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Cover image of Diversity's Promise for Higher Education
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Diversity's Promise for Higher Education

Making It Work

Daryl G. Smith

third edition
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Building sustainable diversity in higher education isn't just the right thing to do—it is an imperative for institutional excellence and for a pluralistic society that works. *Updated Edition*

Daryl G. Smith has devoted her career to studying and fostering diversity in higher education. In Diversity's Promise for Higher Education, Smith brings together research from a wide variety of fields to propose a set of clear and realistic practices that will help colleges and universities locate diversity as a strategic imperative and pursue diversity efforts that are inclusive of the varied—and growing...

Building sustainable diversity in higher education isn't just the right thing to do—it is an imperative for institutional excellence and for a pluralistic society that works. *Updated Edition*

Daryl G. Smith has devoted her career to studying and fostering diversity in higher education. In Diversity's Promise for Higher Education, Smith brings together research from a wide variety of fields to propose a set of clear and realistic practices that will help colleges and universities locate diversity as a strategic imperative and pursue diversity efforts that are inclusive of the varied—and growing—issues apparent on campuses without losing focus on the critical unfinished business of the past.

To become more relevant to society, the nation, and the world, while remaining true to their core missions, colleges and universities must continue to see diversity—like technology—as central, not parallel, to their work. Indeed, looking at the relatively slow progress for change in many areas, Smith suggests that seeing diversity as an imperative for an institution's individual mission, and not just as a value, is the necessary lever for real institutional change. Furthermore, achieving excellence in a diverse society requires increasing institutional capacity for diversity—working to understand how diversity is tied to better leadership, positive change, research in virtually every field, student success, accountability, and more equitable hiring practices.

In this edition, which is aimed at administrators, faculty, researchers, and students of higher education, Smith emphasizes a transdisciplinary approach to the topic of diversity, drawing on an updated list of sources from a wealth of literatures and fields. The tables and figures have been refreshed to include data on faculty diversity over a twenty-year period, and the book includes new information about

• gender identity,
• embedded bias,
• student success,
• the growing role of chief diversity officers,
• the international emergence of diversity issues,
• faculty hiring,
• and important metrics for monitoring progress.

Drawing on forty years of diversity studies, this third edition also

• includes more examples of how diversity is core to institutional excellence, academic achievement, and leadership development;
• updates issues of language;
• examines the current climate of race-based campus protest;
• addresses the complexity of identity—and explains how to attend to the growing kinds of identities relevant to diversity, equity, and inclusion while not overshadowing the unfinished business of race, class, and gender.

Reviews

Reviews

A must-read for anyone working in higher education... This book offers a deep, broad, and forward-looking approach to making Diversity's Promise for Higher Education a closer, rather than a distant reality.

An important contribution for its succinct and persuasive framing of diversity as more than an afterthought but as an essential and primary lens through which to view our institutional work education... This text unequivocally and strategically frames the implementation of our contemporary diversity imperative.

A valuable resource in offering a multifaceted approach for colleges and universities to follow in seeking to make diversity efforts constitute a core part of institutional functioning... Smith offers a very useful work that is accessible to a more general audience, including higher education administrators, as well as of value to scholars specializing in diversity issues.

Daryl Smith... has updated her landmark work on the importance and value of diversity in higher education leadership, research, student success, and other aspects of higher education... Smith offers concrete suggestions for colleges and universities to improve diversity on campus.

This book provides guidance for advisors interested in developing a stronger understanding of diversity related topics and provides the stimulus for meaningful discussions about methods that enhance the institutional climate for multiple student groups.

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About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
400
ISBN
9781421438399
Illustration Description
29 b&w illus.
Table of Contents

Preface: The Promise of Diversity Is Excellence
Acknowledgments
part i. the diversity imperative
Chapter 1 The National and Global Context for Diversity in Higher Education
Chapter 2 The Role of

Preface: The Promise of Diversity Is Excellence
Acknowledgments
part i. the diversity imperative
Chapter 1 The National and Global Context for Diversity in Higher Education
Chapter 2 The Role of Identity in Diversity
part ii. reframing diversity
Chapter 3 A Diversity Framework for Higher Education: Inclusive and Differentiated
Chapter 4 The Past Fifty Years
part iii. building capacity by interrupting the usual
Chapter 5 Identifying and Retaining Talent
Chapter 6 Working with and across Differences: Intergroup Relations and Identity
Chapter 7 Student Learning and Success
part iv. what will it take?
Chapter 8 Monitoring Progress on Diversity
Chapter 9 Making Diversity Work: Recommendations and Conclusions
References
Index

Author Bio
Daryl G. Smith
Featured Contributor

Daryl G. Smith, Ph.D.

Daryl G. Smith is a professor of education and psychology at Claremont Graduate University and author or coauthor of a number of books and articles, including Achieving Faculty Diversity: Debunking the Myths; Making a Real Difference with Diversity: A Guide to Institutional Change; Assessing Diversity on College and University Campuses; The Challenge of Diversity: Involvement or Alienation in the...