ABOUT
THE MICHIGAN STUDENT STUDY
Welcome
Colleagues!
The Michigan
Student Study (MSS) began as an initiative in 1990 to undertake
a comprehensive examination of the impact on students of the
University of Michigan's
commitment to foster campus diversity efforts and educational
excellence. The ultimate purpose of the study was to contribute
to the campus community's understanding of factors that foster
and inhibit making the increasing diversity at Michigan an
intellectually challenging and broadening experience for all
student groups in the campus community. Although its major
emphasis is on racial and ethnic diversity, the study is also
concerned with the students' reactions to issues related to
gender and sexual orientation.
Over the
life of the Michigan Student Study, information has been shared
with numerous higher education associations, and colleges
and universities. The MSS is the first comprehensive, in-depth
research endeavor that utilized multi-faceted techniques (qualitative
and quantitative) to examine students’ responses to
diversity in a single institutional setting over their four
years in college. We believe this research has made major
contributions in providing the higher education community
with a better understanding of the longitudinal impact of
diversity on our students.
Additionally,
the Michigan Student Study has been used in the University
of Michigan’s legal defense of its admission policies
related to racial and ethnic diversity. The MSS provided a
wealth of data that was used by our legal team and social
science researchers to demonstrate the educational benefits
of diversity to all students during their four years on campus.
The Michigan
Student Study represents a strong research collaboration between
U-M administrators and faculty. From an institutional research
perspective, it provided us with the necessary data to impact
change across various programs and activities as well as enabled
our administrators to articulate the value of campus diversity
at campus, state and national fora. We sincerely appreciate
the contributions of various academic and non-academic units
that participated in the MSS over the years, and the numerous
faculty, staff and students who have advanced campus diversity,
not only through research but also through institutional programs,
activities, policies and procedures.
From an
academic perspective, research from the Michigan Student Study
has furthered the scholarship and academic careers of promising
doctorate students. Eight
Ph.D.s, cutting across various academic disciplines and
interests, have emerged from the Michigan Student Study and
contributed to the growing body of research knowledge and
understanding of the complexities of diversity in higher education.
The research
activities of the MSS are continuing, supported by a grant
from the Ford Foundation. With this support we are replicating
the Michigan Student Study a decade later, comparing the 1990-1994
and 2000-2004 Michigan student cohorts. This will enable us
to re-examine students’ responses to diversity in the
political climate of increasing challenges to affirmative
action, in state referendum initiatives and the courts, that
has emerged in the ten years since the original Michigan Student
Study. The Ford foundation is also supporting a follow-up
survey of the 1,700 Michigan alumni who answered our senior
survey in 1994, which will permit an exploration of the impact
of college experiences with diversity on work, citizenship,
and other life arenas almost ten years after college.
While
much has been accomplished, there is still much more that
needs to be done relative to developing a fuller understanding
of the complexities of campus diversity and its multiple impacts
on students. The contents of this website are designed to
give the reader considerable information on the Michigan Student
Study and the magnitude of the work that has been, and continues
to be, accomplished.
Sincerely,
The
Michigan Student Study Team
John
Matlock
Gerald Gurin
Katrina Wade-Golden
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