Validation of a scale of attention to diversity for university teachers

Resumen

It is the job of universities to face the greatest challenges of higher
education in the twenty-first century. Creating policies and practices to attend
to diversity is part of their social responsibility. Validated instruments are
essential to find out teachers’ attitudes and practices in education regarding
attention to diversity. This paper aims to present the process of construction
and validation of the Scale of Beliefs, Attitudes and Practices of Attention
to Diversity for University Teachers (CAPA-PU) created for this purpose. A
survey method with a non-experimental design was applied to a sample of 428
teachers from various Spanish universities. To validate this scale, analysis of
the content and construct preceded the selected items in the ad hoc instrument
in order to reach the representativeness of the construct. A review of the
literature on attention to diversity, especially instrument design, informed
of the definition of the construct and its dimensions, representativeness,
relevance, comprehension, ambiguity and clarity. In addition, reliable internal
consistency and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed a fitted
model and a five-factor structure: (1) Institutional Diversity; (2) Research,
Training and Teaching Focused on Diversity; (3) Teaching and Learning
Practices; (4) University Administrators’ Commitment; (5) Conception of
Diversity. In conclusion, it is evident that there is: a) current relevance of the
assumed construct of attention to diversity focused on actions that provide
learning opportunities to the most disadvantaged groups; and b) the need to
offer a scale such as the one created in order to attend to the processes of
educational inclusion in Spanish universities.