Disentangling the Impact of Diversity Courses: Examining the Influence of Diversity Course Content on Students’ Civic Engagement

Utilizing Bennett’s genres of multicultural education, the authors examine whether diversity course content clusters influence students’ civic engagement. Diversity course content clusters were predicted to influence White students and students of color differently, given principles identified by social development, cognitive development, and social identity theory. Findings indicate that diversity courses that emphasize multicultural competence positively influence all students over a period of 4 years. Courses that emphasize societal equity, however, have a greater effect on students of color when compared to White students. Implications for faculty, undergraduate curriculum committees, research, and theory are discussed.