Chief Diversity Officers In Higher Education Today PDF Download

To accomplish the important work of diversifying the student body, staff, faculty and administrators in order to create a welcoming and inclusive culture, many institutions of higher education have installed an executive leader to serve as the organization's chief officer of diversity, with the objective of infusing diversity into the college or university mission in a manner that meaningfully affects internal stakeholders and external stakeholders alike. This study explored how the chief officers of diversity within small, private, four-year, colleges have conceptualized their role, giving consideration to modern structural and operational conventions of chief diversity officers, to the missions of the institutions, and to any theological underpinnings. This study examined the four principle organizational components that affect the productivity and effectiveness of the chief officer of diversity and are affected by the productivity and effectiveness of the chief officer of diversity. The findings of this study revealed that the chief diversity officers of small, private, four-year colleges are primarily ranked as academic managers within their campus hierarchies and employ the Collaborative Officer operational model to facilitate educational and social experiences with provocative diversity and inclusion themes, in accordance with the civil rights multicultural approach to diversity. The findings also revealed salient themes relating to these chief diversity officers' perceptions of successes and challenges: (1) increased participation from campus citizens was considered a success, (2) misperceptions about the role and purpose of the chief diversity officer's position was considered a challenge, and (3) scarcity of both financial and human resources was considered a challenge. Additionally, this study discovered the perception of increased tensions as modern conventions regarding inherent privileges and biases interrupt historically held campus beliefs and customs, along with the perception of incongruence between scriptural ethos, sexual orientation and gender identities as a matter of diversity, equity and inclusion. Finally this study discovered that the chief diversity officers of small, private, four-year colleges are aware of their evolutionary lag, and would reconceptualize their current roles to ensure future success by adopting a strategic leadership diversity approach at the executive administrative level of the college, as is the prevailing practice with their public counterparts. The findings of this study will advance our limited understanding of the current developmental lifecycle of the chief diversity officer position within private, four-year, institutions of higher learning, and will inform future considerations for diversity officers.