Challenging White Privilege in Higher Education: Theoretical Models

“You don’t stick a knife in a man’s back nine inches

and then pull it out six inches and say

you’re making progress…”

(Malcolm X, 1964)

stick a knifeninesix

[Data from Cathy A. Trower and Richard P. Chait on “Faculty Diversity” in Harvard Magazine, 2002)

91 percent of the full professors at research universities are white; 75 percent are male…

87 percent of the full-time faculty members in the United States are white; 64 percent are male…

91 %white87% white

Only 5 percent of the full professors in the U.S. are black, Hispanic, or

Native American…

In the U.S. in 2000, minorities earned 16 percent of the master’s degrees and 18.6 percent of the

doctorates…

The percentage increase of minority faculty between1983 and 1993 moved from 9.3 percent to 12.2 percent (mostly attributable to gains by Asian Americans)…

The proportion of black faculty at predominantly white colleges and universities today is 2.3 percent

(virtually the same as in 1979)…

The proportion of tenured faculty of color increased 3 percentage points from 1989 to 1997—all minority males. The proportion of minority females dropped

1 percentage point…

“a generational wave of faculty hiring nationwide lies just ahead…”

(Trower and Chait, 2002)

(see Trower and Chait, Project on Faculty Appointments at the Harvard Graduate School of Education,

www.gse.harvard.edu/~hpfa )

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

Proverbs 29:18

The academy as a unified, diversified,progressive

institution regarding matters of race and

ethnicity.

Vision:

unifieddiversifiedprogressive

DIVERSITY IN THE ACADEMY

Where are we now?

Where are we going?

What will it take to get there?

20th Century!!!!

NO HOLD 1940-1960 (“Statement on Tenure & Academic Freedom”)

TOE HOLD 1960–1980 ( Initial efforts from “Affirmative Action” )

FOOT HOLD 1980--2000 ( Aftermath of “Civil-Rights Era” )

21st Century????

THRESHOLD 2000--2020 ( Nationwide wave of new faculty hires )

STRONGHOLD 2020--2040 (Unified, diversified Institutions)

DIVERSITY IN THE ACADEMY

The concept of “white skin privilege”

“white skin privilege is a corollary of (although not synonymous with)

racism…”

“skin privilege not only has disadvantaged faculty of color, it has automatically advantaged white faculty…”

{cf. Peggy McIntosh, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack andThe National SEED Project on Inclusive Curriculum}

“privilege can have positive and negative valence…”

“being color-blind is not a viable solution at this historical juncture…”

“being color-blind in recruiting faculty today is functionally similar to being racially-biased in

previous times…”

“race needs to matter now from a strength-based perspective…”

“white skin privilege usually includes… “ ( P. McIntosh): invisible, unearned assets

lack of awareness of “overrewards” due to racial status

belief in the “myth of meritocracy”

power “conferred systematically”

the automatic ability to set agendas and assert preferences

resources and a “concomitant sense of social efficacy”

“white supremacy continues to shape perspectives on reality… Nowhere is

it more evident than in university settings.” (b. hooks)

“being white (or male) is not the problem; perpetuating white (male) privilege is…”

“…if racial and sexual discrimination could be abated through the good will and meritorious judgment of

those in power, affirmative action would be unnecessary.”(C. West)

“…are accustomed to being the custodians of power” (C. West)

“bourgeois preoccupation with white peer approval…” (C. West)

“obsession with white racism…” (C. West)

“…meaningful coalitions with white progressives.”

“Skin privilege is experienced on a daily basis in our interactions with colleagues…”

“Not feeling outnumbered…”

“Not worried about culture…”

“Not feeling like an outsider…”

“Not subject to racial repercussions…”

“Advocating for faculty diversity is more than self-interest. It is about self-worth and social interest.”

Race-conscious hiring practices

“The controversy over race-based preferences

in education…”

“The anti-affirmative action concept of ‘reverse discrimination’ needs to be reframed as ‘reduced (balanced) opportunity’ ”

(F. Pincus)

“ ‘equal opportunity’ is not a viable concept in a system characterized by white skin privilege…”

Discourse on Affirmative Action

1969

1984

Present

“rem

edial

acti

on…

” “no preferential treatment…”

“Reviving earlier positive emphases from affirmative action…

• reduce continuing effects of past racism

• avoid new discrimination against white people

• consider race as a factor, not the factor

“An old anti-affirmative action message: Race-conscious hiring…

violates white rights

unfairly advantages people of color

stigmatizes people of color

ignores poor white people.”

