottom (Thijssen et al., 2021 ). The degree to which students benefit from multicultural practices can vary depending on their position in the societal hierarchy. Future researchers are encouraged to examine whether applications of these practices to classrooms with different ethnic profiles in different neighborhoods, and with increasing/decreasing diversity as the share of one ethnic group grows, warrant alternative solutions.

Moreover, how multicultural education affects peer relationships might depend not only on how responsive students are to multiculturalism, but also on teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and skills through which they implement multicultural practices (Gay, 2018 ). For instance, the most popular ways in which content integration is implemented are through a ‘contributions approach’ or an ‘additive approach’. These entail either insertion of isolated facts about or special units on minoritized groups to the curriculum, without the meaningful transformation of the curriculum that requires viewing information from different perspectives (i.e., ‘transformation approach’), reinforcing the notion that minoritized groups are not integral parts of the mainstream (Banks, 2016 ).

Additionally, it is important to gain deeper insights into the mechanisms underlying the effect of multicultural education on student engagement through peer relationships. Firstly, we cannot be certain that the improved peer relationships in our study were attributable to improved intergroup relationships. Yet, we know from extant research into Dutch schools that, even in culturally diverse schools, friendship networks tend to be segregated along ethnic lines (Baerveldt et al., 2007 ; Fortuin et al., 2014 ; Vermeij et al., 2009 ). In the literature, this has been explained by the homophily principle —individuals’ preferences are associated with similar others because this facilitates mutual understanding and liking (Leszczensky & Pink, 2015 ; Smith et al., 2014 )—which is a powerful predictor of relationship frequency, stability, and quality (Lessard et al., 2019 ). Therefore, it is likely that the positive relationships observed with multicultural education practices and peer relationships are attributable to advances in intergroup relationships that go above and beyond the same-ethnic friendships that tend to form more seamlessly. Secondly, our sample size was not big enough to compare mixed-concentration classrooms (30–70% minoritized student concentration) to classrooms with low and high minoritized student concentrations. We urge future researchers to conduct more-detailed investigations of the suggested psychological processes behind our results in classrooms that are not only segregated but also offer more contact opportunities between different ethnic groups.

If multiculturalism backfires for the majority group members in learning environments in which minoritized individuals might need it the most, how can we prevent resistance to multicultural practices? Previous research that revealed negative effects of activating the diversity of the larger social category on the majority group members tested this against the effects of activating the unity of the larger category (Ehrke & Steffens, 2015 ; Steffens et al., 2017 ; Waldzus et al., 2003 , 2005 ). These two conditions, however, do not need to compete with each other. A focus on shared values such as democracy, equality, and human integrity (Mattei & Broeks, 2018 ) together with multicultural practices can be an essential for both appreciating cultural differences and achieving greater social cohesion. It would be fruitful to investigate the combined effect of these practices on peer relationships and motivation. Moreover, the above-mentioned research focused on the effect of mere priming messages that reflected unity or diversity. The effects of educational practice for an extended period, however, can yield different results that need to be better unwrapped by using a longitudinal design.

Scholars have extensively discussed multicultural theories and their importance for motivational processes and school success (e.g., Au, 1980 ; Banks, 1995 ; Gay, 2000; Hollins, 1996 ; Ladson-Billings, 1995 ; Nieto, 1996 ; Sleeter, 1991 ). Yet, to the best of our knowledge, the present study was the first to provide a detailed and quantitative account of the current segregated learning environments in the Netherlands in terms of multicultural curriculum and instruction, as well as their possible impact on the desired student outcomes that are reported in similar studies, which are mostly qualitative in nature and are conducted with preservice teachers using hypothetical scenarios (Agirdag et al., 2016 ).

Previous studies of learning environments have shown that factors such as perceived relationships with peers and teachers during academic-related activities, in addition to academic experiences, have a significant influence on student satisfaction, self-efficacy motivation for learning, and academic accomplishment (Lin et al., 2019 ). Our results corroborated these earlier findings in two different learning environments, namely, low- and high-concentration classrooms. Our findings indicate that some multicultural practices can improve, while other practices can impede, student engagement through peer relationships, depending on the characteristics of the learning environment. This can be of particular importance to the minoritized groups who perceive educational attainment as a means to social mobility (Alt, 2017 ). Therefore, improving the quality of peer relationships can be one way to mitigate the lower educational standing of the minoritized students within the Dutch education system compared with their ethnic majority peers (OECD, 2014 ; Thijs et al., 2014 ).

Our results are a good reminder that, while the representation of minoritized perspectives and lives is important, challenging the structures that perpetuate inequality (through equity pedagogy) can make the most difference by creating equal opportunities for individuals to thrive. It is crucial to increase the effectiveness of internal and external support services and resources for teachers to improve their beliefs in the need for a multicultural approach (Monsen et al., 2014 ), and to strengthen their confidence in their ability to create learning environments that match the diverse needs of all of their students.

Declarations

Current Themes of Research

The corresponding author, Ceren Abacioglu’s main research interests include multicultural ideologies and multicultural education, psychological underpinnings of interethnic relationships that take place in schools, motivational outcomes in relation to educational pedagogies and group processes.

Sacha Epskamp works in the field of psychometrics, with a special focus on Structural Equation Modeling, Multivariate Statistics, and Network Modeling. His research centers around the development and application of Network Modeling to psychological research.

Agneta Fischer’s general theme of research is the influence of social context on emotion, emotion recognition and emotion regulation, focusing mostly on interpersonal emotion recognition; hate, contempt, revenge, humiliation; and role of negative emotions in the development of populism.

Monique Volman’s main areas of research include learning environments for meaningful learning, diversity, and the use of ICT in education, issues which she approaches from a socio-cultural theoretical perspective.

Most Relevant Publications

Ceren Abacioglu

Abacioglu, C. S. , Volman, M., & Fischer, A. (2020). Teacher multicultural attitudes and perspective taking abilities as factors in culturally responsive teaching. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 90 (3), 736–752.

Abacioglu, C. S. , Volman, M., & Fischer, A. (2019). Teacher interventions to student misbehaviours: The role of ethnicity, emotional intelligence, and multicultural attitudes. Current Psychology (published online), 1–13 .

