The Cultural Diversity Climate “Big Five” in Schools: Dimensions, Facets, and A Future Research Agenda

Children and adolescents are growing up in increasingly ethnically, racially, and culturally diverse and often unequal worlds. Therefore, how schools, as key developmental contexts, approach diversity has important implications at individual, group, and societal levels. Here, we present a review and integration of research on cultural diversity climate in schools, focusing on five dimensions of diversity climate (the cultural diversity climate “Big Five”) and their facets. We begin by distinguishing cultural diversity climate from other related terms (e.g., diversity ideologies, diversity policies). Then, we introduce the five core dimensions of cultural diversity climate (intergroup contact theory’s optimal contact conditions, multiculturalism climate, colorblind climate, critical consciousness climate, polyculturalism climate). We describe facets subsumed under the dimensions, propose new facets based on theory, and discuss differences and commonalities between the dimensions and facets. Next, we review measurement approaches. The review concludes with a 10-point plan for future research on cultural diversity climate.