With increasingly diverse student body populations, it is necessary to have a faculty demographics that are aligned with student demographics. Stewart and Valian’s (2018) book An Inclusive Academy: Achieving Diversity and Excellence attempts to provide a roadmap for laying the foundation for attaining an inclusive academy. Of note, Stewart and Valian (2018) focus on the six virtues that colleges and universities provide: “a search for truth, the freedom to explore all ideas, a respect for knowledge and expertise, a valuing of creativity and innovation, a commitment to meritocracy, and a willingness to open its doors to all groups in society” (Stewart & Valian, 2018, p. 3). Derivatives of an inclusive, diverse, and excellence driven faculty, are scholars and alumni dedicated to evolving knowledge and literature on topics that uplift oppressed individuals and communities.
Additionally, with a diverse faculty and inclusive academy, there lies an opportunity for the development of scholarship areas that were nonexistent prior to women and people of color being in the academy (Stewart & Valian, 2018). Stewart and Valian (2018) provides two main discussion areas in their book: making a case for why it is difficult to achieve an inclusive academy and action steps to take in creating an inclusive academy. Within these main discussion areas are the three most salient themes that this review will focus on: perspectives on difficulties achieving an inclusive academy; recruiting, retaining, and promoting faculty; and the role of leadership in inclusion. This review will also focus on the assumptions and assertions made by Stewart & Valian (2018) in developing their themes.
Summary
Stewart and Valian (2018) likens assembling an inclusive and diverse faculty to assembling a team; teams need individual members that are experts in various topical areas to thrive and survive. The success of the academy and thus the faculty is dependent on each team member bringing their varied scholarship areas and expertise. In addition, Stewart and Valian (2018) assert that “changes that are the result of team activity are more likely to endure than changes that are the result of a single person’s actions” (p. xvii). While Stewart and Valian (2018) outline specific steps for achieving a diverse faculty, they also identify six principles for developing a holistic and existing on an inclusive team: “use universal design; maximize each others potentials; take a different perspective; be alert to, and be willing to change, structural factors; try things out; and hold people accountable.
As an administrator aspiring to lead an organization through sustainable change, it is helpful to focus on the preceding team development ideals. With universal design, Stewart and Valian (2018) opined that with regard to diversity, “[it] means treating everyone equally, but in a way that is responsive to difference” (p. xviii). This also allows changes to benefit not only those who have typically been treated unjustly, but also the entire university community. Maximizing each team member’s potential requires that leaders get to know the strengths of each team member to maximize this asset for the good of the organization. Taking a different perspective is vital for a leader to broaden their understanding of the challenges facing their team; if the leader is only aware of one perspective, they cannot effectively manage change or a diverse team (Stewart & Valian, 2018).
A leader must always be alert to, and willing to change structural issues (Stewart & Valian, 2018). This means specifically “focus[ing] on finding out what structural and procedural factors are preventing diversity, and start changing them” (p. xxi). Trying out new ideas and holding people accountable allows the unit to embrace the creativity that each team member possesses. Additionally, it encourages innovative ideas in achieving the outcomes set by the unit. These six ideals emphasized by Stewart and Valian (2018) fit perfecting with their three central themes needed for a diverse and inclusive academy. Figure 1 depicts how each ideal characteristic fits with the central themes.
Figure 1. The Central Themes Needed for Diversity and Inclusion. This figure illustrates how the six ideal characteristics fit with the three central themes gleaned from Stewart and Valian (2018).
Themes
Stewart and Valian (2018) used a large portion of the beginning of the book discussing why achieving an inclusive academy is difficult. This is largely due to the disparities regarding recruiting, retaining, and promoting diverse faculty. To summarize these challenges, Stewart and Valian (2018) confide that the leadership of an organization plays a major role in whether or not the academy can achieve the goals of being diverse and inclusive. These three central themes will be discussed further, along with the validity and effectiveness of the themes to achieving a diverse and inclusive academy.
Perspectives on difficulties achieving an inclusive academy
Stewart and Valian (2018) stress factors and data that higher education institutions (HEIs) are acutely aware. HEIs fall short of the six ideal characteristics suggested by Stewart and Valian (2018) due to: struggles with belonging in the university culture for faculty and staff; lack of equity for educational access; social stratification with academic experiences and segregation; and a flawed meritocracy system. Specifically, institutional racism as well as overt and covert racism coupled with a university culture of homophily impact HEIs ability to pursue and achieve an inclusive academy (Stewart & Valian, 2018).
These perspectives did not provide new information, rather they further narrate the oppressive barriers that most HEIs were founded (Burke, Crozier, & Misiaszek, 2017; Kaplan, Gunn, Kulukulualani, Raj, Freund, & Carr, 2017; Wolfe & Dilworth, 2015). Systemic and institutional racism and oppression is not a new concept to higher education, yet most HEIs have only recently begun addressing their oppressive practices and policies (Williams, Conyers, & Garcia, 2018; Wolfe, & Dilworth, 2015). Stewart and Valian (2018) also make the case for the benefits of having an inclusive academy yet, reliance by HEI on meritocracy principles lead to inequitable judgments of evaluatory excellence for minority faculty and staff. Until HEIs address the mistakes of recruiting, retaining, and promoting diverse and minority faculty, achieving an inclusive and diverse academy will continue to be unattainable.