Abacioglu, C. S. , Zee, M., Hanna, F., Soeterik, I. M., Fischer, A., & Volman, M. (2019). Practice what you preach: The moderating role of teacher attitudes on the relationship between prejudice reduction and student engagement. Teaching and Teacher Education, 86 , 102887.

Abacioglu, C. S. , Isvoranu, A., Verkuyten, M., Thijs, J, & Epskamp, S. (2019). Exploring multicultural classroom dynamics: A network analysis. Journal of School Psychology, 74 , 90–105.

Sacha Epskamp

Abacioglu, C. S., Isvoranu, A., Verkuyten, M., Thijs, J, & Epskamp, S. (2019). Exploring multicultural classroom dynamics: A network analysis. Journal of School Psychology, 74 , 90–105.

Epskamp, S. (2015). semPlot: Unified visualizations of Structural Equation Models. Structural Equation Modeling. Structural Equation Modeling 22 (3), 474–483. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2014.937847

Open Science Collaboration (2015). Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science. Science 349 (6251), aac4716. http://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac4716

Agneta Fischer

Abacioglu, C. S., Volman, M., & Fischer, A. (2020). Teacher multicultural attitudes and perspective taking abilities as factors in culturally responsive teaching. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 90 (3), 736–752.

Abacioglu, C. S., Volman, M., & Fischer, A. (2019). Teacher interventions to student misbehaviours: The role of ethnicity, emotional intelligence, and multicultural attitudes. Current Psychology (published online), 1–13 .

Abacioglu, C. S., Zee, M., Hanna, F., Soeterik, I. M., Fischer, A., & Volman, M. (2019). Practice what you preach: The moderating role of teacher attitudes on the relationship between prejudice reduction and student engagement. Teaching and Teacher Education, 86 , 102887.

Kommattam, P., Jonas, K. J., & Fischer, A. H. (2019). Perceived to feel less: Intensity bias in interethnic emotion perception.  Journal of Experimental Social Psychology ,  84 , [103809]. 

Monique Volman

Sincer, I., Volman, M ., van der Veen, I., & Severiens, S. (2021). The relationship between ethnic school composition, school diversity climate and students’ competences in dealing with differences.  Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies ,  47 (9), 2039–2064.

Sincer, I., Severiens, S., & Volman, M. (2019). Teaching diversity in citizenship education: Context-related teacher understandings and practices.  Teaching and Teacher Education , 78 , 183–192.

All the procedures described in the Data Analysis section were performed using the remaining teacher and student data.

Also see Supplementary Materials for an exploratory factor analysis for the items. These factor analysis results were not considered when forming the multicultural education variables, because the analysis results suggested inadequate sampling for reliable results.

Abacioglu, C. S., Isvoranu, A.-M., Verkuyten, M., Thijs, J., & Epskamp, S. (2019a). Exploring multicultural classroom dynamics: A network analysis. Journal of School Psychology, 74 , 90–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2019.02.003

Abacioglu, C. S., Zee, M., Hanna, F., Soeterik, I. M., Fischer, A. H., & Volman, M. (2019b). Practice what you preach: The moderating role of teacher attitudes on the relationship between prejudice reduction and student engagement. Teaching and Teacher Education, 86 , 102887. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.102887

Abacioglu, C. S., Volman, M., & Fischer, A. H. (2020). Teachers’ multicultural attitudes and perspective taking abilities as factors in culturally responsive teaching. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 90 , 736–752. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12328

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our special thanks to Marjolein Zee, Fadie Hanna, Inti M. Soeterik, and Judith Bekebrede for enabling data collection for our study.

The authors do not have any financial or non-financial interests that are directly or indirectly related to the work submitted for publication. This work was supported by the Yield Graduate Programme grant [project number 022.006.013] obtained from the Nederlands Organisation for Scientific Research (De Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek; NWO).

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Abacioglu, C.S., Epskamp, S., Fischer, A.H. et al. Effects of multicultural education on student engagement in low- and high-concentration classrooms: the mediating role of student relationships. Learning Environ Res 26 , 951–975 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-023-09462-0

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Multicultural education: How schools teach it and where educators say it falls short

Below, we provide a sampling of academic research that looks at how multicultural education has changed in recent decades and inconsistencies in the way today’s teachers teach it.

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As American public schools have grown more diverse, educators have introduced multicultural education programs to help kids understand and appreciate the differences among them — differences in terms of race, religion, socioeconomic status, sexual identity and other personal characteristics.

Multicultural education, broadly, is a range of strategies educators use to help students “develop a positive self-concept by providing knowledge about the histories, cultures, and contributions of diverse groups,” according to the nonprofit National Association for Multicultural Education .

These programs, which vary by state and even within individual school districts, “should directly address issues of racism, sexism, classism, linguicism, ableism, ageism, heterosexism, religious intolerance, and xenophobia,” the association explains on its website. One goal of multicultural education is developing the attitudes, knowledge and skills students need to function in different cultures and join a global workforce.

Below, we provide a sampling of academic research that looks at how multicultural education has changed in recent decades and inconsistencies in the way today’s teachers teach it. We also included studies that reveal problems in how U.S. colleges and universities train teachers to do this work.

At the bottom of this page, we added a list of resources to help journalists better understand and contextualize the issue, including federal data on how student and teacher demographics have changed over time and links to organizations with expertise in multicultural education.

It’s important to note there are significant differences between multicultural education and anti-racist education — two types of education discussed with greater frequency in recent years. Unlike multicultural education, anti-racism education focuses on race and race-related issues. Anti-racist teachers “create a curriculum with black students in mind” and “view the success of black students as central to the success of their own teaching,” Pirette McKamey, the first Black principal of Mission High School in San Francisco, writes in The Atlantic .

Many educators and researchers argue that schools serving predominantly white communities benefit tremendously from multicultural education. Sheldon Eakins , a former teacher and school principal who founded the Leading Equity Center, writes about this for the Cult of Pedagogy website:

“It’s not uncommon for White people to say, Oh, I’m just White. I don’t have a culture . We need to teach our White students about what their cultural background is and their ethnic backgrounds so they can understand and think about their language and religions going back to their ancestry. Lessons on their culture may help them start to understand how privilege and White supremacy began.”

