“Um, Diversity Definition…that’s Hard:” Student Communication About Diversity in the Classroom and Beyond

ABSTRACT

After the civil rights movement, affirmative action drove discussions of diversity on college campuses in the United States. Stakeholders of affirmative action saw that diversity for diversity’s sake was not enough to justify programs and policies at academic institutions. Typically, discussions of policies and classroom inclusion strategies have been driven by faculty and institutions treating students as beneficiaries of these policies and strategies, but they are often not consulted and their perspectives are not included in instruction and policy development. This study explores student communication about diversity because the US is at a cultural-crossroads where racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, gender, and disability diversity are under political pressure. From these voices, we discovered a struggle with defining diversity, conflict over labeling a campus as diverse, minimizing experiences of discrimination and bias, and a need for visible administrative support of diversity and inclusion. The results of this study provide insight into how we can improve communication about diversity on campus and beyond.

KEYWORDS:

• Diversity
• inclusion
• communication
• students
• instruction

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Mariah Kemp for her contributions to this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amanda Arp

Amanda Arp (Ph.D., Iowa State University) is an Assistant Professor of English, Rhetoric & Composition and the Director of the Writing Center at Central Methodist University. Her research focuses on fat rhetoric and writing center practices.

Stacy Tye-Williams

Stacy Tye-Williams (Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln) is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies/English at Iowa State University. Her research focuses on workplace bullying and harassment.

Philip B. Gallagher

Philip B. Gallagher (Ph.D., Iowa State University) is an Assistant Professor of Technical Communication at Mercer University. His research focuses on ADA compliance, accessibility, and user-centered design.