Literature Review # 5

"Racial Diversity and Friendship Groups in College: What the Research Tells Us"


by, Anthony Lising Antonio, Assistant Professor, School of Education, Stanford University

This article is written by Professor Anthony Antonio, he is an PhD and an Associate Professor at Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research. He has done research on the influence and impact of diversity among college student. In this article the author applies the method of survey, in which he surveys a diverse student body, firstly in their freshman year, and secondly in their third year of college.This study is about racial diversity of friendship groups at multicultural colleges. He uses the terms "homogeneity and heterogeneity of friendship groups". Homogeneity means that students socialize within their racial group, and heterogeneity means that students socialize outside their race or class.He conducts this study to test the legitimacy of the term " Balkanization" which refers to racial segregation of students. His study proved that although Balkanization is present at college, but it does not dominate the campus environment. Moreover, he states " . . . at the level of student friendship groups, racial and ethnic balkanization is not a dominant, overall campus characteristic. Among a particular group of students, African Americans, same-race friendships may be much more common". So, this means that balkanization is mostly seen in certain racial groups. Further on he states "Regardless of the racial and ethnic diversity of a student's best friends, students on this multicultural campus still "see" segregation". This means that although 46% of students socialize across their race they still see student segregation at the college campus. He also states that his interviews revealed : "Perceptions of the campus racial climate, therefore, are important to consider to the extent that negative perceptions may discourage socialization across race, the formation of diverse friendships, and the developmental benefits gained from those friendships". This means that we should work to change students perceptions about other races or class so to remove all interaction barriers in a multi-cultural college campus.This study is important for my research paper because it tests the validity of the arguments made by the people who talk about the challenges of diversity. His survey proves that students perceptions about diversity greatly differ from their experience of diversity. He highlights this discrepancy which if solved can remove barriers of inter-racial friendships in a multicultural campus and provide students with an opportunity that already exists in their campus (to socialize across their race).  

Antonio, Anthony. "Racial Diversity and Friendship Groups in College: What the Research Tells Us." Diversity Digest. n. page. Print.