Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2018 Measuring Undergraduates' Global Perspective Development: Examining the Construct and Cross-Cultural Validity of the Global Perspective Inventory Across Ethnoracial Groups Lisa Davidson Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Davidson, Lisa, "Measuring Undergraduates' Global Perspective Development: Examining the Construct and Cross-Cultural Validity of the Global Perspective Inventory Across Ethnoracial Groups" (2018). Dissertations. 2950. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/2950 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 2018 Lisa Davidson LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO MEASURING UNDERGRADUATES’ GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE DEVELOPMENT: EXAMINING THE CONSTRUCT AND CROSS-CULTURAL VALIDITY OF THE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE INVENTORY ACROSS ETHNORACIAL GROUPS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM IN HIGHER EDUCATION BY LISA M. DAVIDSON CHICAGO, IL AUGUST 2018 Copyright by Lisa M. Davidson, 2018 All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My experience as a doctoral student transformed my thinking—and person —in profound ways. I have many to thank for their role in this. I have completed this project and this experience with and because of you. To my advisor, Dr. Mark Engberg, I am incredibly thankful to have worked with you over these five years. I have learned so much from you and am so appreciative of the many opportunities you have extended to me. I have appreciated your belief in me, namely during times when I did not believe in myself. I have also appreciated that you continuously model excellence and drive in so many ways. You have helped me understand myself as a scholar by encouraging me to wrestle with big ideas and questions. I am a better teacher, practitioner, and scholar because of you. And I look forward to our continued thought partnership. Next, I want to thank my dissertation committee, Drs. Mark Engberg, Ken Fujimoto, and Robert Reason, for making this project possible. I have learned from each of you and am incredibly appreciative of your guidance, support, and expertise. You three challenged me to think about this work in ways that enabled more learning than I thought possible. Truly, thank you. I also want to thank Dr. Joshua Mitchell, Project Manager for the Global Perspective Inventory, for working with me at the outset of this study and for assistance in providing the survey data used for this study. I want to thank the Research Institute for Studies in Education at Iowa State University for its support of this project and interest in using the study’s findings. iii I can only begin to thank my Loyola Ph.D. cohort for their role in this journey. Natasha Turman, Ester Sihite, Mark Torrez, and Jim Neumeister, I cannot imagine this experience without each of you. From the very beginning, our friendship and unconditional support of one another has meant everything. We celebrated the highs and processed the uncertain and difficult times associated with this experience. Joining you four as learners in this process transformed how I understood our field, my research, and my person. Megan Segoshi, my friend (and adopted cohort mate!), I also thank you for sharing your journey with me and for all the space you created for me to reflect on my experiences and ask important questions. Your friendship has meant so much. I love you all. I also want to acknowledge the following individuals who taught my courses in LUC’s higher education program. Thank you, Drs. Mark Engberg, John Dugan, OiYan Poon, Sunny Nakae, and Terry Williams, for cultivating profound learning experiences, both in and out of the classroom. I also want to particularly acknowledge two other LUC faculty, Dr. Fred Bryant, psychologist, and Dr. Ken Fujimoto, research methodologist, whose support and expertise I relied on in and out of the classroom. I have been so appreciative of your methodological expertise. And I am especially grateful to have received training from you both. Your empowering approaches help your students believe they can contribute meaningfully. I hope you both never forget the importance of that. I also want to thank Dr. Bridget Turner Kelly for her leadership of our higher education program during a very transitional time. In particular, I thank you, Bridget, for the opportunity to teach within our program and for the personal and logistical support during the last leg of this project. Drs. Darren Pierre, Blanca Torres-Olave, and Eilene Edejer, while we did not meet in the classroom, I am so glad our paths eventually crossed at Loyola. Your support and guidance iv as colleagues in the School of Education have meant so much to me. Thank you for your support, collaboration, interest in my work, and uplifting conversations. I have been so fortunate to have incredibly brilliant and supportive colleagues who—at various stages during this project—helped me process the ups and downs, listened to my ideas, and created spaces for me to reflect on what I was learning. Dr. J.T. Snipes, thank you for caring about both my research and my person during this process. I have learned so much from you and have appreciated that our conversations always encourage me to reflect deeply on my research and our field. Dr. Janett Cordovés, thank you for sharing your own dissertation journey with me and for your support during mine. You instilled so much hope and always reminded me to find time to love and laugh. Dr. Ben Correia-Harker, my fellow SEM-er, thank you for talking with me about important nuances related to my study, your overall understanding and encouragement during this process, and your support of my next professional steps. Kathleen, Stacey, Kayla, Henry, and Kris, thank you all for valuing the direct application of my work within institutional research and for your support, insights, and interest in my work along the way. I am grateful to my family as I conclude this process. I want to thank my brother-in-law, Matthew, for taking such an interest in the process of my work as it unfolded. Even during the busiest of times, you helped me reflect on my work’s purpose and talked with me about the deeply personal aspects of putting one’s work out there for others. To my brother and fellow Ph.D. student, A.J., your brilliance continues to inspire me; thank you for reminding me to always strive for greatness. To my dad, Glenn, thank you for your questions and encouragement along the way. To my mom, Carol, an educator herself who instilled in me a love of learning, thank you. And thank you, Jim, Malinda, Paige, and David for your support throughout this v journey as well. I also want to acknowledge Frankie, my canine companion, who lovingly kept me company until the very end of this project. I will always remember your unconditional love during my doctoral studies. Finally, I am eternally grateful to my partner, Mark, for all that he has done and who he has been throughout this experience. You helped me believe in my ability to pursue this degree before I began my studies. During the most difficult experiences, you lovingly listened and reminded me of my purpose. You insisted on celebrating all of my successes (big and small). You understood what was, much of the time, the totalizing nature of this experience. Thank you for making this journey—and all the other ones—so meaningful. I love you. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... xii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. xiii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 Internationalization within U.S. Postsecondary Education .......................................................... 2 Increasingly Diverse Postsecondary Educational Contexts ......................................................... 4 Global Learning as an Educational Priority ................................................................................. 5 Dimensions of Global Learning ................................................................................................... 6 The Measurement of Global Learning ....................................................................................... 10 Examining the Validity of Postsecondary Educational Surveys ............................................. 12 Cross-cultural Validation of Survey Instruments ................................................................... 13 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................................... 16 Purpose and Research Questions ..............................................................................................