Everyday Administration: A Descriptive Account of the People, the Work, and the Strategies for Pursuing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on Campus Cassie L. Barnhardt
University of Iowa Jessica K. Ezell Sheets
University of Arkansas Ryan L. Young
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Jiajun Liu
Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University Peggy Valdes
Roosevelt University Amanda L. Mollet
University of Kansas Carson Phillips
Northwestern University Journal of Higher Education Management, 36(2), 49-63 (ISSN 2640-7515). © Copyright 2021 by the American Association of University Administrators. Permission to reprint for academic/scholarly purposes is unrestricted provided this statement appears on all duplicated copies. All other rights reserved.
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tod ay’s global society, college students are expected to learn how to successfully navigate the social and cultural differences associated with working with individuals from diverse backgrounds (Dey, Ott, Antonaros, Barnhardt, & Holsapple, 2010). The campus administrative leaders who are responsible for diversity initiatives largely shape how colleges and universities pursue equity and inclusion, similar to how other administrators have influenced campus responses to access issues in the undocumented student context (Barnhardt, Phillips, Young, & Sheets, 2017; Burkhardt et al., 2012). Campuses have become increasingly diverse over the last twenty years (Zweifler, 2013), paralleling the demographic shifts in the racial and ethnic composition of the United States as it moves to a majority-minority population over the next few decades (Passel & Cohn, 2008). In light of contemporary policies and legal issues surrounding affirmative action (Kahlenberg, 2013), the roles that these administrative leaders play have become increasingly critical as they have evolved in response to political and environmental shifts, signaled by their rapid growth numerically, and concomitant rise in profile on college campuses (Flaherty, 2014; Gose, 2013). Scholars have asserted that the appointment of a chief diversity officer (CDO) is a structural innovation used by colleges and universities to institutionalize their organizational commitments to diversity, inclusion, and equity (Kezar, 2007; Leon, 2014; Williams & Wade-Golden, 2007). By professional definition, CDOs are executive level administrators (typically reporting to the president or provost) who are charged with providing guidance, leadership, and oversight with respect to expanding and sustaining the capacity of the university to affirm diversity and inclusion in the pursuit of educational excellence (Williams & Wade-Golden, 2007). Typically, CDOs steward inclusion and equity within the context of the campus’s larger mission and focus by pursuing: 1) affirmative action and equity programs in admissions or faculty recruitment; 2) multiculturalism as a way of organizing academic programs, student services, or research centers with a focus on identity groups; 3) the leveraging of structural and intellectual diversity as a pedagogical resource to enhance learning for all 49
