Millennials, Diversity, and the 2016 Presidential Election

Background and Purpose: Academic leaders have long identified a role for higher education in encouraging students’ civic engagement (Colby et al., 2007; Hurtado, 2007). Civically-oriented course content and co-curricular activities have been linked with increased political participation (Colby et al., 2007; Pritzker et al., 2015). Higher education also provides students critical opportunities to engage with diverse perspectives and values (Ryder et al., 2016). It is often assumed that such exposure to new values and ideas can increase students’ political engagement; however, research is limited.

 This paper examines whether undergraduate students’ views of diversity and difference are related to their political engagement through the 2016 Presidential election. Two questions guided our research:

1. Does openness to diversity predict students’ political participation? 
2. Does openness to diversity differentially shape distinct forms of student political participation?

Methods: An online survey was administered to 1,321 students at a large, highly diverse urban public university, using Voxco’s Computer Aided Web Interviewing (CAWI) software. The sampling frame consisted of all students enrolled in a state-mandated government course, required of all undergraduates in the state. The research team reached out to all faculty teaching this course in Fall 2016; the survey was administered in sections taught by consenting faculty immediately following the Presidential election (Nov. 9-16). It was completed by 895 students, a response rate of 67.8%. The distribution of respondents’ race/ethnicity was representative of the university’s overall undergraduate population. This analysis is limited to students who were U.S. citizens (n=787).

 The predictor variable was a seven-item Openness to Diversity and Challenge (ODC) scale (α=.89 in our sample) commonly used with students in university settings (Pascarella et al., 1996). Dependent variables included voting in the 2016 election and 18 political engagement items conceptually categorized into four groups (information seeking, issue-oriented political activity, candidate-oriented political activity, and social media activity related to an issue/candidate). Control variables included race, gender, and political party affiliation.

Findings: Mean ODC is 3.95 (.76), with scores on each individual item ranging from 1-5. Preliminary results find ODC positively predicts Presidential election voting. Through multiple linear regression, we find that ODC differentially predicts forms of political participation, positively predicting social media activities and seeking political information, but not issue or candidate-oriented activity. Men are more likely to use social media, with no other relationships between control variables and different participation forms.

Conclusions and Implications: Through positive campus climate, diversity-related courses, and conversations that challenge students’ perspectives, universities can impact students’ openness to diversity and difference (Ryder et al., 2016). Prior studies have examined how ODC impacts students’ participation in campus life, but not how it impacts students’ civic or political engagement. Findings build on prior research on both diversity in higher education and civic engagement, helping us understand how creating learning spaces that foster diversity and welcome difference can influence students’ behaviors as political change agents.