The impact of a diversity course on undergraduate students’ multicultural awareness and inclusive behavioural intentions: a mixed-method investigation

Embracing diversity and inclusion is a key competency that future-ready young adults must develop to succeed. Institutes of higher learning bear the responsibility and represent a fertile ground for diversity education among youth, arming them with the requisite skills and competencies for participating in a diverse workplace and navigating the challenges of the inevitable diversity in other social settings. This paper describes a study on the impact of a diversity course on undergraduate student outcomes. The curriculum is divided into six units that occurred over a 12-week semester. Sixty-four undergraduate students at an autonomous university in Singapore participated in this study. Participants were recruited from two sections of the same diversity course offered through the human resource management program. The 18-item Munroe Multicultural Attitude Scale Questionnaire (MASQUE) was administered as a pre-post-test to assess attitudinal changes. Behavioural intentions were assessed by content analysing students end-of – semester responses to an open-ended prompt. Using the overall MASQUE score, results demonstrated a statistically significant difference between the pre-and post-test scores, with students caring and acting more inclusively at the end of the semester. Implications for curriculum development and personal growth are discussed.