At the same time, Eakins and others, including education professor Wayne Au of the University of Washington Bothell, have criticized multicultural education for falling short in preparing youth to confront and dismantle racism.

“Yes, multicultural education is important, but in the face of the hateful violence being visited on so many of our students and communities, it is simply not enough,” Au writes in a paper published in Multicultural Perspectives in 2017.

A brief history of multicultural education

Thirty Years of Scholarship in Multicultural Education Thandeka K. Chapman and Carl A. Grant. Gender & Class Journal , 2010.

This paper offers a broad overview of what multicultural education is in the U.S. and how it changed over three decades. The authors rely on academic research to chronicle the trend, beginning in the 1960s, when scholars argued that the histories and contributions of people of color should be part of the public school curriculum.

Thandeka Chapman , a professor of education studies at the University of California, San Diego, and Carl Grant , a professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explain how multicultural education evolved to include discussions about gender, physical disabilities, age and sexual identity and orientation.

The authors also describe how critics of the trend actually helped it.

“Advocates used these attacks to develop more meaningful and appropriate ways to help teachers and students in classrooms,” Chapman and Grant write. “These criticisms of MCE [multicultural education] have further advanced discussions of equity, equality, and social justice in ways that would not be possible if opponents had remained silent.”

Challenges in teaching multicultural education

Multicultural Education and the Protection of Whiteness Angelina E. Castagno. American Journal of Education , November 2013.

In this yearlong study, the author spotlights problems in the way an urban Utah school district teaches multicultural education. She finds that instead of dismantling “whiteness” — she defines this as “structural arrangements and ideologies of racial dominance within the United States” — multicultural education, as offered in this school district, protects it.

Angelina E. Castagno , an associate professor of educational leadership and foundations at Northern Arizona University, writes that her findings should not be surprising considering the teachers she observed and interviewed “were predominantly White, middle-class individuals who, for the most part, have little reason to disrupt the status quo and the current relations of power.”

“Most educators are well intentioned and want what is best for their students, but whiteness is protected despite (and sometimes through) even the best intentions,” Castagno writes. “Part of the problem is that most educators are not aware of whiteness. But in addition to this lack of awareness, most educators are also invested in the status quo of whiteness.”

She notes the importance of getting a better understanding of how teachers are teaching the topic.

“All teachers, administrators, multicultural education scholars, and teacher/administrator educators need a better understanding and awareness of how multicultural education is understood by teachers in schools across the country,” Castagno writes. “While there is much research highlighting the efforts of some teachers who seem to have embraced more critical forms of multicultural education, these teachers probably do not represent the majority of teachers in most schools.”

Problems in how colleges train teachers

Supporting Critical Multicultural Teacher Educators: Transformative Teaching, Social Justice Education, and Perceptions of Institutional Support Paul C. Gorski and Gillian Parekh. Intercultural Education , 2020.

This study looks at how college instructors teach multicultural education to students in the U.S. and Canada who are studying to become schoolteachers. It finds that college instructors who teach a more conservative version of multicultural education perceive their higher education institution to be more supportive of their work.

The researchers analyze data collected from a survey of 186 people who teach multicultural education to future teachers, conducted in 2015 and 2016. Researchers recruited participants by reaching out to instructors individually and by posting invitations on social media platforms used by instructors. About 90% of survey participants taught at institutions in the U.S.

Instructors answered questions related to the ideological approach they took in their multicultural teacher education courses — whether they took a conservative, liberal and critical approach.

The authors explain that the conservative form of multicultural teacher education, or MTE, “is assimilationist; it prepares teachers to help marginalized students conform to ‘mainstream culture and its attending values, mores, and norms.’” Meanwhile, liberal MTE “prepares teachers to celebrate diversity but, like conservative MTE, fails to prepare them to understand or respond to ways power and inequity are wielded in schools,” write Paul Gorski , founder of the Equity Literacy Institute, and Gillian Parekh , an assistant professor of education at York University. “Critical MTE prepares teachers to participate in the reconstruction of schools by advocating equity, confronting issues of power and privilege, and disrupting oppressive policies and practices.”

Gorski and Parekh find that multicultural teacher education classes “tend to have a conservative or liberal orientation, focused on appreciating diversity or cultural competence, rather than a critical orientation, focused on preparing teachers to address inequity.” That might be because instructors believe their institutions are less supportive of courses that take a critical approach, the researchers write.

“Our results indicate that multicultural teacher educators’ perceptions regarding whether the values they teach in their MTE courses are supported by their institutions is correlated with the criticality with which they design and teach those courses,” Gorski and Parekh write.

Instructors who take a conservative approach “pose no real threat to the injustices MTE ought to disrupt, perceive significantly greater institutional support for the values they teach in their MTE courses,” according to the authors. “Contrarily, those who employ a critical approach perceive significantly less institutional support.”

What We’re Teaching Teachers: An Analysis of Multicultural Teacher Education Coursework Syllabi Paul C. Gorski. Teaching and Teacher Education , 2008.

This study, which Gorski also authored, looks at course syllabi to see how U.S. colleges were teaching multicultural education to future teachers. Even though it is an older study, it offers insights into how colleges approached the issue at the time. The gist of Gorski’s findings: “The analysis revealed that most of the courses were designed to prepare teachers with pragmatic skills and personal awareness, but not to prepare them in accordance with the key principles of multicultural education, such as critical consciousness and a commitment to educational equity.”

Gorski analyzed 45 class syllabi from college courses designed to train teachers in multicultural education. Of them, 30 were undergraduate courses and 15 were graduate courses. Gorski finds that “only twelve syllabi (26.7%) seemed designed to prepare teachers to be what might be called authentic multicultural educators.”

Social Foundations and Multicultural Education Course Requirements in Teacher Preparation Programs in the United States Richard Neumann. Educational Foundations , Summer-Fall 2010.

In this study, Richard Neumann , a professor of education at San Diego State University, looks at whether teacher colleges in the U.S. require students to complete coursework in multicultural education. The key takeaway: At the time, fewer than half of the 302 universities studied required students wanting to become teachers to take a course in multicultural education.

