Diversity and inclusion Gone Wild

[mahagonny]

Looking at the professional development seminars offered at one school. They all happen under the direction of the staff in the Diversity and Inclusion Office. These staff started out as just one more harmless, easygoing enclave of administrative bloat and have become a de facto academic department with an agenda. They are dominating the college mission statement. They're telling us how to teach. Which means they're also telling us how not to teach. They almost seem incapable of processing any experience without responding in 'inclusion/diversity' speak. Should I ignore them, or should I participate? I honestly feel quite stressed about this. The culture is moving in the wrong direction. I am being asked to listen, absorb, analyze, then respond, but once I do, I will be swimming against a hefty tide.
Example (and not even the worst one): White Fragility: Why it's so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism book discussion. I haven't read the book. The title sounds like gas lighting or baiting. If I attend the session, I will read the book first if I can stand to. But would it be acceptable to not like the book, and give reasons?
Thing is, I would like some faculty development, but something that would actually bring me forward in my field. Remember that, professional development staff? Fields?

Sorry if it sounds like ranting, but I must not be the only academic who feels left out of the inclusion movement.

[mahagonny]

Here's an idea that puts the icing on the cake: move my new thread to the 'teaching' board. That's just what the problem is. In order to be a vital, engaged professor who just likes to teach and do it with vigor, we are pressured to get our 'woke' chops up to speed. And besides, the teaching board gets less traffic than the state of higher ed board, so in the event that this thread generates any activity, it will be more easily found. But either way works.

[irhack]

Tell me about it. The world is literally on fire and our students are basically holding sit ins because we still have (some) single sex bathrooms. I think I'm done with higher ed.

[tuxthepenguin]

Tell me about it. The world is literally on fire and our students are basically holding sit ins because we still have (some) single sex bathrooms. I think I'm done with higher ed.

TBH, it's probably best for you to do so, and it doesn't have much to do with the students.

[Wahoo Redux]

I've been at this school---figuratively speaking.  What is your racial and ethnic makeup where you are?  We worked at a school far out in the cow-fields with a student-body which was overwhelmingly rural and Caucasian.  The administration was absolutely obsessed with diversity, almost certainly because we had very little of it.  The "climate surveys" were exclusively about race.  Every campus read was about race. Every convocation included a diversity speaker.  And everyone had to go through mandatory "inclusivity training" which was taught at about a 4th grade level. 

We simply put our heads down, did our jobs (no matter the race of the student we were working with), and got the heckfire out of there (the place had many problems, not just obsessive diversity initiatives). 

I sometimes think academics police themselves because they cannot police the outside world, so they end up browbeating their own colleagues because the followers of Donald Trump will not care about and immediately dismiss books titled "White Fragility."  In other words, your Diversity and Inclusion Office has no better idea than to inculcate the members of the choir.

[mahagonny]

I've been at this school---figuratively speaking.  What is your racial and ethnic makeup where you are?  We worked at a school far out in the cow-fields with a student-body which was overwhelmingly rural and Caucasian.  The administration was absolutely obsessed with diversity, almost certainly because we had very little of it.  The "climate surveys" were exclusively about race.  Every campus read was about race. Every convocation included a diversity speaker.  And everyone had to go through mandatory "inclusivity training" which was taught at about a 4th grade level. 

Not like that. Not out in the cow-fields and they have a very diverse faculty (many women) and a very diverse both faculty and student body in terms of race and geographic origin. In terms of views, one would get the impression that's it's overwhelmingly progressive. But that might not be true. People with minority views or politics may be keeping quiet.
In terms of the impact, it's more insidious than what you've described. The school wants to be cutting edge. Getting on the diversity-speak bandwagon in order to promote yourself and your course offerings, which many part-time faculty do (and certainly any part timer who hopes to get in full time) is always a good idea. It's kind of like your ante to stay in the game for another hand.

