Diversifying the academic faculty remains an elusive goal marked by slow
and uneven progress. This book describes an effective model for
institutional transformation which is uniquely grounded in group-level
processes.
Efforts at institutional transformation continue to center individual
actors. This is evident in the proliferation of programs that train
individuals on implicit bias, search strategies, and other diversity and
inclusion-based content as solutions for inequities in academia.
Acknowledging the value of these approaches, this book adds a new focus:
group-level processes. It unifies research on gender and racial inequity
with concepts from social psychological theories of group dynamics to
present a model of change centered on professional adult learners,
including faculty and academic staff. The book details the
implementation of group-level processes based on insights from the
learning sciences, higher education leadership, communication studies,
and group facilitation to instill norms for a more equitable and
inclusive institution. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data to
illustrate the impact of group-level initiatives, the book offers
recommendations to enable the application of this model in higher
education contexts.
This book will be of interest to researchers and graduate students
studying institutional transformation, academic social justice
leadership, and faculty professional development and to those interested
in integrating justice and equity into team science, translational
research, and other trans-, inter-, and multi-disciplinary fields.