Among programs that train students to work as elementary school teachers, 45% required at least one course in multicultural education. For programs that train secondary school teachers, 45% required students to complete at least one multicultural education course. Neumann learned that a larger percentage of public university programs required a multicultural education course than did programs offered at private universities.

Self-Efficacy and Multicultural Teacher Education in the United States: The Factors That Influence Who Feels Qualified to be a Multicultural Teacher Educator Paul C. Gorski, Shannon N. Davis and Abigail Reiter. Multicultural Perspectives , 2012.

This paper looks at which educators feel most qualified to teach multicultural education to students studying to become teachers. The analysis, based on a survey of 75 college instructors, indicates that Black educators tend to feel less qualified to teach multicultural teacher education courses than their counterparts of other races and ethnicities.

Heterosexual educators felt more qualified to teach multicultural teacher education courses than their LGBTQ counterparts, according to the paper, of which Gorski is the lead author. The other two authors are Shannon N. Davis , director of the PhD program in sociology at George Mason University, and Abigail Reiter , an assistant professor in the sociology and criminal justice department of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

The study also indicates that instructors’ experience working in schools — as elementary, middle or high school teachers — or their work as education activists “had no significant influence on their feelings of being qualified to teach MTE [multicultural teacher education] courses.”

Key resources

• This May 2020 report from the National Center for Education Statistics shows how student demographics have changed over time and are predicted to change by 2029.
• This February 2019 report from NCES finds that in fall 2015, the majority of white public school students were enrolled at schools where minority students comprised 25% or less of the student population.
• This September 2020 report from NCES examines public school teacher demographics. More than three-fourths of teachers working in U.S. public schools — 79% — were white as of 2017-18, the most recent academic year for which the federal government has complete data.
• Here is a list of the country’s top education schools , ranked by U.S. News & World Report .
• Kansas State University’s Tilford Group is a research organization that focuses on multicultural education.
• The National Education Association , one of the nation’s largest teacher unions, offers educators various types of training through its Center for Social Justice .
• The nonprofit National Association for Multicultural Education provides a range of relevant resources. The organization’s president is Lisa Zagumny , who also is the dean and director of doctoral studies at Tennessee Technological University’s College of Education.

About The Author

Denise-Marie Ordway

International Journal of Multicultural Education

International Journal of Multicultural Education (IJME) is a peer-reviewed open-access journal for scholars, practitioners, and students of multicultural education. Committed to promoting educational equity for diverse students, cross-cultural understanding, and global justice for marginalized people in all levels of education, including leadership and policies, IJME publishes three types of articles: (1) Qualitative research studies that explicitly address multicultural educational issues; (2) Conceptual and theoretical articles, typically grounded on in-depth literature review, which advance theories and scholarship of multicultural education; and (3) Praxis articles that discuss successful multicultural education practices grounded on sound theories and literature.  We accept submissions of high quality papers from the global community in the fields of education, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, and other social sciences.  We do not accept book reviews at this time.

Peer Review Process

All scholarly submissions (research studies, literature-based articles, and praxis articles) will be initially screened by editors for basic fitness to the scope of the journal and adherence to the journal's submission guidelines. Pre-screened manuscripts undergo double-blind review by at least two qualified reviewers. We strive to provide reviewer feedback within three months; however, a variety of reasons could slow down the process. Since we rely on the gracious pro bono services of professionals and their availability, the editorial team requests authors' patience.

Revision of a manuscript does not guarantee publication. All editorial communication is conducted through the online journal system (OJS) to expedite the publication process. Therefore, it is necessary that authors submit their manuscript directly to the journal site. Authors will be able to follow the progress of their submission in the OJS.

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IJME publishes three issues annually: Spring issues will be available in April, Summer issues in August, and Fall issues in December (usually a special issue). No submission deadline is applied to open-theme issues. 

To Propose a Special Issue

To propose a special issue as a team of guest editors, please send your proposal to [email protected] .

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This journal provides open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge and equitable educational practices.

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IJME is indexed in databases including, but not limited to, ESCI ,  EBSCOHost , ERIC, Journal Metircs , SCImago Journal and Country Ranking (SJR) , and Scopus .

Sources of Support

IJME expresses sincere appreciation to  Eastern University  for having provided partial financial and in-kind support to the operation of  Electronic Maganize of Multicultural Education (1999-2006) and  International Journal of Multicultural Education (2007-present). In addition, IJME acknowledges co-sponsorship with  Yonsei University 's  Department of Education  for their partial financial and personnel support since 2015.   The support of these two universities and the volunteer service of editors, authors, and reviewers from the global community have sustained EMME and IJME since 1999.  open-access scholarly journals that espouse the mission of freely sharing high quality scholarly content with global users. 

Journal History

As the successor of EMME (Electronic Magazine of Multicultural Education), IJME published two issues annually between 2007 and 2012. Since 2013, IJME publishes three issues annually including one special issue.  Full texts of all articles in the PDF format are available freely from the journal site. This journal espouses the philosophy of the open-access movement, enabling the readers of the world to access the content of the journal regardless of their affiliation with higher learning institutions or ability to pay for subscription. The generous support of Eastern University, Yonsei University, and volunteer hours of editors, authors, and reviewers make this open-access project possible.

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• v.5(1); 2021

Educating for diversity, equity, and inclusion: A review of commonly used educational approaches

Leonor corsino.

1 Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Nutrition, Duke School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA

2 Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Community-Engaged Research Initiative Core, Duke School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA

Anthony T. Fuller

3 Department of Neurosurgery, Division of Global Neurosurgery and Neurology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA

4 Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

5 Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Center for Pathway Programs, Duke School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are fundamentally important concepts for advancing clinical and translational science (CTS) education. CTS education spans a wide range of disciplines from cell biology to clinical and community/population research. This large scope both in terms of intellectual areas and target groups requires an understanding of existing educational approaches for DEI as we translate DEI from mere concepts into equitable actions within CTS education. In this  review, we provide the readers with the most common DEI educational approaches, including cultural humility, bias training, and improving mentoring to diversify the workforce. DEI educational materials can achieve maximal success and long-term impact when implemented as institutional-wide interventions, and the materials are not seen as an isolated or independent curriculum. Approaches, strategies, and programs to achieve this are many. However, many questions remain unanswered about what the best approach, strategies, and programs are to be implemented in institutional-wide education that will be embedded in CTS education.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are fundamentally important concepts for advancing clinical and translational science (CTS) education. In recent years, increased societal consciousness has led to the precipitous rise in the usage of DEI in everyday vernacular. Often, when concepts become ubiquitous, their meanings morph such that individuals may have completely different ideas of the concept’s definition, or they become “code” that can lead some audiences to opt-out.

