The Importance of Diversity and Inclusiveness in Academia: Perspectives from University of The Bahamas Faculty (original) (raw)

Diversity and Inclusion in the Academy

Faculty Roles and Changing Expectations in the New Age, 2019

This chapter describes how graduate students of color and lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) students define diversity and inclusion and describe their classroom experiences with diversity and inclusion. In semi-structured interviews with graduate students of color and students who self-identified as LGB, differing views of diversity and inclusion emerged-diversity was described numerically, while inclusion was discussed in terms of action. Further, graduate students of color described diversity based on visible signs of representation while LGB graduate students emphasized inclusion and the need for voice. This chapter concludes with recommendations that faculty members can enact to create more inclusive classroom environments in higher education.

Malinda S. Smith, “Report on 'Perpetual Crisis?: Diversity with Equity in the Academy'”

2014

This is a comprehensive report for the Association of Academic Staff University of Alberta (AASUA) on the Canadian Association of University Teachers’ (CAUT) equity and diversity conference, “Perpetual Crisis?: Diversity with Equity in the Academy,” which was held in Toronto 7-9 February 2014. The main audience for the conference was members of faculty associations – officers, executive members, chief negotiators, equity advocates, and others interested in diversity with equity. The purpose of the national conference was to provide attendees an opportunity to meet colleagues from other associations, engage in high level discussion, share best practices, and build a network of contacts and support so that faculty associations can more effectively fulfill their obligations in relation to promoting diversity with equity within their institutions and the larger society. This report-back on the conference proceedings is for members of the University of Alberta academic community. It does three things: first, it provides a synopsis of all conference keynotes and plenary presentations; second, it provides the discussion groups’ three-fold recommendations to advance diversity with equity: (i) what CAUT can do, (ii) what faculty associations can do and (iii) what individuals can do; and, third, in the text and in footnotes it provides selected hyperlinked references and resources referred to by the conference keynote and plenary speakers. From these important recommendations it is anticipated that CAUT will develop and disseminate, in a timely manner, a plan of action for advancing diversity with equity.

Advancing scholarship for the diversity imperative in higher education: An editorial

Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 2012

In this brief editorial the editor provides (a) a commentary on advancing the scholarship on diversity in higher education, (b) an acknowledgment of the outstanding work of the inaugural editor and editorial board, and (c) a vision for the growth and advancement of the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education (JDHE). An abbreviated content analysis of the first 4 volumes of JDHE is provided, along with suggested focal areas of future research on diversity in higher education.

A Treatise on Diversity in a Dominant Culture University

The International Journal of Diversity in Education, 2013

The authors examine progress in strengthening the Diversity agenda in a school of education within a private Christian university. This agenda is informed by external academic accrediting organizations and principles of social justice congruent with the historical roots of the university. Special emphasis is placed on the unique challenges of confronting how privilege manifests itself in seemingly homogeneous environments. The ultimate goal of the authors is to promote moving beyond cosmetic compliance with accreditation obligations towards a metabolized second order change reflecting internal paradigm shifts in which social justice is a central motivating factor in one's vocation.

Institutional Barriers to Diversity Change Work in Higher Education

SAGE Open, 2013

While the concepts related to diversity and inclusion are commonly found as part of universities' mission and vision, implementing these concepts into practice can present a challenge. This study identified discrepancies between concepts and practice of diversity and inclusion at a multidisciplinary health sciences university. The results indicated that participants experienced inclusion along a range of engagement. Hispanic/Latino students, faculty, and staff as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students and staff experienced disparaging behavior on a regular basis at the University, which contributed to fear. The results demonstrate barriers to the inclusion efforts and indicate that the university must bridge the gap between diversity concepts and practice.

Rethinking Diversity Frameworks in Higher Education

Social Forces

Flint E dna B. Chun and Joe R. Feagin issue a challenge to professionals working in higher education to look more critically at the context in which "diversity" work is done, and to look at the systemic underpinnings of racial (and gender) inequality in higher education in general, and specifically at Historically White Colleges and Universities (HWCUs). They begin by discussing the national context of a looming white racial minority, high levels of racial and residential segregation, and the function of the hegemonic ideology of colorblindness to preserve the racial status quo. Chun and Feagin go on to make the connection between the combination of decreased state funding and the increasing college tuition costs borne upon students to the increase in nonwhite attendance at HWCUs. Skeptics might argue, on this point, that correlation does not mean causation, and that is true. At the same time, in the United States, public support for welfare programs declined when those programs were presented as disproportionately assisting people of color as opposed to white Americans. It follows that changing university demographics, de-funding public higher education, and attacks on affirmative action could very well be related phenomenon, and this is the point that Chun and Feagin make. They also discuss the lived experience on HWCU campuses, emphasizing the power of narrative in accurately assessing the magnitude of microaggressions or microinequities, which they argue are inappropriately named. For example, on most HWCU campuses, the authors note that the first amendment is frequently used to defend racist hate speech, white supremecist and/or antiblack incidents are relatively commonplace, and women and people of color deal with discrimination and with little to no recourse. This often results in the experience of racial battle fatigue for faculty of color on HWCU campuses. All this leads into the authors' primary critiques of the existing prevailing diversity frameworks; the central argument is that discussions of implicit or unconscious bias and microaggressions are deeply problematic and too specific in ignoring the broader contexts of systemic racism and sexism.