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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training in Higher Education: How Enrichment Imbued with Reciprocity Could Sustain the Complex Work

Schindler, Bee (2022) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training in Higher Education: How Enrichment Imbued with Reciprocity Could Sustain the Complex Work. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

This project evaluates enrichment offered by a Health Sciences Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (HSDEI) department tasked with embedding and retaining diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in six health sciences schools in an urban higher education institution. The evaluation centers on the realities of a primarily white institution’s schools of health sciences’ attention to processes and action items related to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, including antiracism and social justice advancement and by reciprocally attending to the unique positionality of the training participants and facilitators. Evaluation results offer pathways to build capacity in examining the self, the self in community, and the self in the system as a means to disrupt health inequities.
Health sciences has a long history of oppressive and unethical processes affecting health and wellness, which is directly linked to disparate outcomes for minoritized and oppressed individuals and communities in health and life expectancy, affecting the spectrum of experience, including both joy and death. This is especially true for racial, ethnic, educational status, low- economic status, sexual, and gender-minoritized individuals and communities connected both to the university (staff, faculty, and students) and to communities outside of the university.
Through document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and a version of a Community Engagement Studio (Joosten et al., 2015) framework, this study examines reciprocity as a driver for sustained DEI-related growth within the schools of health sciences to determine if the HSDEI training options align with stakeholder needs and assets. Four key findings re-frame enrichment options to interrogate: the colonization of DEI in higher education; the lack of attention to place- based learning for DEI to root histories and cultural significance; the dearth of attention to whiteness; and the criticality of the self for DEI facilitators and participants. The recommendations point to a spectrum of solutions to disrupt the components lacking in DEI training, including critical frameworks and questions to ask as an institution, as a unit, and as individuals. The evaluation analysis and recommendations lend support to future research with case studies, a flipped classroom model in DEI enrichment facilitation, and inquiry and best practice to sustain the work.


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Details

Item Type: University of Pittsburgh ETD
Status: Unpublished
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Schindler, Beebee.schindler@pitt.edubee.schindler
ETD Committee:
TitleMemberEmail AddressPitt UsernameORCID
Committee ChairDelale O'Connor, Lorilori.delale-oconnor@pitt.edu
Committee MemberMendez, Jasonmendez.jasonc@gmail.com
Committee MemberRoss, Sharonseross@pitt.edu
Date: 5 July 2022
Date Type: Publication
Defense Date: 20 April 2022
Approval Date: 5 July 2022
Submission Date: 13 June 2022
Access Restriction: No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately.
Number of Pages: 156
Institution: University of Pittsburgh
Schools and Programs: School of Education > Administrative and Policy Studies
Degree: EdD - Doctor of Education
Thesis Type: Doctoral Dissertation
Refereed: Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, DEI, Social Justice, Evaluation, Critical, Oppression, Disrupt, Minoritized, Engagement, Community, Epistemic, Knowledge Transfer, Lived Experience
Date Deposited: 05 Jul 2022 14:05
Last Modified: 05 Jul 2022 14:05
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/43127

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