Diversity and Representation in Higher Education

This is the second in a series of articles on diversity in education, each focused on a different form. Here, I focus on interaction diversity, which “refers to interpersonal contact with diverse individuals.” In the first article, I looked at structural diversity in regard to recruiting and retaining students and faculty. And the third article covers curricular diversity by focusing on how to add diversity in course materials.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in higher education has been a hot topic for the last couple of years, especially since the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. In the structural diversity article, I argued that the main reason universities have increased DEI initiatives is due to increased competition in recruiting students. This is in contrast to the messages universities have been sending, which are framed as either being a moral imperative or a way to improve student learning to better prepare them for the future (instrumental focus). This contrast leads to poor implementation of DEI initiatives, including hiring and retaining diverse faculty. In this article, I will expand on diversity and representation and why they are important for actualizing the moral and/or instrumental focus.

“Diversity of all kinds is generally associated with positive learning and performance outcomes. Not only do experiences with diversity improve one’s cognitive skills and performance, it also improves attitudes about one’s own intellectual self-confidence, attitudes toward the college experience, and shapes performance in the workplace.” – Deborah Son Holoien, Princeton University Trustee report on diversity

Representation Matters

Most commonly we hear “representation” in discussions around media – particularly movies and television. In recent years, there has been an increase in the diversity of who we see as main characters. One of the common news stories that go along with that are ones that feature people’s positive response to seeing “someone that looks like them” being depicted as the hero or lead or just as an average person, rather than a stereotype, such as with the movie “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”

But representation can and should go well beyond Hollywood. One well-known example of representation having an impact is the photo of a young child (Jacob Philadelphia) meeting President Obama and seeing first “hand” that the President of the United States had hair like him. The image of that encounter became so well-known that there is a Wikipedia page. That is the power of representation.

Universities are motivated to increase recruitment of diverse students. Similarly, they are, or at least should be, motivated to retain and ultimately graduate those students. These are data that universities watch closely since it affects their rankings and is a factor in how students choose between universities. As I mentioned in a previous article, universities are competing for a smaller and more diverse pool of prospective students. So it’s important for universities to take steps to ensure that the diverse students they are recruiting stay and graduate. Representation is an important factor in that.

A major reason for representation is that when students see themselves in the faculty and course materials, they are more likely to see themselves as having a career in the field. “Students thrive when they see themselves” in their professors and materials, thus supporting the instrumental focus. But currently, universities are over-represented by White and Asian faculty, while Black/African-American, Hispanic/Latine, Alaskan or Native American, and Multiracial faculty are under-represented. Without representation, students have “a more difficult time identifying with the field.” And with that comes greater struggles to perform well, leading to lower grades and ultimately lower graduation rates. Improving representation also fits the moral focus by better reflecting society. This would help students feel “a sense of belonging and inclusiveness.”

Diversity Is Not Just Race/Ethnicity

So far I’ve focused on diversity in terms of race and/or ethnicity (here’s a very quick description of the difference between race and ethnicity). And that is what usually comes to mind when we hear the word “diversity” and thus is a (the) major focus on increasing diversity. But diversity, very broadly, is anything and everything that makes people different.

There are many ways to describe the multiple dimensions of diversity. Carlos Tasso Eira De Aquino presents one model where diversity includes primary and secondary dimensions. The primary dimensions are based on things we are born with, such as race, gender, sexual orientation and include age and mental/physical abilities. These are dimensions that are much harder for one to hide and are more likely to be included in laws and regulations, and thus more likely to be a focus in DEI initiatives. Secondary dimensions are less visible but can very much affect who we are and how we are different. These include some of the categorical demographic questions used in surveys, such as military experience, education, income, etc.

Obviously, it is very difficult for any university, much less any department, to represent a full spectrum of diversity in its faculty. This doesn’t mean they should just abandon the effort in recruiting diverse faculty. However, they should help faculty ensure that their course materials reflect the wide diversity of their students. I provide suggestions and resources for this in the third article in this series.