Inclusive Identity and Multicultural Attitudes as Factors in Academic Engagement and Motivation in Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) and White British youth in the UK.

Increasing diversity within countries, a now familiar consequence of globalisation, has led some communities to feel the pressure to re-affirm their single cultural identity through rejecting multicultural integration, like Brexit in the UK. Shifting national discourse on multiculturalism will pose a challenge for emerging adults regarding defining their own identities and will carry consequences for their academic performance and achievement on the road to establishing their place in society and workforce. The sample for the study comprises of 500 undergraduate students from England, the UK between the ages of 18 and 29, who participated in the Inclusive Identity Across Cultures Project. They completed an online Qualtrics questionnaire measuring demographic factors, identity factors, and academic outcomes. AMOS Path analysis explored the relationship between inclusive identity, attitudes towards multiculturalism, and university adjustment and academic achievement of emerging adults from two ethnic groups (White-British and Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME)). The study showed no differences between BAME and White British students regarding academic outcomes. However, multicultural attitudes (affected positively by UK values and negatively by the experience of discrimination) and not identity inclusivity were a powerful predictor of university motivation and engagement. Thus, results provide an insight into identity processes of emerging adults at the start of significant societal transformations. Aspects of identity inclusivity and multicultural attitudes will be vital in understanding how emerging adults relate to diversity in Higher Education and how they affect their performance in the UK’s current climate.