[Wahoo Redux]

I've been at this school---figuratively speaking.  What is your racial and ethnic makeup where you are?  We worked at a school far out in the cow-fields with a student-body which was overwhelmingly rural and Caucasian.  The administration was absolutely obsessed with diversity, almost certainly because we had very little of it.  The "climate surveys" were exclusively about race.  Every campus read was about race. Every convocation included a diversity speaker.  And everyone had to go through mandatory "inclusivity training" which was taught at about a 4th grade level. 

Not like that. Not out in the cow-fields and they have a very diverse faculty (many women) and a very diverse both faculty and student body in terms of race and geographic origin. In terms of views, one would get the impression that's it's overwhelmingly progressive. But that might not be true. People with minority views or politics may be keeping quiet.
In terms of the impact, it's more insidious than what you've described. The school wants to be cutting edge. Getting on the diversity-speak bandwagon in order to promote yourself and your course offerings, which many part-time faculty do (and certainly any part timer who hopes to get in full time) is always a good idea. It's kind of like your ante to stay in the game for another hand.

Damn dude/dudette.  That sounds harsh.  Wouldn't know what to do there.  It is pretty standard to strive for inclusive syllabuses with a lot of diverse viewpoints, which is cool, but yours sounds like a potentially problematic situation.

We now teach at a school with a good deal of diversity in regards to both faculty and students, and occasionally you hear about "diversity" issues of some kind but seldom because, I guess, we have diversity. 

[irhack]

Tell me about it. The world is literally on fire and our students are basically holding sit ins because we still have (some) single sex bathrooms. I think I'm done with higher ed.

TBH, it's probably best for you to do so, and it doesn't have much to do with the students.

If not students, might it be people like you who would dismiss my whole career, or concerns, based on one line I posted on the internet?

[tuxthepenguin]

Tell me about it. The world is literally on fire and our students are basically holding sit ins because we still have (some) single sex bathrooms. I think I'm done with higher ed.

TBH, it's probably best for you to do so, and it doesn't have much to do with the students.

If not students, might it be people like you who would dismiss my whole career, or concerns, based on one line I posted on the internet?

Not at all. You said you're done with higher ed (all of it, according to your post) because a few students have a nonstandard view of bathrooms. If someone is done with higher ed because of that, they aren't a good fit for higher ed anyway.

[mahagonny]

I've been at this school---figuratively speaking.  What is your racial and ethnic makeup where you are?  We worked at a school far out in the cow-fields with a student-body which was overwhelmingly rural and Caucasian.  The administration was absolutely obsessed with diversity, almost certainly because we had very little of it.  The "climate surveys" were exclusively about race.  Every campus read was about race. Every convocation included a diversity speaker.  And everyone had to go through mandatory "inclusivity training" which was taught at about a 4th grade level. 

Not like that. Not out in the cow-fields and they have a very diverse faculty (many women) and a very diverse both faculty and student body in terms of race and geographic origin. In terms of views, one would get the impression that's it's overwhelmingly progressive. But that might not be true. People with minority views or politics may be keeping quiet.
In terms of the impact, it's more insidious than what you've described. The school wants to be cutting edge. Getting on the diversity-speak bandwagon in order to promote yourself and your course offerings, which many part-time faculty do (and certainly any part timer who hopes to get in full time) is always a good idea. It's kind of like your ante to stay in the game for another hand.

Damn dude/dudette.  That sounds harsh.  Wouldn't know what to do there.  It is pretty standard to strive for inclusive syllabuses with a lot of diverse viewpoints, which is cool, but yours sounds like a potentially problematic situation.

We now teach at a school with a good deal of diversity in regards to both faculty and students, and occasionally you hear about "diversity" issues of some kind but seldom because, I guess, we have diversity.

There is something else going on that I can't tell you about in detail. The gist is though I think they would like some of the old white guys to retire or go away.

[Aster]

At Big Urban College, our leader has gotten it into his head that the local race demographic of our region should be closely matched by the race demographic of our faculty.

