Advancing Faculty Diversity Program

Faculty of color (FOC) lead much of the diversity, equity, and inclusion work that supports racially- and economically-minoritized students and improves the campus climate. In this way, FOC help institutions develop a stronger organizational identity around servingness - a shift from enrolling to serving the needs of minoritized students holistically (Garcia, 2017). Such work is critical. As campuses serve increasingly diverse student populations, like Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), the underlying structures of these institutions remain rooted in Whiteness. Research examining the experiences of FOC in leadership in HSI settings is limited (Ledesma & Burciago, 2015). The current research examines how FOC experience Whiteness in structures of leadership in an HSI context, and how their own leadership efforts reform such structures. Guided by perspectives in Critical Race Theory and Critical White Studies, the research team analyzed semi-structured interviews with 16 FOC using both inductive and deductive methods. Results revealed how Whiteness was reflected in the structural diversity of leadership; in the devaluation of leadership efforts of FOC; and in undemocratic approaches to decision-making. FOC reformed such structures by focusing their leadership efforts on the needs, voices, and lived experiences of people of color at the university; pushing forward collective, grassroots activities; and centering their approaches in collaboration. The collective voices of FOC call for an urgent need for transformational changes to structures of leadership in an HSI context toward the goal of building a more racially-just, equitable institution.