Recruiting, retaining, and promoting faculty
Stewart and Valian (2018) emphasize the current struggles and challenges of recruiting, retaining and promoting diverse faculty. Before HEIs are able to recruit diverse faculty, there must be a diverse doctoral student population in the pipeline. With the data provided by Stewart and Valian (2018), in 2015 non-Whites accounted for only 27.7% of Ph.D. recipients, but 26.7% of the general U.S. population (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Percentage of population and Ph.D. earning recipients. This figure shows the percentage of the 2014 population in relation to the percentage of Ph.D. recipients broken down by ethnicity. Adapted from An Inclusive Academy: Achieving Diversity and Excellence (p. 128), by A. J. Stewart and V. Valian, 2018, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Copyright 2018 by The MIT Press.
If there is not a diverse doctoral pool, there will be a dearth of diverse candidates to recruit. To maximize applicant pool that can apply for faculty positions, Stewart and Valian (2018) suggest broadening the qualifications of the position to highlight inclusive institutional values.
The institutional commitment to inclusion in practice must also be present in the evaluation of faculty candidates (Stewart & Valian, 2018). In addition, there is a need for the development of unbiased schemas by which to evaluate candidates, especially when “there is a demographic imbalance between the search committee members and the candidates” (Stewart & Valian, 2018, p. 235). Once the candidates become faculty members, it is also important to ensure there is equitable access to resources, transparency with challenging decision-making, and a collegial culture that breeds respect and appreciation for difference (Stewart & Valian, 2018). When considering the promotion faculty members, it is important for the meritocracy principles by which the evaluation is based on “both be fair and be perceived to be fair” (Stewart & Valian, 2018, p. 333). The authors suggest guidelines and templates that can be amended and adopted based on the point in time of the faculty members career.
The role of leadership in inclusion
To achieve an inclusive academy, HEIs must have visionary leaders that believe in and practice shared governance with the faculty, staff, department chairs, deans, presidential cabinet, and the board of visitors/trustees. Leaders of HEIs must also be willing to address resistance to changing exclusive policies and practices. Providing opportunities for formal and informal leadership opportunities for underrepresented minorities allows the following preconceived incongruent characteristics of leaders based on their gender and racial identity to be challenged: competent, decisive, forceful, and assertive (Stewart & Valian, 2018). By encouraging underrepresented minorities to fulfill formal and informal leadership roles, HEIs are starting the conversation of when and how to make institutional change for a more inclusive academy a reality.
Topics for Further Reflection and Discussion
Overall, Stewart and Valian (2018) achieved their mission of providing rationale for the challenges faced with achieving an inclusive and diverse faculty while also providing explicit action steps. As a leader, An Inclusive Academy has provided me with data to reinforce what I have experienced first-hand as a Black woman entering and working within an academy that has inclusion aspirations. The major concern that I have regarding the suggestions provided by Stewart and Valian (2018) surround their suggestion of having women and underrepresented minorities serve as informal leaders. This tokenism is not done for the appreciation of the lived experiences of minorities, but for the ease of implementing change for university leadership. In addition, this is another layer of labor that goes unappreciated and unacknowledged by university leadership for the benefit of improving university culture. Had Stewart and Valian (2018) provided narrative data that is generalizable for women and underrepresented minorities speaking to the desire to be informal leaders, I would feel different and not describe the suggestion as tokenism.
Conclusion
Faculty demographics need to align with student demographics for the benefit of student experiences and educational innovations (Stewart &Valian, 2018). An Inclusive Academy: Achieving Diversity and Excellence provides guidance and recommendations for HEIs to take to achieve an inclusive academy. By having an inclusive and diverse academy, there is a development of scholars and alumni focusing on uplifting marginalized individuals and communities. Stewart and Valian (2018) discussed the difficulties in achieving an inclusive academy. This review focused on the assumptions and assertions made by Stewart & Valian (2018) in developing their themes of: perspectives on difficulties achieving an inclusive academy; recruiting, retaining, and promoting faculty; and the role of leadership in inclusion.
References
Burke, P. J., Crozier, G., & Misiaszek, L. I. (2017). Changing pedagogical spaces in higher education: Diversity, inequalities and misrecognition. New York, NY: Routledge.
Kaplan, S. E., Gunn, C. M., Kulukulualani, A. K., Raj, A., Freund, K. M., & Carr, P. L.. (2017). Challenges in Recruiting, Retaining and Promoting Racially and Ethnically Diverse Faculty. Journal of the National Medical Association, 110(1), 58-64.
Stewart, A. J., & Valian, V. (2018). An inclusive academy: Achieving diversity and excellence. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Williams, S., Conyers, A., & Garcia, F. (2018). Practical applications of ecological consultation in higher education: Diversity and inclusion initiatives. Public Administration Quarterly, 42(2), 183-212.
Wolfe, B., & Dilworth, P. (2015). Transitioning normalcy: Organizational culture, African American administrators, and diversity leadership in higher education. Review of Educational Research, 85(4), 667-697.