Date of Conferral

2018

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Anthony Fleming

Abstract

No system-wide diversity training exists at Immigration and Customs Enforcement Intergovernmental Service Agreement (IGSA) facilities. This study was conducted to determine if diversity training has a short-term effect on cultural awareness of staff in these facilities in the midwestern United States. This information is important to administrations in IGSA facilities when deciding to include diversity training in the annual required training of staff, as the efficacy and relevance have been unknowns. The theoretical foundation of this study is Smircich's organizational culture theory. A nonequivalent control group research design was utilized to collect survey data from 48 participants at 2 midwestern facilities. The survey, adapted from Underwood, was used for each group before and after treatment, as applicable. A repeated-measures ANCOVA was used for data analysis. There was no statistically significant difference between training and control groups in the final survey cultural awareness scores (F(1, 31) = 2.27, p = .17). These results indicate no statistically significant short-term benefit to staff in the IGSA facilities in completing diversity training to increase cultural awareness. It is recommended that this study be interpreted as a limited study, as the participating facilities represented less than 2% of such facilities in the United States. A recommendation for future research is to include more facilities and longitudinal data. Despite the statistically nonsignificant finding, there were implications for positive social change. Individual participants showed changes in cultural awareness. While not statistically significant, the acquired knowledge may prove significant in their lives, and the lives of those they encounter.

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