For the purpose of this review, we use diversity and inclusion as concepts in alignment with the National Institute of Health (NIH) definitions, given the NIH’s position as a major funder of CTSs. Diversity is defined by the NIH as “the range of human differences, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, social class, physical ability or attributes, religious or ethical value system, national origin, and political beliefs” [ 1 ]. While inclusion is defined as “involvement and empowerment, where the inherent worth and dignity of all people is recognized” [ 1 ]. For equity, we define this concept as “the state, quality, or ideal of being just, impartial, and fair” [ 2 ].

DEI work in CTS education requires an intentional focus on those already practicing in CTS as well as a focus on the training and education for the next generation of practitioners and investigators. CTS is uniquely positioned to reinforce inequities or entirely reshape and reduce inequities; therefore, the additional focus on trainees allows influence not only on the scientific questions that will be asked but also the scientific environment that they will inhabit. CTS education also spans a wide range of disciplines from cell biology to clinical and community/population research [ 3 ]. This large scope both in terms of intellectual areas and target groups requires an understanding of existing educational approaches for DEI as we translate DEI from mere concepts into equitable actions within CTS education.

CTS education is positioned within an academic environment that will either support or stifle DEI efforts. Environmental factors contributing to the support or stifling of DEI efforts include the makeup of the institution’s faculty, staff, leaders, and students alongside the institution’s evaluation procedures and policies. These environmental factors are distinct from educational materials created specifically to increase an institution’s members’ understanding of DEI. It is entirely plausible that an institution can have high-quality, innovative, and well-intended educational DEI materials within an environment that hinders its impact on its CTS educational community. The converse is also true. This reality is why we believe that within the CTS education community, despite our paper’s focus on DEI educational approaches, we must not only focus solely on the development and implementation of high-quality educational DEI materials, but also invest in cultivating just, equitable, and supportive learning environments.

While preparing for writing this review, we approached the intersection of DEI within CTS education with the broadest scope possible and then began narrowing. Our initial search terms brought up thousands of articles that spanned the spectrum from articles about educational environments to DEI materials. We choose to focus our paper on DEI educational materials and approaches, which narrowed the articles to a more manageable range. Each article in our search was examined to develop a list of the most common DEI educational approaches, and then we dove deeper into each approach to highlight the most salient features for the CTS educational community.

Educational Approaches and Programs

Several approaches have been pursued for educating DEI. In this section, we will provide a summary of some of the existing educational approaches and programs created and developed to enhance cultural humility, ameliorate bias, and improve mentoring to diversify the workforce in science. We recognize that due to the increasing body of literature in this significance and evolving area of research and education, it is impossible to be fully inclusive of all the work that has been done and is ongoing.

Cultural Humility

Cultural humility is defined as a lifelong process of self-reflection and self-critique whereby the individual not only learns about another’s culture, but one starts with an examination of her/his own beliefs and cultural identities [ 4 ]. Cultural humility training, usually referred to as cross-cultural training and education, is commonly offered to an array of professionals. The main goal of this training is to enhance cross-cultural interactions and increase personal awareness of one’s values and beliefs to increase the understanding and acceptance of others [ 5 , 6 ].

Although training in cultural humility is not new and has been implemented for decades, the approaches to implementation and its inclusion in research training are relatively new [ 4 ]. Traditionally, training to increase cultural humility utilizes workshops as its main pedagogical method [ 6 ]. These workshops are usually didactic, delivered for several hours or 1–2 days. This can lead many to perceive them as superficial. Further, those who are compelled to attend may find them divisive and uncomfortable [ 6 , 7 ].

Cultural immersion, based on the principle that immersion in another’s culture, practices, and language is an effective means of learning about oneself “in” another culture, has been utilized as another method to teach cultural humility [ 8 ]. Cultural immersion focuses on (1) increasing students’ capacity for empathy by exposing them to a different worldview, (2) developing critical self-reflection/self-awareness, (3) experiencing traditional cultural practices, and (4) exploring traditional and contemporary values and beliefs, focusing on the culture’s strengths [ 8 ]. Several studies have documented the impact and benefits of cultural immersion as a method to teach cultural humility [ 9 ]. Similarities among the studies include short-term immersion into a culture different than own, reflective journaling, daily writing, and debriefings [ 10 ].

A recently published systematic review looking into cultural immersion educational programs for healthcare professionals reports a total of 9 studies with a total of 94 participants with experiences in 14 culturally diverse environments. The interventions and assessments utilized by each program include didactic lecture, study abroad experience, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, journaling, and reflective papers. The authors concluded that participants in immersion programs demonstrated growth in the cognitive, affective, perpetual, cultural dissonance, and skills/engagement domains. The paper concluded that cultural immersion experiences can produce a positive multidomain effect in its participants.[ 10 ].

New approaches to delivering cultural humility training have been proposed. A group of investigators from the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging proposed the QIAN (Humbleness) curriculum: the importance of self-questioning and critique, bi-directional cultural immersion, mutually active listening, and the flexibility of negotiation curriculum. The QIAN curriculum is based on Chinese philosophy and is inspired by ancient Chinese thinkers. The investigators proposed a model that incorporates the following: (1) Question asking: questions regarding our own assumptions about the world, where the assumptions come from, constant self-questioning and self-critique; (2) Immersion: immersion that goes beyond exposure to other cultures; (3) Active listening: active listening with the body (gestures and body languages), mind (stories and narratives), and soul (feelings and emotions); and (4) Negotiation: willingness to negotiate mutually acceptable alternatives carries equal weight as learning each other’s preference. [ 7 ]

Another approach proposed to deploy cultural humility training includes an art-based curriculum. Art-based training for cultural humility has been proposed as an innovative and creative way of training health professionals. Art-based interventions that highlight self-reflecting artmaking facilitated insight, understanding, awareness, and competency [ 11 ].

