Advancing Inclusive Excellence in Higher Education

Practical Approaches to Promoting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

Edited by:
Shawna Patterson-Stephens, Central Michigan University
Tamara Bertrand Jones, Florida State University

A volume in the series: Contemporary Perspectives on Access, Equity, and Achievement. Editor(s): Chance W. Lewis, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Published 2023

The primary aim of this text is to provide educators with specific strategies for engaging in equity and inclusion work on college campuses. We include the perspectives of faculty and staff with a range of experiences and expertise to address current topics evolving at various levels and functional areas in the academy. Rather than replicate findings and recommendations established in extant literature, we provide faculty, staff, and graduate students with the insight and tools they will require to transform established recommendations into actionable solutions and promising practices. This book offers theoretical and practical approaches to evolving diversity, equity, and inclusion concerns in higher education.

The core themes of this volume center on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in higher education. While some educators use these terms interchangeably, we define diversity as a concept that envelopes several modes of social identity, including race, ethnicity, gender, ability, sexual orientation, faith/non-faith affiliation, size, veteran’s status, etc. The practice of fortifying representation amongst minoritized populations without making considerations for structure and support has been the primary model for diversifying the academy for the past 40 years. Within the context of higher education and diversity, our conversation shifts beyond ensuring marginalized communities are represented.

Within each chapter, the contributing authors address a wide range of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging topics that are unique to their positionality as educators in the postsecondary sector. As editors, we intentionally identify authors with diverse professional backgrounds who offer a range in their approaches to addressing emergent trends in their respective areas in higher education. In addition to submitting manuscripts that engage critical examinations of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the postsecondary sector, authors were encouraged to design supplemental material for their chapters, such as training modules, study guides, case studies, guides for utilizing critical research approaches and design, and interactive activities that can be replicated in various settings on campus (e.g., the classroom, residence halls, student organization trainings, etc.).

CONTENTS
Foreword, Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher. Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Higher Education: Praxis, Pedagogy, and Research, Shawna Patterson-Stephens and Tamara Bertrand Jones. Feeding Fish to the Tiger to Survive: Interrogating Structures of Oppression in Higher Education, Kakali Bhattacharya, Jia “Grace” Liang, and Teara Lander. Problematizing Diversity: Imagining Inclusion Through a Liberated Lens, Charee Dee Mosby-Holloway and Sara C. Furr. Moving Towards Greatness: Implementing a Diversity Plan at an Urban Research Institution, Alicia W. Davis, Chance W. Lewis, and John A. Williams III. Recognizing and Addressing Implicit Bias in Adjudication and Title IX Procedures: A Case Study Approach, Shawna Patterson-Stephens. Building a Social Justice-Centered Higher Education and Student Affairs Program in California’s Central Valley, Varaxy Yi, Susana Hernández, Ignacio Hernández, and Jonathan Pryor. The Black Male Research BootCamp: Intentionally Shaping Black Men’s Doctoral Student Socialization, Jesse Ford, and Tamara Bertrand Jones. Meet Them in the Center: A Model for Embedded Sexual Misconduct Survivor Advocacy and Support Services, Sarah Colomé. Challenging Intersectional Marginalization in Identity Based Centers, Jonathan A. McElderry, Stephanie Hernandez Rivera, and Shannon Ashford. Resisting Interlocking Structures and Relations Through Social Justice Praxis: Insights From a Dialogic Exchange Between Three Black Women Academics, Talia R. Esnard, Deirdre Cobb-Roberts, and Devona F. Pierre. The Journey Matters: Examining the Paths and Lived Experiences of African American Males for STEM Success, Latara O. Lampkin, Adrienne Stephenson, Andria Cole, Jonathan Townes, and Marquise L. Kessee. “Not a Thing That We Talk About”: Recommendations for Supporting and Engaging LGBQ+ Identified Caribbean Heritage Students, Louise Michelle Vital and Mike Hoffshire. Conclusion, Tamara Bertrand Jones and Shawna Patterson-Stephens. Epilogue—Advancing Inclusive Excellence in Higher Education: Implications for Moving Beyond Diversity to Create Equitable and Anti-Racist Institutions, Frank A. Tuitt. About the Contributors.