The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 39, No. 2 & Volume 40, No. 1 - 35

Men’s Diversity LLC

The diversity of the student body on campus
positively influences the climate and interactions amongst students (Hurtado et al., 1999).
Rather than focusing on a quantity of diverse
students, it is important to assess students’ attitudes toward diversity to better understand
their perception of the changing demographics on college and university campuses (Pike
& Kuh, 2006). Because UDO measures attitudes, we used it to assess students’ awareness
of and appreciation for diversity.
UDO is based on factors such as race, gender,
and sexual orientation (Miville et al., 1999) and
evaluates students’ attitudes of awareness and
acceptance of others, focusing on the belief that
“the shared experience of being human results
in a sense of connectedness with people and is
associated with a plurality or diversity of interactions with others” (Miville et al., 1999, p. 292).
Studies show a positive correlation between students’ UDO and diversity orientation (Fuertes,
Sedlacek, Roger, & Mohr, 2000; Miville et al.,
1999), and students with a higher UDO tend
to be more open to diversity issues, such as
religious tolerance and meeting and being at
ease with people from diverse backgrounds,
(Fuertes, Sedlacek, et al., 2000). In the current
study, men’s UDO and level of engagement
served as the intended outcome of participating in LLCs, or the environment within Astin’s
(2002) I-E-O model.
The purpose of the current study was to
examine men’s awareness of and appreciation
for diversity as outcomes within their living
environments. We sought to better understand
the differences in men’s appreciation for diversity by surveying men living in traditional residence halls and those living in LLCs. We used
Astin’s (2002) I-E-O model to assess the influ-

ence of living-learning communities on male
students’ levels of diversity appreciation, using
UDO as the predictor of attitudes towards diversity orientation.

METHOD
Participants
Participants in this study were drawn from a
larger sample of 232 first-year residential students who completed two online surveys (one
measuring students’ expectations of college in
the fall and a follow-up survey measuring experiences at the end of the spring). Of those completing the surveys, 55 participants identified
as men. Of those, 83.6% (n = 46) identified
as White; 3.6% (n = 2) as Asian/Asian American/Pacific Islander; 1.8% (n = 1) as Hispanic/Latino; 5.5% (n = 3) as African American/
Black; and 5.5% (n = 3) did not identify their
race/ethnicity. Of the men who completed the
surveys, 18.2% (n = 10) resided in academically
based LLCs. The racial/ethnic breakdown of
men in LLCs was 90% (n = 9) White and 10%
(n = 1) African American/Black.

Instruments
As a part of a much larger survey administration, all first-year students living in the residence halls were contacted via email by the
residence life staff and asked to complete the
web-based First-Time Freshman Survey (FTF) administered during the fall 2005 semester. Then,
in spring 2006 all LLC students were contacted
via email to complete the web-based Residence
Hall Environment Survey (RHES). Confidentiality was assured for survey participants.

First-Time Freshman Survey. The FTF
is a 62-item questionnaire to assess items
related to expectations toward academic
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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 39, No. 2 & Volume 40, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 39, No. 2 & Volume 40, No. 1
