Example definitions12/22/17

Source / Equity / Diversity / Inclusion / Other?
American Association of College & Universities / The creation of opportunities for historically underrepresented populations to have equal access to and participate in educational programs that are capable of closing the achievement gaps in student success and completion / Individual differences (e.g., personality, learning styles, and life experiences) and group/social differences (e.g., race/ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, country of origin, and ability as well as cultural, political, religious, or other affiliations) / The active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity—in the curriculum, in the co-curriculum, and in communities (intellectual, social, cultural, geographical) with which individuals might connect—in ways that increase awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication, and empathic understanding of the complex ways individuals interact within systems and institutions / Equity-Mindedness: A demonstrated awareness of and willingness to address equity issues among institutional leaders and staff (Center for Urban Education, University of Southern California)

Meg Bolger, social justice facilitator / An approach that recognizes advantages and barriers exist and ensures everyone has access to the same opportunities / Presence of difference in a group or organization / People with different identities feel welcomed and valued

CSU East Bay Operational Definitions / Students: The creation of opportunities for historically underrepresented populations to have equal access to and participation in educational programs that are capable of closing the achievement gaps in student success and completion.
Employees: The creation of opportunities for historically underrepresented populations of employees (faculty and staff) to have equal access to professional growth opportunities and resource networks that are capable of closing the demographic disparities in leadership roles in all spheres of institutional functioning.
Individual differences (e.g. personality, language, learning styles and life experiences) and group-social differences (e.g. race, ethnicity, class, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, sexual identity, country of origin and ability status, as well as cultural, political, religious or other affiliations) that can be engaged in the service of learning. / The active, intentional and ongoing engagement with diversity—in people, in the curriculum, in the co-curriculum, and in communities (intellectual, social, cultural, geographical) with which individuals might connect—in ways that increase one’s awareness, content knowledge, cognitive sophistication and empathic understanding of the complex ways individuals interact within (and change) systems and institutions. / Cultural Competence: The state of having and applying knowledge and skill in four areas: awareness of one’s own cultural worldview; recognition of one’s attitudes toward cultural differences; realization of different cultural practices and worldviews; and thoughtfulness in cross-cultural interaction. Over an extended period of time, individuals and organizations develop the wisdom and capability to:
1. Examine critically how cultural worldviews influence perceptions of power, dominance and inequality; and
2. Behave honorably within the complex dynamics of differences and commonalities among humans, groups and systems.

UW Diversity Blueprint (2017-2021)
Glossary of Terms / Racial Equity: The condition that would be achieved if one’s racial identity no longer predicted, in a statistical sense, how one fares. / Cultural Responsiveness: Recognizing the importance of including cultural references in all aspects of learning.
Implicit Bias: Negative associations people knowingly or unknowingly hold that are expressed automatically, without
conscious awareness.

Diversity and Social Justice Glossary – UW Tacoma Center for Equity & Inclusion / Racial Equity:
Racial equity is the condition that would be achieved if one's racial identity no longer predicted, in a statistical sense, how one fares. When we use the term, we are thinking about racial equity as one part of racial justice, and thus we also include work to address root causes of inequities not just their manifestation. This includes elimination of policies, practices, attitudes and cultural messages that reinforce differential outcomes by race or fail to eliminate them. / Diversity refers to all the ways in which people differ, and it encompasses all the
different characteristics that make one individual or group different from another. It is all inclusive and recognizes everyone and every group as part of the diversity that should be valued. A broad definition includes not only race, ethnicity, and gender — the groups that most often
come to mind when the term "diversity" is used, but also age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, and physical
appearance. / Inclusion:
Authentically bringing traditionally excluded individuals and/or groups into processes, activities,
and decision/policy making in a way that shares power / Ethnicity:
A socially constructed grouping of people who share a common cultural heritage derived from
values, behavioral patterns, language, political and economic interests, history, geographical
base, and ancestry. Examples include: Cape Verdean, Haitian, African American (Black);
Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese (Asian); Cherokee, Mohawk, Navajo (Native American); Cuban,
Mexican, Puerto Rican (Latino); Polish, Irish, and Swedish (White European)
Intersectionality:
An approach largely advanced by women of color, arguing that classifications such as gender,
race, class, and others cannot be examined in isolation from one another; they interact and
intersect in individuals’ lives, in society, in social systems, and are mutually constitutive. For
example, a Black woman in America does not experience gender inequalities in exactly the same
way as a White woman, nor racial oppression identical to that experienced by a Black man. Each
race and gender intersection produces a qualitatively distinct life.
Multicultural Competency:
A process of learning about and becoming allies with people from other cultural backgrounds,
thereby broadening our own understanding and ability to positively interact with diverse people
and groups. The key element to becoming more culturally competent is respect for the ways that
others live in and organize the world, and an openness to learn from them.
-Willingness to be aware
-not a class “I am now culturally competent”
-cultural-mindedness
-continuous activity/process
-being aware/competent in one’s own culture
-important to be aware of new communities forming
-struggle of not naming the groups; looking at groups who have been historically discriminated against; goes back to equal vs. equity – challenge as

