Effects of mixed groups on multicultural interaction and student experience

Abstract

This article studies the multicultural experience of students who completed a group project in an undergraduate economics course. Students were required to work in groups of four consisting of at least two nationalities. Feedback on this multicultural experience was gathered through a questionnaire. The results show strong support for intervention by academic staff to promote multicultural interactions on campus, identify many benefits and highlight potential challenges. We found evidence that students interacted on topics wider than the project topic itself, such as differences in culture, university life, and leisure activities, and that almost half of them agreed that their quality of work improved when they worked in mixed groups. Cultural diversity in group work should be built into the early years of degree programmes to help students develop multicultural competency.