Samuel D. Museus - Racism and Racial Equity in Higher Education: Aehe Volume 42, Number 1

Racism and Racial Equity in Higher Education
Samuel D. Museus, Mara C. Ledesma, Tara L. Parker
ASHE Higher Education Report: Volume 42, Number 1
Kelly Ward, Lisa E. WolfWendel, Series Editors

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ISSN 15516970electronic ISSN 15546306ISBN 9781119205586

The ASHE Higher Education Report is part of the JosseyBass Higher and Adult Education Series and is published six times a year by Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company, at JosseyBass, One Montgomery Street, Suite 1200, San Francisco, California 941044594.

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The ASHE Higher Education Report is indexed in CIJE: Current Index to Journals in Education (ERIC), Education Index/Abstracts (H.W. Wilson), ERIC Database (Education Resources Information Center), Higher Education Abstracts (Claremont Graduate University), IBR & IBZ: International Bibliographies of Periodical Literature (K.G. Saur), and Resources in Education (ERIC).

The ASHE Higher Education Report Series is sponsored by the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), which provides an editorial advisory board of ASHE members.

• Amy Bergerson
• University of Utah
  
• Bryan Brayboy
• Arizona State University
  
• Ryan Gildersleeve
• University of Denver
  
• Michael Harris
• Southern Methodist University
  
• Elizabeth Jones
• Holy Family University
  
• Adrianna Kezar
• University of Southern California
  
• Kevin Kinser
• SUNY Albany
  
• Peter Magolda
• Miami University of Ohio
  
• Dina C. Maramba
• SUNY Binghamton
  
• Susan Marine
• Merrimack College
  
• Christopher Morphew
• University of Iowa
  
• Robert Palmer
• SUNY Binghamton
  
• Michael Paulsen
• University of Iowa
  
• Todd Ream
• Taylor University
  
• Barbara Tobolowsky
• University of Texas at Arlington
  
• Carolyn Thompson
• University of Missouri, Kansas City
  
• Diane Wright
• Florida Atlantic University

Despite decades of work to eradicate racial inequalities throughout society, significant racial disparities continue to plague the nation. One factor contributing to these inequalities is the reality that racism continues to play a formative role in determining access to opportunities for historically marginalized populations. Given that higher education is a microcosm of society, racism also shapes the experiences of these minoritized communities within postsecondary education. In light of the persisting significance of racism in postsecondary education, it is essential that higher education scholars, policymakers, and practitioners better understand the ways in which racism operates in policymaking processes and throughout the walls of the nation's colleges and universities. Such knowledge is necessary for policymakers and institutional leaders to more effectively address racerelated problems on college campuses.

This volume is aimed at providing a muchneeded synthesis of theory, research, and evidence that illuminate the ways in which racism shapes higher education systems and the experiences of people who navigate them. By centering and synthesizing research on the role of racism in higher education, we offer a more comprehensive picture of how racism shapes postsecondary systems and seek to help readers better recognize and understand how racism continues to permeate these systems. Moreover, we attempt to advance the conversation on what it means to work toward eradicating racism and advancing racial equity agendas in higher education in the 21st century. Combatting racism and advancing racial equity begins with recognizing that racism in higher education is not limited to overt racial hostilities, but is a systemic phenomenon that permeates institutionalized norms, policies, and practices that are shaped by a long racial history.

This volume consists of five chapters. In the first chapter, we offer an introduction that outlines the purpose, context, and outline of the monograph. The second chapter provides an overview of race conscious frameworks that have been created and applied to understand racism and racial equity in postsecondary systems. In the third chapter, we synthesize research on the critical historical and contemporary racial contexts within which higher education exists today. The fourth chapter includes a discussion of how racism shapes higher education policies, as well as the experiences of faculty, administrators, and students of color within postsecondary education. The fifth chapter offers recommendations for higher education scholars, policymakers, and practitioners who are interested in supporting higher education policy and practice aimed at advancing systemic transformation toward racial justice.

At both local and national levels, political and community leaders continue to wrestle with questions regarding how to make sense of persisting racial inequalities in the 21st century. While there are no easy answers to such questions, if higher education is going to truly live up to its idealistic role of promoting social progress and mobility for all students regardless of their racial backgrounds, we believe that they must abandon some of the assumptions that drive higher education policy and practice. Federal and state policymakers can no longer advocate for higher persistence and graduation rates without pushing higher education institutions to fundamentally transform and adapt to the historically marginalized and growing populations of color entering their campuses. At the same time, postsecondary institutions can no longer superficially commit to vague concepts of diversity, multiculturalism, or equality in mission statements and recruiting materials while failing to do the difficult work of pursuing systemic transformation to create more inclusive environments so that racially diverse populations can thrive. If we are to make significant advances toward racial equity in the 21st century, we must account for the systemic nature of the race problem in higher education, and develop more systemic solutions to it. Such work requires a coordinated and multipronged approach by postsecondary education leaders to advance scholarship, policy, and practice that focuses on achieving equity in higher education.