Federal affirmative action statement / Add“equality” to differentiate between terms
Use cultural responsiveness instead of cultural competency;
Multicultural competency is in the Strategic Plan…includes culturally responsive term as well
Strategic Plan is supposed to be responsive to change
-further research needed

Addendum from John Burkhardt about: “Count Me In!: Ethnic Data Disaggregation Advocacy, Racial Mattering, and Lessons for Racial Justice Coalitions,” by OiYan A. Poon, Jude Paul Matias Dizon, Dian Squire, JCSCORE: Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity, v3, n1, 2017,

1)It seems California is the furthest along in this area – state law and administrative policy mandates each community college have an equity plan, and funding has been made available for all the comm colleges to create dashboards to report their results on statewide-defined measures of equity.

2)One principal I’ve seen repeated is the importance of disaggregating data: that aggregation of data can hide disparities among sub-groups.

3)Relevant to #2, I read one case study of the #CountMeIn campaign in California: the CSU and UC systems will disaggregate reporting on student data that previously has been in the category of “Asian,” and will now be broken down into more than 20 Asian sub-groups.

4)But the same case study warned that disaggregation needs to be done in context. On the one hand, disaggregation can undercut the “model minority” stereotype. On the other hand, disaggregation is often accompanied by a deficit-focused narrative.

5)In conclusion, what I’ve read so far seems to come down strongly on the side of disaggregation of data, but accompanied by done in the context of an equity-minded framework.

-Above research done in thinking about how to operationalize these definitions

-disaggregating data is an important step “foundation for equity” – Huff. Post

-could make org. look bad; too hard; might make disparities seem unbridgeable

-URM – concern over term?

-How to operationalize, from a data side, measures of equity – CA required categories: gender; veterans; foster system; etc. categories – get from John

Comments from Marcie:

“Regarding the example definitions, I suggest (actually feel strongly) that we don't use the words

"cultural competence." I think that "cultural responsiveness" is much more appropriate (see UW

Diversity Blueprint).

When we talk about equity, I think we must be specific..., i.e., racial, gender, economic

classifications etc. At the same time, it is difficult because inequities are so interwoven. Again, the

section on Intersectionality is important and needs to be expanded to address all classifications

such as, for example, age, relational status (don't like the word "status," but can't think of an

alternative).

Additionally, while it is imperative to focus upon historically underrepresented populations, I

believe we must consider how to include groups that are currently experiencing oppression, such

as Muslims and others that our current administration seeks to marginalize. Also, some of our

students come from countries where they were oppressed and discriminated against, and I think

we need to find a way for them to see themselves in equity and diversity work.”

EDWG will develop recommendations for operations definitions > get stakeholder feedback on thosethen recommend operation definitions to leadership/strategic plan based on stakeholder feedback

  • Look for overlap, commonalities; look for what we can use to operationalize; to help our community understand what we do and don’t mean – give depth to terms that are sometimes used interchangeably
  • Definitions driven by data we have vs. data we want to have; important collaboration between admissions/IR/Strategic Plan, etc.
  • Operational definitions and indicators are different
  • Look for affirmative action statement from the federal gov. because it impacts what is reported
  • EDWG – Working on data that can support equitable outcomes. – building infrastructure, culture, expectations.
  • Emphasis on intersectionality – include all classifications – expand
  • Think of how to include groups who are currently experiencing discrimination; make sure all can see themselves in our work
  • Indicators needs further clarification; needs recommendation on how to measure
  • cultural competency is a life-long commitment (ex. Part of annual review? Include a prompt/conversation with supervisor about what you did to expand your knowledge of other groups/cultures/life experiences); set expectation
  • In P&T, but not always enforced
  • Cultural competence as an institution – climate survey will show if UWT is/is becoming culturally competent; climate survey should be responsive for our various campuses/communities – highlight this point as a recommendation to include a question about this on the climate survey