Showing papers in "Journal of Diversity in Higher Education in 2015"

Colorblind Mentoring? Exploring White Faculty Mentoring of Students of Color.

Abstract: In this critical multisite case study we examined the concept of colorblind mentoring. Using Bonilla-Silva’s Colorblind Racism Frames, we sought to understand White faculty members’ perspectives on their mentoring of Students of Color. The findings revealed that White faculty members often engage with students from a “colorblind perspective.” Their use of race-neutral, colorblind language (avoiding racial terms but implying them) allowed White faculty members to describe their students as academically inferior, less prepared, and less interested in pursuing research and graduate studies while potentially ignoring structural causes. Faculty perceptions of students may influence the way Students of Color perceive their academic abilities and potential to achieve success in STEM disciplines and in graduate education.

Diversity and senior leadership at elite institutions of higher education.

Abstract: This article explores the lack of diversity at the 8 Ivy League institutions using a Critical Race Theory lens. It includes a comprehensive literature review of the scholarship related to diversity in academe, but especially within the areas of elite institutions and administration. The article also provides data pertaining to the senior leadership at the Ivy League institutions juxtaposed with data on senior level administrators throughout the nation, using the American Council on Education’s On the Pathway to the Presidency report. Lastly, the article provides recommendations to presidents and institutions for bolstering high-level diversity among high level administrators. The authors stress the importance of addressing the historical and current policies and practices that either facilitate or negate the goals of diversity. They also encourage Ivy League institutions to create internal committees or task forces that focus on racial and ethnic disparities in senior administration.

Cultures of Work-Life Balance in Higher Education: A Case of Fragmentation

Abstract: In response to demographic shifts, colleges and universities implemented new policies, adopted new practices, and created professional development opportunities to gain support for work–life balance. Research on work–life balance reveals gender disparities, lack of policy usage, and a lack of cultural change with little understanding of the ways to bring about a campus culture that understands, promotes, and has established norms that support work–life balance. Research often recommends that cultural change be established to support policy usage and reduce stigma from work–life balance. This research study examined 2 institutions of higher education to challenge the notion that organizational change can be simply created and to examine the impact of fragmented cultures and individual identity on change. The 2 major themes—symbolic meaning of policies and children and discontinuity of symbols and policies—that emerged in this study provide evidence of the need for campuses to contend with organizational culture and, in particular, on symbols and discourses intentionally presented to reflect work– life balance acceptance. This study concludes with recommendation of how leaders, faculty, and policymakers can support work–life balance within higher education despite the ambiguity and complexity of organizational life.

"I Generally Say I Am a Mum First . . . But I'm Studying at Uni": The Narratives of First-in-Family, Female Caregivers Transitioning into an Australian University.

Abstract: The university student experience is both evolving and diverse. Increasing numbers of older students are accessing universities worldwide, and also access for student equity groups is a key policy driver in countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, and others. However, among this change and flux, how individuals manage their transition into this environment with reference to new and existing identities is worthy of further exploration. This article draws on 2 separate but complementary Australian research projects that explored the experiences of students who had all commenced university after a significant gap in learning. The participants that feature in this article are all female caregivers who also identified as being firstin-family to come to university. The article seeks to explore how the women managed this move into this tertiary environment and also the ways in which student and caregiving identities interacted. The article presents narrative vignettes derived from the collective voices of participants, each of which explores key facets of this return to learning.

Deaf Culture and Academic Culture: Cultivating Understanding across Cultural and Linguistic Boundaries.

Abstract: This exploratory study examined student responses to an interactive theater performance about the experiences of deaf students in the hearing culture of higher education. The theoretical framework for the study synthesized sociological work by Zerubavel, Foucault, and Bourdieu on construction and ma