The racial politics of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work

• Published in: Journal of diversity in higher education 2024-02
• Main Authors: Abrica, Elvira Julia, Oliver Andrew, Ruth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Colleges; Diversity in the Workplace; Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; Higher Education; Human; Liberalism; Politics; Racial and Ethnic Differences; Racial Privilege
• ISSN: 1938-8926; 1938-8934
• DOI: 10.1037/dhe0000566

The stress, labor, and workload of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) staff and administrators in higher education never seem to end. On the one hand, colleges and universities require new and innovative infrastructures to support growing diversity on campus. On the other hand, the war against DEI wages on. DEI leaders and staff are forced into conversations about unit name changes, removing DEI rhetoric from strategic planning documents, or planning for their unit to be dissolved altogether. DEI and its workers are perpetually between a rock and a hard place. The purpose of this conceptual article is to outline precisely how DEI work is inherently shaped by White neoliberalism forces from outside but also within higher education. The premise of our argument is hegemonic Whiteness and White supremacy are at the heart of anti-DEI movements but also inherent in DEI work itself. We offer a contemporary perspective of the racialized tensions involved in doing DEI work and invite critical discussion around ways DEI practitioners might reify or challenge White logics of higher education. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)