Examining Racial Discourse in Diversity Policies at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

Abstract

Persistent critiques regarding the lack of racial diversity in higher education have sparked institutions to implement an array of diversity programs and policies. In concert, states have crafted policies mandating the benchmarking and reporting of institutional diversity efforts. These policies have resulted in the development of institutional reports that both monitor an institution's efforts and highlight aspirations. The increased focus on diversity has occurred within the landscape of shifting institutional diversity. The diversification of institution type is exemplified by the growth in Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), which in the past 20 years, have doubled and grown to educate over 60 percent of Latinx students (Galdeano, Hurtado, & Núñez, 2015). This dissertation considers unaddressed questions regarding diversity discourse within diversity plans and key institutional artifacts HSIs. Specifically, it examines the characterizations of racial diversity, how the discourse of race informs campus framing of Latinx students as raced subjects, and how policy problems and solutions are constructed within these institutions. Engaging critical discourse analysis, this study examines the diversity, equity, or inclusion report at 24 public institutions located in three distinct policy environments - Florida, New York, and California. Through a critical race theory framework, this work explores the discourse of racial diversity at these institutions. Key finding from this study includes the ways in which the diversity plans serve to both lay a foundation for a shared definition of diversity but, in so doing, advance the erasure and essentialization of various identities resulting in a narrow characterization of Latinx. Additionally, the research illustrates how institutions leverage their HSI identity for financial gains. Given the national discourse of advancing racial diversity in higher education, this research presents findings on the current landscape as well as provides recommendations for practitioners aiming to promote the construction of diversity policy that can deliver on this agenda.