“…white males might well face reduced opportunities because they can no longer take advantage of the privileges they received by past race

and gender discrimination. However, this reduced opportunity has nothing to do with what we normally call discrimination.” (F. Pincus)

“Skeptics may be more likely to accept the small degree of reduced opportunity that results from

goals and timetables if they understand that it is a result of increased competition rather than quotas.”

(F. Pincus)

“access discrimination…”“treatment discrimination…”

“Issues of…

control,

power,

comfort.”

“deconstructing the status quo…”

“change agents need to recognize various faculty profiles of white privilege…”

“faculty profiles standing in the way of change…

the naïve profile…

the gentrified profile…

the indifferent profile…

the punitive profile…

“the transforming profile…”

Organizational considerations

“changing the organizational climate within the academy…”

from a monocultural organization…

to a pluralistic organization…to a multicultural organization… [T. Cox]

“Force field model of change…(K. Lewin)

unfreezing…

changing the status quo….

refreezing…”

driving forces ~ [status quo] ~ restraining forces

“increase incentives to change… increase the change agent’s power…

decrease the resistor’s fear of failure…

decrease the likelihood ofeconomic loss for the resistor…

co-opt or remove resistors…

“ unfreezing…civil rights in the 1960s…affirmative action into the mid 1980s…

“refreezing…changing the social construct of “discrimination” to include “reverse discrimination” or shifting the discourse of unfair hiring practices to focus on “quotas”

“the status quo? …how much change has really occurred ?

“Resistance to change in organizations…

passive resistance…

active resistance…

Examples of passive and active resistance”

doing only what is ordered…

protests…

doing as little as possible…

deliberate sabotage…

[cf. A. Judson, Changing behavior in organizations: Minimizing resistance to change, 1991.]

DEAD

Status Quo

END

denial that there is a problem

euphemistic suggestions, as if more progress has been made

agitation, behind the scenes, in primarily white faculty coalitions

dismantling of previous advances when opportunities arise

ennui, to the point that no action plans are established

nastiness, to make the lives of faculty of color unpleasant

dissembling, with the color-blind ruse or myth of meritocracy

“moving from a “mono-cultural” to a “multi-cultural” organization

“multicultural organizations will…

benefit from many culture specific ways of doing things

actively confront bias and try to remedy its re-occurrence

match policies regarding fair hiring, with actual practice

expend extra effort and resources for equal opportunity

“Changing from a traditional to a multicultural organization requires…

(T. Cox):leadership, to set goals, provide bias-reduction training, minimize

intergroup conflict, etc.internal research, with effective measurements to identify problems, and then act on the data …

education, to make explicit the under-representationof minorities in the work-force…

follow-up regarding the goals of the change process…

changes in management systems that reflect diversity…

“we can yield…” “we can contend…”“we can problem-solve…”

“what I can do on a personal level…”

“what we can do at a departmental level…”

“what we can do at an administrative level…”

personaldepartmental

administrative

INDIVIDUAL ACTION:

“the power of one…a pyramid effect…”

DEPARTMENTAL ACTION:1. form a work team to achieve workplace diversity…

A. to assess the organizational climate of the department regarding diversity…

B. to determine historical patterns within the department in hiring and retaining faculty of

color, and in recruiting and mentoring students of color…

C. to determine realistic “thresholds” and set goals for developing a pluralistic, multicultural

university3. develop a pipeline…

2. conduct studies…

ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION:

Organizational leaders invested in change need to:

1. determine who will oppose the change;

2. determine who can facilitate the changes;

3. build broad coalitions to support the change process;

4. fill key positions with competent change agents;

5. use task forces to guide the implementation of change;6. initially, make changes on a small scale,

with symbolic value;7. change organizational structures, when necessary; and

8. monitor the progress of proposed changes.

{cf. G. Yukl, Leadership in organizations, 1998.}

Requirements for progressive scholars and activists…

Heart…

Hands…

Voice…

Ears…

Delayed but not Denied