Abstract

Since the US population continues to become more diverse, it is important to foster students' intercultural competence (ICC) so that they can work collaboratively with people from different backgrounds. The existing studies have examined the impact of socialization at school on youths' development in their attitudes and behaviors in the context of classroom. However, we know little about whether or not the organizational and individual characteristics have an impact on students' ICC development. This study explored the impact of high school racial composition and individual factors such as gender on the ICC of undergraduate students. The study used the course archival data of 48 undergraduate students from Fall 2024 to analyze the relationship between the students' IDI Developmental Orientation (DO) scores and the high school racial composition as well as other various individual, school, and city-level variables. The result suggested that high school racial composition does not have statistically significant association between students' ICC. Additionally, individual-level factors, particularly gender, play a significant role in predicting intercultural competence, while school and city-level variables show weak or no significant associations. The findings provide important theoretical contribution and practical implications.

Advisor

Chao Liu

Committee Member

Sarah Epplen

Committee Member

Elizabeth Sandell

Date of Degree

2025

Language

english

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Program of Study

Sociology/College Teaching Emphasis

Department

Sociology

College

Humanities and Social Sciences

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