Simulation is another method proposed for increasing cultural humility. Simulation for developing cultural humility has been utilized as a new pedagogical approach in nursing [ 12 – 14 ]. A review article published in 2017 looking at Cultural Competency and Cultural Humility in Simulation-Based Education identified a total of 16 studies. Within the 16 studies included in the review, a total of four themes emerged: (1) cultural sensitivity and cultural competence, (2) insight and understanding, (3) communication, and (4) confidence and comfort. However, the methods varied widely within these studies. At the end, the authors concluded that no one study existed at the time that describes the use of simulation to teach cultural humility [ 15 ]. Since the publication of this article, several others have shown the utility and the need of simulation as a new and innovative method to teach cultural humility [ 16 , 17 ].

Bias Training

Bias, conscious, or unconscious has been cited as a major contributing factor in health and health care disparities and underrepresentation of historically minority groups in science and academia [ 18 ]. The term “implicit bias” or “unconscious bias” gained significant attention and has been the subject of many publications. The “unconscious bias hypothesis” which is widely quoted in social psychology research, portends that bias can occur without recognition [ 19 ]. Bias is usually referred to as both stereotypes and prejudices and as “the negative evaluation of one group and its members relative to another” [ 20 ]. While studies have documented bias in health care delivery [ 21 ], additional research has shown the impact of unconscious bias in research, admissions, hiring policies, and underrepresented minorities (URMs) progression in academia [ 22 – 24 ].

To educate for DEI, it is necessary to address the significant impact that bias plays in our day-to-day lives as researchers, health care providers, educators, and leaders. The recognition of the impact of bias in all aspects of academic medicine is the main force behind the increasing number of materials and approaches developed and implemented to increase awareness of bias and its impact. Although it is not possible to eliminate our own unconscious bias, it is potentially possible to ameliorate its impact on our decisions while treating patients, conducting research, interviewing, and leading [ 25 ].

Numerous programs, educational materials, and approaches have been developed to address bias. It is challenging to provide a complete summary of the existing data and publications pertaining to unconscious bias due to the exponential increase in the number of publications within the last decade. However, for the purpose of this review, we will provide the readers with the most common approaches utilized and proposed to increase awareness, knowledge, and skills development to address the impact of bias in all aspects of academia including CTS education.

Awareness, Knowledge, and Skills

To address biases, we need to become aware that they exist and their impact on behavior. Approaches to increased awareness are currently being implemented. One highly utilized tool is the Implicit Association Test (IAT). The IAT is currently the only available objective measurement of unconscious bias. The IAT measures the differential association of two target concepts with attributes. IAT, developed in 1998 by Banjani and Greenland [ 26 ], has been extensively utilized by many studies addressing unconscious bias [ 27 ]. Although the IAT is widely utilized and there is research proving its validity [ 28 ], there is some controversy regarding it’s utility [ 29 ]. One of the main critiques of the test is to what extent awareness predicts behavior [ 30 ]. Despite the limitations of the test, its utility to increase awareness and its free availability makes it a valuable tool for bias awareness.

Research and publications reporting curriculum and programs developed to address the issue of racial bias in academic medicine are vast. The research ranges from programs targeting medical students [ 31 , 32 ], residents [ 33 ], faculty [ 34 ], and search committees [ 35 ]. Overall, commonalities within these programs and educational materials comprise the use of workshops, multimedia presentations, small group discussions, interactive audience polling, self-reflection, and clinical vignettes or case studies.

Educational materials focused on interventions to acquire skills to reduce the impact of bias are less commonly reported. However, some information exists regarding strategies to prevent implicit bias. Four strategies that show potential for reducing implicit bias include: (1) pursuing egalitarian goals by learning to associate minority groups with goals that promote fairness and equity, this potentially helps cutting the stereotype off even before they appeared; (2) identifying common identities by shifting the attention from differences and focus more on common interests and activities; (3) counter-stereotyping by focusing on the individual unique attributes and behaviors; and (4) perspective-taking by taking the perspective of the minority group [ 36 ].

Improving Mentoring to Impact Clinical Translational Science Education

CTS education will not be successfully achieved without deliberate attention to improve mentoring to diversify the workforce. Diversifying the workforce has been recognized as an important and necessary priority to further scientific discoveries, eliminate health disparities, improve minority health, and achieve patient-centered outcomes [ 37 ]. Robust mentorship has been cited as a way to enhance workforce diversity in health sciences and research [ 38 ]. Research has shown that trainees from URM groups receive less mentoring than their White peers [ 39 ]. Further, improving mentoring to increase DEI in research has been identified as a priority by the NIH [ 39 ]. The NIH directly addressed the science of diversity, citing the racial, ethnic, gender, and economic balance of the US biomedical research workforce as limiting the promise of building knowledge and improving the nation’s health [ 40 ]. To that end, the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) a nationwide consortium of biomedical professionals and collaborating institutions sponsored by the NIH works to provide all trainees across scientific disciplines with evidence-based mentorship and professional development programming that emphasizes the benefits and challenges of diversity, inclusivity, and culture within mentoring relationships and, more broadly, the research workforce. The goal of the NRMN is to increase the diversity of biomedical research by enhancing the mentorship and career development of individuals from diverse backgrounds, communities, and cultures [ 41 ].

The evidence-based curriculum, activities, and training resources available via the NRMN are grounded in a robust conceptual model, authentically address bias, stereotype threat, and cultural ignorance, focus on the formal preparation of both mentors and mentees, builds upon process-based, community-building approaches to mentor and mentee training, and include established multimodal training formats and proven train-the-trainer efforts that allow for rapid scale-up and sustainability.