Our local area demographic is something like >50% of various minorities. If you have any knowledge of what the U.S. statistics breakdown of PhD's by ethnicity is, you can see how problematic it is for us to reach even a fraction of the way towards the president's goal.

He's been leaning so heavily on adding more "diversity hires" that its becoming professionally uncomfortable for almost everyone.

Our HR office is being instructed to not approve faculty interviewing unless a minimum quota of minority ethnicities are inserted into finalist queues. So we're just stuffing extra warm bodies of half-qualified or poorly qualified people in, just to keep the search process going.

There is lots of muttering now on campus about reverse-discrimination. At some point I feel that we are going to reach a tipping point and someone is going to file a lawsuit.

[Anselm]

Ask your diversity / inclusion office to address diversity on the sports teams and see how they respond.  At my previous school they were having this discussion at the start of the academic year.  I asked what were their goals.   Did they want certain percentages for certain races?  The answer I got with a contorted uncomfortable face was something like "well, no, not really..."

[Aster]

Ask your diversity / inclusion office to address diversity on the sports teams and see how they respond.  At my previous school they were having this discussion at the start of the academic year.  I asked what were their goals.   Did they want certain percentages for certain races?  The answer I got with a contorted uncomfortable face was something like "well, no, not really..."

Yes. I have seen this uncomfortable face many times, every single time I am closeted in a private or semi-private meeting with the dean/provost/assistant provost.

Uncomfortable Administrator Pressured by Higher Ups: "It is important that we embrace diversity in our faculty hires."

Me: "Are you asking me to up-score applicants based on their gender or minority status?"

Uncomfortable Administrator Pressured by Higher Ups: "NO!!!! Certainly not!"

Long pause as Uncomfortable Administrator contorts face, puts hand on face, plays with pen, etc...

Uncomfortable Administrator Pressured by Higher Ups: "Um... um... it's just important to the college that we um... value diversity."

[ergative]

Ask your diversity / inclusion office to address diversity on the sports teams and see how they respond.  At my previous school they were having this discussion at the start of the academic year.  I asked what were their goals.   Did they want certain percentages for certain races?  The answer I got with a contorted uncomfortable face was something like "well, no, not really..."

Yes. I have seen this uncomfortable face many times, every single time I am closeted in a private or semi-private meeting with the dean/provost/assistant provost.

Uncomfortable Administrator Pressured by Higher Ups: "It is important that we embrace diversity in our faculty hires."

Me: "Are you asking me to up-score applicants based on their gender or minority status?"

Uncomfortable Administrator Pressured by Higher Ups: "NO!!!! Certainly not!"

Long pause as Uncomfortable Administrator contorts face, puts hand on face, plays with pen, etc...

Uncomfortable Administrator Pressured by Higher Ups: "Um... um... it's just important to the college that we um... value diversity."

It seems to me like UAPHU missed a golden opportunity to say something like, "it's important for us to query what we mean by 'fit' when we short-list candidates. Do we mean, 'this person will fit in well because their research expands our provision with enough overlap for us to develop meaningful collaborations?' Do we mean, 'this person will fit in well because their background and interests will resonate with a set of our student body that has not yet been very attracted to our subject?' Or do we mean 'this person will fit in well because they look, talk, and think like us'. Because one of those interpretations of 'fit' is not at all consistent with valuing diversity."

[marshwiggle]

It seems to me like UAPHU missed a golden opportunity to say something like, "it's important for us to query what we mean by 'fit' when we short-list candidates. Do we mean, 'this person will fit in well because their research expands our provision with enough overlap for us to develop meaningful collaborations?' Do we mean, 'this person will fit in well because their background and interests will resonate with a set of our student body that has not yet been very attracted to our subject?' Or do we mean 'this person will fit in well because they look, talk, and think like us'. Because one of those interpretations of 'fit' is not at all consistent with valuing diversity."

Fixed that. If everyone looks different, but thinks and talks the same, that's the gold standard for "diversity".