So systemic bias, it's really difficult to decouple from the history of higher education. So historically higher education was not created as an inclusive institution. It was very exclusive to certain individuals who had a certain level of privilege. But at the same time, higher education has recognized that in order to sustain our democracy, and the important pillars of our democracy, it had to be more inclusive. So higher education has changed. However, old cultural models are difficult to change. And I think that there still is a lot of institutional biases. Everything from how we understand our students, what the idea of a student is, who should lead, who should be in the classroom to teach. And sometimes they are very subtle and sometimes not so subtle. And I think that well intended leaders and faculty often have integrated the old cultural models and unconsciously perpetuate some of those inequalities. Everything from the type of, perhaps, journals that you're published in, and also if you are a faculty of color, exclusively, focusing on issues of color, sometimes there's a tendency to maybe see that. Less valuable then, perhaps, mainstream research. So those are some of the observations I've picked up throughout my years in higher education. And it varies from institutions to institution. My institution's one of the top three most diverse institutions in the country. So there's a real awareness and embracing of that identity. But even within that rhetoric of embracing, there are some individuals that feel uncomfortable with that identity. So it's a constant negotiation and a constant conversation, and engaging. >> One of the, sort of systemic structures, that I've noticed, at the University, is the process. The bringing people into the professoriate, at the institution, and particularly attending promotion process. Recently in the last year, have an opportunity just sort of on the promotion and tenure committee for our unit at the institution. And so, one of the things that I have observed is that, if there is a kind of sameness in the people who end up being long-termers at the institution, being able to stay, is that there is a kind of mindset of what success looks like in terms of the professoriate. We put a great deal of emphasis on research as a research institution. And but not just research, research of a particular kind. That research is qualitative, and it is publishable in the accepted publications, etc. So that if one is not sort of focused on those kinds of goals around their academic pursuits, it is harder for them to get promoted and into the tenure ranks. So it's systemic, I don't think we actually think it's about exclusion, we think it's about equality. But it's about equality of a particular type, even though we even change or think we change the promotion tenure regulation. The change even moves in a certain direction that keeps the old system in place, so that's one of the kinds of systemic biases that I see because I'm close to it as a professor. Another, I think we see in the admissions process, I think although we've made some progress, especially in our program, where we only take about ten doctoral students a year. If you look at the places where they come from, they're graduates of institutions that are very, very similar to. So that it is often very hard to see someone who comes into the institution from a smaller liberal arts institution. The majority of students that we see coming into the program, in some ways, even though they're coming much more diverse, and within that diversity there is a saying kind of sameness that I think is part of the systemic bias toward a certain kind of profile for our students. >> Two examples come to mind. One is regarding our biases when we think about what's the type of leader that can lead in our institution, specifically the provost role. Another example that comes to mind is when we're asking ourself, what does the ideal student look like. We're all looking to improve our outcomes and we always want to attract the ideal student. When I think about the [INAUDIBLE] example, I'm at a state institution. We're about 11 years old. And when we asked across campus what kind of leader do you want, certain qualities bubbled up that got me excited in terms of, like we're really going to change the model of what a looks like. And that excited me in terms of designing a new institution to meet the needs of a new type of student. But when it came down to it and I mean specifically like in the search process, we so quickly default to old kind of standards, and again this is where the bias comes in of who's academically prepared. Who's a qualified candidate? Questioning pedigree, questioning did they follow the trajectory of tenure track? What type of institution they came from, examples. And so, then, it became disheartening. That we had a lot of excitement around choosing a visionary provost. But when it came down to it, we excluded a lot of people that could have fulfilled that role, because we were questioning their pedigree, where did they get their degree? And that was a very real example of how we default to our systematic biases. In the example of the what is the ideal student, it seems like the default is first time, full time student that is college-ready. Well, of course, that's the ideal student, but it's not a reality. And then, we try to force certain incentives and match it to that profile. So we have a program 15 to Finish. So if you take 15 credits every semester, you're going to graduate in 4 years, etc. Well, it's not realistic with our student demographic. We have students that have to work and provide for their families. So 15 to Finish, we're trying to force the ideal and our incentives into that profile, and there's a mismatch. And why can't we see our ideal student as that student that has the grit, that can take 12 classes, hold a full time job, and maybe graduate in six years? Why is that not our ideal student? >> So I see it planned different ways. I see it in tenure, we have a lot of people that maybe don't make full professor. We have more staff positions and faculty lines for people of color. I see it in policies. Currently, I serve as the President of the Texas Association of College Teachers, and so I represent community colleges, public and private universities, and I think that a lot of the policies, when they're made, people don't realize the effect that it has on. We talk about diversity and inclusion but we're not really practicing what we preach. >> When I walk into meetings I'm oftentimes the only women in these meetings. Still with upper administration, still primarily male. Well, I feel really blessed on my campus, we do have quite a bit of diversity, when you look at upper administration. It's still not as diverse as our student body population or our state is and so there's I think those examples of those structures being reinforced on a daily basis. >> We kind of step into a role or position and kind of assume what was status quo. We say, well, someone before did this, I will continue to do this. And so, they get reinforced, because that's what you just stepped into. And you don't challenge it, I know definitely as a new professional that's what I did, I assumed that what was in place was already good. I never asked the questions that I needed to to really challenge and actually say, is it good in this current context, when I thought about a new leadership, is it good in this current context because of context change? And so, that's what I've been reflecting a lot about, in order to challenge the status quo, I have to really do some reflection and be willing to ask critical questions. >> I think the structures on a college, whether it be a liberal arts college, or a research university, practically any higher education environment. Most structures get reinforced by the values and cultures that are very prevalent on that particular campus. And so, the way you break into those structures, or even attempt to change them is through working on changing those values and cultures that are a part of a institution. And that can take place via diversity training, for example, and promoting programs that promote inclusivity on a campus.