Considering the extensive efforts by the NRMN in the development of a publicly available curriculum to train mentors and mentees to improve mentoring practice that will lead to DEI in research, we encourage others to explore and engage in activities to deploy this training widely. We recognized that there are potential limitations experienced by some academic institutions to fully deploy the curriculum, such as lack of time, financial support, and other resources including trained facilitators. However, it is challenging to educate for DEI when diversity in the scientific workforce is not achieved.

The NRMN curriculum has been adapted and implemented successfully by Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) around the country. Through the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR), the Entering Mentoring training materials were adapted for use with CTSA mentors. In a randomized controlled trial, the entering mentoring materials were implemented at 16 CTSA institutions across the country [ 42 ]. In this study, a total of 283 mentor–mentee pairs were recruited. Mentors were randomized to the 8-hour training group or to the control group. The curriculum is implemented in a small group of mentors that engage in discussions based on case studies and activities. The curriculum was deployed by two facilitators and in four 2 hours sessions. The curriculum focuses on six core competencies: (1) maintaining effective communication, (2) aligning expectations, (3) assessing understanding, (4) addressing diversity (5) fostering independence, and (6) promoting professional development. Evaluation of the curriculum demonstrated improvement in mentors’ skills important for successful mentoring such as communication and evaluation skills [ 43 ].

Implementation, Dissemination, and Evaluation

Increased attention and focus on DEI has led to the development of a wide array of educational materials with varying levels of quality and distinct pedagogical approaches. Sifting through the options to select the best and most impactful approaches requires the same attention to detail and scientific rigor as any other topic in CTS. Practically, this means that deliberate attention is given to the selection of educational materials, to the choice of the faculty, staff, and students who will administer and receive the educational materials, and to the environment in which the materials are being implemented.

DEI educational materials can achieve maximal success and long-term impact when implemented as institutional-wide interventions, and the materials are not seen as an isolated or independent curriculum. DEI education must be viewed as integral and intertwined with the successful mastery of every topic and aspect within CTS. Programs and institutions across the country are at different stages in the process of fully integrating DEI into their curriculum. Most have communicated acknowledgment of DEI’s importance by placing it within their mission statements. Undoubtedly, this is an important step towards full-scale systemic changes in the structures, environment, and educational materials.

As programs and institutions begin their journeys in DEI development and integration, dissemination becomes imperative. Dissemination serves a tripartite purpose by providing a channel for iteration, refinement, and sharing of best practices. The Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AMMC) MedEdPORTAL Diversity, Inclusion, and Health Equity Collection is a good example of a dissemination platform (Table  1 ). Through this and other mechanisms, work being done at a single program or institution can contribute to the growing body of work in this space. Collective knowledge development through dissemination is a key lever for success as programs and institutions grapple with the daunting task of dismantling racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, and a multitude of other isms.

Curriculum and educational approaches and materials resources

Rigorous evaluation of DEI educational interventions is an additional lever for success. There is a desperate need to try to get this “right,” which means there must be a way for CTS educators to know which DEI educational materials are better and what impact are to be expected. Checklists, audits, toolkits, and evaluation surveys have already been created [ 44 ].

Unmet Needs and Barriers

Institutional and program willingness, adequately trained and resourced staff, and receptive students are only part of the complex puzzle of educating for DEI in CTS. Unmet needs are embedded and widespread within each of these areas. Most institutions and programs have a general willingness to engage in DEI work and are faced with resistance [ 45 ].

Across the board exists the need to see the value and then to invest the time, funding, and development of qualified instructors. Until recently, DEI work has been an afterthought or has garnered increased attention due to tragedy and exposure of inequities.

Putting DEI into Practice

Academic institutions and CTSAs within these institutions recognize the value of DEI in the advancement of sciences. As such, implementing approaches to further educate stakeholders for DEI are important. Our simple conceptual framework focused on two distinct ideas: the creation of a conducive environment and the creation and implementation of educational materials and curriculum. The framework highlights the importance of the environment when it comes to fostering DEI. Without a supportive and conducive environment, advancement to ameliorate racism and bias in research and academic institutions is close to impossible.

Although, in this study, we focused mostly on describing some of the most used approaches to educate for DEI as we cannot overemphasize the impact of the environment. To implement training in cultural humility, bias training, and mentoring training, it is critical to have an environment that supports these initiatives. For example, the testing and implementation of mentoring training at several CTSAs around the country were possible with the support from NIH funding and buy-in by CTSAs leadership.

Similarly, training in bias and cultural humility requires dedicated effort to hire, train, develop, and implement new and existing materials. To that end, the creation of diversity and inclusion offices, centers for equity, and institutes dedicated to these efforts are important and, as such, should be fully supported and resourced. Also, the efforts to educate for DEI are no longer isolated and are becoming more and more critical components of research, training, and education. However, more is still needed. For example, validated measurements to assess the short and long-term impact of bias training. In the meantime, to what extent training that aims to change very rooted bias has an impact on research remains unknown. Finally, there is a need to continue the conversation, the creation, implementation, research, and innovation in DEI education.

Educating for DEI and dismantling racism in research and academic institutions is a national priority. Approaches, strategies, and programs to achieve this are many. However, many questions remain unanswered pertaining to what the best approach, strategies, and programs are to implement institutional-wide education that will be embedded in CTS education. Further, as we continue to explore, test, and implement these approaches, strategies, and programs, other questions remain regarding the best assessments to determine their impact.

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank Ms. Maureen Cullins for her editorial support.

Disclosures

Dr. Corsino receives funding for her role as co-director for the Duke CTSI Community Engagement Research Initiative Core by the CTSA grant UL1TR002553 and received funding for her former role as associate director for the Duke School of Medicine Office of Faculty Mentoring Training by the CTSA grant UL1TR002553. She also received NIH funding for her former role as co-director for the REACH Equity Center Training and Education Core 5U54MD012530-03. Dr. Corsino is a former Diversity Strategist in the Duke School of Medicine Office of Diversity and Inclusion. She is currently a co-investigator in the NIH-funded U01GM132374. Dr. Fuller has no conflicts of interest to declare. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIH or the Duke School of Medicine.

International Journal of Multicultural Education

About the Journal

Focus and scope.

