Diversity Leadership in Higher Education

Promoting diversity as a core value among social groups is one of the major challenges faced by institutions of higher education in the United States. By focusing on racial and ethnic minorities in higher education, this monograph provides a view of diversity as a positive and dynamic social force in society that promotes its integration as a core value and process. Diversity leadership challenges higher education to move beyond co-optation strategies, in which diversity is viewed as a descriptive and static organizational element, to the adoption of transformational strategies, in which diversity is viewed as a dynamic and positive process. Through the promotion and development of diversity leadership, institutional leadership is seen as building capacity to promote inclusive learning and workplace environments in colleges and universities. As demographic shifts in US society create an ever expanding context in which the well-being of the nation becomes increasingly linked to the social and cultural groups that have been systematically excluded from full participation in American society, the need for positive cultural and structural changes that foster their inclusion in higher education becomes an important challenge to address. This volume provides an overview of the context for diversity leadership roles and practices in higher education. It argues for an alignment between institutions of higher education and the diverse populations they serve in this country. This is volume 32, number 3, of the ASHE Higher Education Report, a bi-monthly journal published by Jossey-Bass. See our entire list of ASHE Higher Education Report titles for a wide variety of critical issues facing Higher Education today.