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Academic and Student Perspectives on Barriers Surrounding Diversity at an “Inclusive Excellence” University

Thesis by: Mackenzie Langley

Project Overview:

All Compiled Research

Across the United States there has been a growing trend to advertise, create, and sustain more diverse student bodies in higher education. Considering this trend, researchers have begun to take a look into the various aspects that play a role in cultivating diverse university campuses. As this trend towards cultivating diverse culture in higher education continues it is important to understand the complexity surrounding the work, rhetoric and student experiences, in a more holistic way. Considering this, my research explores the question: How is it that universities have so much rhetoric around diversity, and yet students with marginalized identities’ continue to feel isolated on campuses?

Understanding the Inclusive Excellence Framework

Purpose: to create a campus culture that meet the needs of all institutional citizens, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, gender, or other characteristics and fosters a environment where diversity can thrive

Insights from previous literature

Under the inclusive excellence framework, diversity must be:

  • A campus wide priority
  • Cultivated through a leadership development process that can enhance the skills and shift the mental models of students, faculty, staff, and administrators
  • Empowered through a formal diversity structure
  • Embedded in the symbolic and cultural fabric of the institution
  • Improved with motivational energy and entrepreneurial strategies
  • Accommodated by administrative systems in order to better support the needs of historically underrepresented populations (Williams 2007)

Reality on Many Campuses in Spite of Efforts:

  • Institutional Racism persists (Berrey 2015)

Qualitative Interview Based Research

Setting: 11 interviews were conducted at a private university referred to as RU for "Research University"

Participants: 7 Students and 4 administrators were interviewed.

Students: These students self-identified as members of various underrepresented groups at RU

Administrators: all held positions in offices with a particular focus on diversity initiatives at RU

Setting and Methods

Data Collection: Semi-structured interviews about:

Students: perception of diversity, campus culture, and administrative practices

Administrators: administrative practices, impact of work, and student engagement

Data Analysis:

-Inductive reasoning used to analyze the data

-Grounded theory used to evaluated all interviews with codes

Findings Organized:

Research Data and Analysis

1. Understanding the Administrtive Perspective

  • Themes surrounding Administrator Interviewees responeses about the diversity work conducted at RU

2. Understanding the Student Perspective

  • Themes surrounding Student Interviewees responses about their experiences with diversity at RU

3. Administrators and Students: Causes for the Clash in Perspectives

  • Putting Administrators and Students interiews in conversation in order to understand the misalignment that creates perpetual barriers to diversity at RU

4. Magnified Moments

  • What happens when all of the complexities surrounding diversity initiatives at RU coincide?

5. Reality of Inclusive Excellence at RU

  • Considering all the complexities the reality of inclusive excellence is brought into perspective

Administrative Perspective

Evolution of Diversity at RU

  • Over 30 years: developed from small office --> to multi-branch program

Administrative Practices:

  • Student Life:
  • Workshops and presentations to provide information surrounding diversity
  • Research opportunities
  • Faculty Engagement:
  • Workshops
  • Inclusive program implementation
  • Cross-Department work
  • Deans counsel to spread diversity campus wide

Understanding the Administrtive Perspective

Student Perspective

Understanding the Student Perspective

Lack of Diversity:

"When you're walking around campus, you can tell that you're not like other people and that does influence your mood and your work ethic and the way that you perceive yourself on this campus. You are othered by just existing on this campus. You don't look like the people surrounding you. You don't look like your staff members. You don't look like your faculty members. You don't look like the other members of the RU community." (Lane, Pos. 249)

Lack of Support:

"I know a student who's professor was making pretty racist comments. There were a lot of microaggressions going on almost every day in the classroom [...] And I know it happens constantly. And also, students don't want to report because they know that nothing's going to happen. It's incredible emotional labor. The students who are willing to report it are students who are often already doing organizing on campus." (Lewis, Pos. 184)

Student Burden:

"I think that administration relies very heavily on students to fix all of RU's problems and it's super important to rely on student voices. Of course, I don't want to discount that for a second and RU administration always needs to be listening to students. But, students who are supposed to be learning, that's why they are paying so much money, they are trying to fix the university's racism as unpaid consultants." (Jonah, Pos. 6)

Causes for the Clash

Causes for the Clash in perspectives

Lack of Cohession Within the Administration:

"What has happened over the years that that tripod tie structure has been in place is that what folks have found is that the coordination is not always ideal, and there's a lot of overlap, and sometimes confusion. So for example, when we have a [diversity event] on campus, who's in charge of that? Is it the faculty person? Is it the student person? Do they all work together on it? Where is the funding come from?" (Admin: Andrew, Pos. 12)

Lack of Communication Between Students and Administration:

"I think that can be sort of summed up in the fact that internal communications within RU is sort of indicative of our lack of community. It's very hard to get word around the entire campus […] I think there's just a huge disconnect internally within the university." (Student: Lane, Pos. 213)

Magnified Moments

Magnified Moments

Trailblazer:

  • School Moniker --> Perpetuates the divide
  • "Looking at our moniker, the trailblazer, well, of course that shouldn't be the moniker of a school that's promoting diversity and inclusion, and is sitting on [Native] land." (Student: Lewis, Pos. 22)
  • Both Administrators and Students felth this way, but due to communication barriers at RU this issue persists

Student Activism:

  • Variation in administrative response to two protest movements
  • Brings into question the impact of race
  • "There's something about kind of the way that we engage with our white communities versus our communities of color. I have asked myself, what if the [sexual assault protest] campaign was run by, led by, and featured women and trans women of color? Would RU be reacting the same way? And I don't know." (Admin: Lisa, Pos. 244)
  • A university cannot cultivate safe diverse spaces when

students with marganalized identities feel their

problems don't matter to administration

Reality of Inclusive Excellence at RU

Reality of Inclusive Excellence at RU

Administrators:

  • A range of perspectives show continued lack of cohession within committee
  • As a value- strong ramifications can exist
  • It has served its purpose, time to move on
  • Beneficial as a constant aspiration

Students:

  • Empty words
  • Marketing ploy
  • "I see inclusive excellence as a whole bunch of half deeds, and also a front that RU puts up and sort of looks good to have this goal without radically moving towards those goals. That's sort of how I view it here." (Student: Lane, Pos. 201)

Suggestions

Suggestions for RU

Where RU is falling short within the Inclusive Excellence Framework:

  • Diversity must be a campus wide priority
  • Diversity needs to be embedded in the symbolic fabric of the institution and
  • Communicating diversity work must be consistent, cohesive, and transparent

Suggestions:

  • Change Diversity office layout
  • Create more policy around diversity
  • Create open counsel for students and administration to discuss diversity
  • Rethink timeline for change

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