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Research on organizational diversity initiatives generally focus on either numerical diversity or racial climate. Both facets of diversity are critical, however, research has rarely examined their impact simultaneously. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In the current study, the authors use the context of higher education, to examine how variations in the composite of numerical diversity and racial climate predict psychological disparities between faculty of color (FOC) and White faculty. The authors test how institutions that engage in authentic diversity (i.e. institutions that are both numerically diverse and have a positive racial climate) compare to other diversity composites.

Using a data set of n=37,406 faculty members in US colleges/universities, this study found that racial disparities between FOC and White faculty for various psychological outcomes are smaller in authentic diversity institutions compared to institutions with low numeric diversity/ poor racial climate. Further, the data demonstrate that authentic diversity institutions have reduced psychological disparities compared to institutions with high numeric diversity/poor racial climate, but have similar disparities to institutions with low numeric/positive racial climate.

These results suggest that diversity climate may be the primary driver of mitigating psychological disparities between FOC and White faculty. However, it is necessary for institutions to authentically engage in diversity – by promoting both entities – to become more effective in reducing disparities.

Racial and ethnic diversity and the attendant challenges and benefits of multiculturalism in society are a worldwide phenomenon. As higher education is often the training ground for future social and political leaders, as well as the primary institution charged with the study of social problems, the educational benefits, and challenges of diversity in society are particularly relevant to institutions of higher learning. This chapter synthesizes the ongoing empirical research on the educational impact of racially and ethnically diverse university environments in a U.S. context and offers a framework of institutional practices based on that work to help administrators both respond to challenges and better harness-related benefits for all students.

This chapter introduces the tenets of international student critical race theory (IntlCrit) by expanding the critical race methodology to better account for the racialized experiences of international students of color (SOC) in higher education. IntlCrit emphasizes recognizing international SOC as a racialized student body and acknowledges international students' different racial contexts and experiences in their home countries beyond the US dominant monolithic paradigm of racism (Black and White). IntlCrit provides a conceptual foundation for scholarly discourse on race and racism by offering a set of tailored tenets while utilizing tenets of critical race theory (CRT). The tailored tenets can further advance critical analyses to examine developmental processes of racial “othering” and understand the ways that racism affects international SOC in the internationalization of higher education. The IntlCrit tenets include: recognizing and humanizing international SOC as a racial body; evolving international students' eyes (racial identity development); acknowledging intersectional and transnational identities; using an expansive and inclusive historical approach; centering race and racism on international students' experiential knowledge; challenging notions of color-evasiveness and meritocracy in the internationalization of higher education; and committing to global justice. While IntlCrit tenets are focused on addressing the contexts of international students, the framework provides critical perspectives that can be useful in understanding the experiences of different international student groups by nationality or region. Indeed, it can contribute to more extensive discussions regarding how racism functions globally and in the United States. Lastly, it is important to note that the IntlCrit tenets are not definitive or permanent but are a meaningful initiative that challenges inequities and inequalities toward international students' racial experience. I hope the IntlCrit perspectives contribute to including race and racism in international education scholarship and enhancing the policies and practices in diversity, equity, and inclusion to embrace the global, multicultural, and multi-ethnic/racial contexts.

Two cases recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court will likely determine the future direction of U.S. higher education. The cases Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger challenge the legality of affirmative action programs in the University of Michigan Law School and in the University of Michigan Undergraduate College. The plaintiffs, supported by the Center for Individual Rights and other conservative organizations, contend that the University of Michigan's affirmative action programs engage in “reverse discrimination” by favoring Black and Latino students for admission over equally or better qualified white students. The University of Michigan, joined by a broad coalition of universities, corporations, and social activist organizations, reject characterizations of affirmative action programs in the Law School and Undergraduate College as “racial preferences” or “racial quotas.” Instead, the University argues that race is but one of several factors legitimately considered in the effort to assemble a diverse student body where the educational benefits of diversity are maximized.

This chapter argues that despite efforts to increase the diversity of the library and information science profession, little has changed in the last four decades.

This chapter presents historical and current data on diversity within the profession and examples of initiatives to improve diversity in schools of library and information science.

The chapter explores the ways in which the racial climate of the profession has impacted all of these efforts to improve diversity in the field.

In this chapter, EYES theory proposes that international students view themselves and appraise their social standing of their own race based in relationship to extant social perceptions of racial stereotypes in the United States. These stereotypes are determined by geography which exude from the legacy of enslavement in the United States. EYES theory proposes that international students view racial differences through these dynamics by assessing their own identity in regards to race, colorsim and group identification. Specifically, international students use racial groups to classify, rank, and understand racial differences that are informed by these social geographies that impart a white/black racial discourse by which international students navigate their social status. EYES theory challenges the intellectual perception of heterogeneity among international students and in regards to race posits that international students experience mico and macrolevel contexts regarding race due to the socio-historical legacy of racism in the United States. The authors anticipate that EYES theory may have implications for study in other geographical contexts where a black white dichotomy serves as the parameter for understanding racial relationships and hegemony.

