Degree Date

4-2024

Document Type

Dissertation - Public Access

Degree Name

Ed.D. Doctor of Education

Academic Discipline

Higher Education Leadership

First Advisor

Jaclyn Rivard

Second Advisor

Jamal Scott

Third Advisor

Danielle Lemmerman

Abstract

Racially minority students and faculty are disproportionately underrepresented nationally, particularly at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), which are meant to serve minority populations (Hurtado et al., 2008). As the number of minority students grows, the gap for representation grows wider, which has added to the high departure of minority students. Additionally, the lack of faculty representation has minority faculty experiencing racial fatigue and tokenism. This qualitative research used the counter-storytelling tenet of Critical Race Theory as a theoretical framework to explore how students and faculty conceptualize representation in their graduate program at an MSI.

By employing co-constructed interviewing in the data collection, the researcher created an intimate, relational, and flexible method of in-depth conversations that focused on telling and listening; the respondents in this study gave their experiences with representation in their current graduate program and built ideal models of representation. Through intimate interaction, follow-up questioning, and shared experiences, faculty and students expressed how perceived behaviors, policies, and procedures were determinants that contribute to the minority population disparities within the institution. The conclusions suggested that institutional leaders embrace and encourage differences by implementing strategies to recruit and retain more minority faculty and intentionally support inclusive policies at MSIs to increase student and faculty belonging and the value of diversity through equitable populations.

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