International Journal of Multicultural Education (IJME) is a peer-reviewed open-access journal for scholars, practitioners, and students of multicultural education. Committed to promoting educational equity for diverse students, cross-cultural understanding, and global justice for marginalized people in all levels of education, including leadership and policies, IJME publishes three types of articles: (1) qualitative research studies that explicitly address multicultural educational issues; (2) conceptual and theoretical articles, typically grounded on in-depth literature review, which advance theories and scholarship of multicultural education; and (3) praxis articles that discuss successful multicultural education practices grounded on sound theories and literature.  We accept submissions of high quality from the global community in the fields of education, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, and other social sciences.  We do not accept book reviews at this time.

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IJME is indexed in databases including, but not limited to, ESCI, EBSCOHost, ERIC, Journal Metircs, SCImago Journal and Country Ranking (SJR), and Scopus .

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International Journal of Multicultural Education

About the Journal

International Journal of Multicultural Educating (IJME) is a free , peer-reviewed open-access journal for scholars, practitioners, and students of multicultural education. Committed to promoting educational justness fork diverse students, cross-cultural understanding, and global justice for marginalized people in all levels the education, including leadership and policies, IJME publishes three types a articles: (1) human research studies that explicitly address multicultural educating issues; (2) conceptual and theories articles, usually grounded on in-depth humanities review, which advance theorize and scholarship of multicultural education; and (3) praktisch goods that review succeeding multicultural learning practices grounded on tone theories and literature. We inspire submittals eventuated from meaningfully and ethical collaboration below international scholars and practitioners. Submissions that advance from prescreening will be subject in originality-testing and double-blind peer review.

IJME is covered by several international indices and databases such as ESCI (Clarivate Analytics), Scopus, ERIC, and Ebscohost. According at ESCI, IJME is placed in the first two quartiles of 562 globalized select education journals. According to SJR (Scientific Journal Rank), IJME is ranked in the first quartile in Cultural Studies and to per quartile in Anthropology. The journal has a community about more than 23,000 and an acceptance rate of 7-8%.  Multinational general: How schools teach it real where itp falls short

This journal features candid access to seine content on the rule that making research freely available toward an public supports adenine greater global exchange for knowledge and equitable educational practices. All published product are made available to readers under an CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

And institutional sponsors and the voluntary service of international editors plus reviewers have enabled IJME to provide the open-access content to the global communities with no subscription commissions to readers and don article processing royalty the authors.  (PDF) Multicultural Education in the US: Current Issues and Make used Practical Implementations

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About the Journal

Focus and scope.

International Journal of Multicultural Education (IJME) is a free , peer-reviewed open-access journal for scholars, practitioners, and students of multicultural education. Committed to promoting educational equity for diverse students, cross-cultural understanding, and global justice for marginalized people in all levels of education, including leadership and policies, IJME publishes three types of articles: (1) qualitative research studies that explicitly address multicultural educational issues; (2) conceptual and theoretical articles, typically grounded on in-depth literature review, which advance theories and scholarship of multicultural education; and (3) praxis articles that discuss successful multicultural education practices grounded on sound theories and literature.  We accept submissions of high quality from the global community in the fields of education, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, and other social sciences.  We do not accept book reviews at this time. Submissions that advance from prescreening will be subject to originality-testing and double-blind peer review.

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All scholarly submissions (research studies, literature-based articles, and praxis articles) will be initially screened by editors for basic fitness to the scope of the journal and adherence to the journal's submission guidelines. Pre-screened manuscripts undergo double-blind review by at least two qualified reviewers . We strive to provide reviewer feedback within three months; however, a variety of reasons could slow down the process. Since we rely on the gracious pro bono services of professionals and their availability, the editorial team requests authors' patience.

Revision of a manuscript does not guarantee publication. All editorial communication is conducted through the online journal system (OJS) to expedite the publication process. Therefore, it is necessary that authors submit their manuscript directly to the journal site. Authors will be able to follow the progress of their submission in the OJS.

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IJME publishes three issues annually: Spring issues will be available in April, Summer issues in August, and Fall issues in December (usually a special issue). No submission deadline is applied to open-theme issues. 

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To propose a special issue as a team of guest editors, please examine the linked document: Call for Special Issue Proposals . 

Open Access Policy

IJME provides open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge and equitable educational practices. All published articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence ( CC BY-NC ) 4.0, which allows users to freely share and adapt articles on the condition that proper attribution/citation is given and that the material is not used for commercial purposes. Upon publication, users have immediate free access to IJME articles and may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose.

Indexed Databases

IJME is indexed in databases including, but not limited to, ESCI ,  EBSCOHost , ERIC , Journal Metircs , SCImago Journal and Country Ranking (SJR) , Google Scholar , and Scopus . Our ISSN is 1934-5267. IJME is included in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) .

IJME is sponsored by  Yonsei University's Institute for Educational Research in South Korea.

Sources of Support

IJME expresses sincere appreciation to  Eastern University  where Dr. Heewon Chang, Editor-in-Chief, has held a faculty position in  PhD in Organizational Leadership  and M.Ed. in Multicultural Education for having provided partial financial and in-kind support to the operation of  Electronic Maganize of Multicultural Education (1999-2006) and  International Journal of Multicultural Education (2007-present). In addition, IJME acknowledges co-sponsorship with  Yonsei University 's  Department of Education for their partial financial and personnel support since 2015.  The support of these two universities and the volunteer service of editors, authors, and reviewers from the global community have sustained EMME and IJME since 1999.  IJME is an open-access scholarly journal that espouses the mission of freely sharing high quality scholarly content with global users. 

Journal History

As the successor of EMME (Electronic Magazine of Multicultural Education), IJME published two issues annually between 2007 and 2012. Since 2013, IJME publishes three issues annually including one special issue.  Full texts of all articles in the PDF format are available freely from the journal site. This journal espouses the philosophy of the open-access movement, enabling the readers of the world to access the content of the journal regardless of their affiliation with higher learning institutions or ability to pay for subscription. The generous support of Eastern University, Yonsei University, and volunteer hours of editors, authors, and reviewers make this open-access project possible. (Note: Archived articles of EMME are available HERE .)

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IJME is a peer-reviewed, open access journal that is  free to authors and readers.