At universities across the country, students of color have organized and participated in protests, walkouts, and social media campaigns to call attention to racialized experiences that they feel have been largely ignored by their campus communities. Often these students of color are confronted with acts of racism that take the form of subtle everyday insults, known as racial microaggressions. Given the prevalence of racial microaggressions in higher education, the question arises as to how educators and administrators can effectively educate students on this concept in order to increase their cultural competency and combat these racialized acts. In this chapter, we consider how the classroom can be an active space to increase students’ competency and validate the experiences of marginalized groups. Drawing from critical race theory, previous literature, and our own experiences in the classroom, we outline several pedagogical strategies for educating students on racial microaggressions. First, we encourage faculty to arrange their classrooms for effective dialogue by being reflexive of your own positionality and privilege, collaborating with students on class ground rules, and unpacking the complexities of racial discussions with students. Next, we draw upon social media, popular culture, student-centered activities, and interdisciplinary research in order to demonstrate lived experiences of racial microaggressions and their consequences within higher education. Finally, we work with students on examining how they might contest these racialized insults in their own lives and potentially work toward larger social change.

There is a pressing need to teach students how to talk critically about race to understand the personal and political implications of racism in the contemporary US society. Classroom race talk, however, often includes moments of discomfort or confusion as teachers and students navigate new norms for making sense of race and racism. The purpose of this paper is to examine how one white teacher and her multiracial class of fourth-grade students navigated race talk tensions while reading and discussing shared texts.

Data for this paper were collected as part of a larger, year-long qualitative study on antiracist pedagogy. In this paper, the author analyzes video data of classroom race talk recorded during whole-class and small-group literacy lessons. Using inductive coding and reconstructive critical discourse analysis, the author examines how the teacher and students co-constructed meaning during tense or confusing conversational moments.

The findings demonstrate that the teacher and students jointly mediated tensions by using the practices of racial literacy, which included learning about the history of racial inequality in the USA, considering racism as structural and systemic rather than individual and asking and answering questions for continued inquiry and critical self-reflection. While previous research studies have characterized race talk tensions as problems or obstacles to student learning, the findings from this study suggest that tensions can be generative to developing and enacting racial literacy.

In the current political climate, alarmist rhetoric issued by conservative politicians and media outlets has discredited race talk as harmful or damaging to children. This study offers a positive reframing of tensions, which may provide teachers encouragement to pursue literacy instruction that equips students with knowledge and skills to better understand and confront racism.

This review addresses how student organizations are conceptually framed in the scholarly literature—organizations the authors referred to as “ethnicized student organizations” or “ESOs,” which include both Black Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) student organizations and ethnically white student organizations such as mainstream fraternities/sororities and clubs that are normalized as not having a racial/ethnic affiliation.

Critical race theory informs the analysis of 175 articles that address ESOs from 2002 to 2016.

Analysis revealed that a majority of scholarship conceptualizes ESOs in ways that can minimize the role of institutional whiteness where they are positioned as either serving or hindering both individual students and institutional goals. Findings also reveal a smaller body of literature that emphasized institutionalized power dynamics and honors the transformative work of BIPOC students through ESOs.

Despite widespread public commitments to diversity among institutions, whiteness remains a core institutional presence. This study illustrates the relationships among student organizations, white supremacy and higher education transformation.

Using survey research, the purpose of this study was to examine perceptions of diversity to examine perceptions of diversity and inclusion among majority and non-majority students at a predominately White university (PWI) and a historically Black university (HBCU) observing any patterns of difference between majority and non-majority groups to make inferences regarding students’ sense of belonging, given current national efforts to establish inclusive excellence on university campuses.

Results based on Likert-scale responses on a validated questionnaire were analyzed using independent samples t-tests to identify differences for each survey item. Eta squared was used as an effect size measure. The PWI and HBCU were then compared by item analysis. A two-way factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess the independent impact of each of the universities (i.e. PWI, HBCU) and the interaction of those two factors in their effect on the dependent variables (i.e. race, gender, sexuality).

Results indicated significant differences between the majority and non-majority groups on multiple items within each university site. Further, significant differences were observed between the universities in perceptions and experiences of diversity and inclusion.

Unique in this study was an examination of perceptions of inclusion at a PWI and an HBCU based not only on non-majority status of race, but also on gender and sexuality with the intention of expanding the research base associated with “sense of belonging” to other groups who have existed as “diverse others” in the context of majority culture dominance.