Implementing Inclusivity in Higher Education: Differences in Faculty Members' Perceptions of Diversity Climate

Purpose. The purpose of this correlational study is to compare the difference in perceptions of faculty members of color to White faculty members concerning the impact race-related diversity plays in improving the campus climate at a comprehensive, nonprofit, private university in Southern California. Additionally, this study examines whether faculty role, institutional opinions and institutional priorities with respect to diversity are related. Methodology. This correlational study analyzed secondary data obtained from the 2016- 2017 HERI survey to understand university faculty members attitudes towards the impact race-related diversity plays in improving the campus climate. This study consisted of the independent variable group assignment (faculty members of color or White faculty members), and the dependent variable, perception of diversity. SPSS was used to run all statistical analyses on the quantitative data. An exploratory analysis of the data was conducted with descriptive statistics computed for the two groups. T-test was used to test the hypothesis when comparing the population means and the Pearson correlation was utilized to describe the relationships between the dependent variables as a descriptive statistic and as a means to study the relationships as an inferential statistic. Conclusions. The results indicated that the sub-domain’s faculty roles and institutional priorities yielded no significant differences in the perceptions of faculty members of color and the White faculty members. However, the sub-domain institutional opinions did yield a significant difference in the perceptions of the groups. The results also indicated no association between the variables: role of faculty members, institutional opinions and institutional priorities regarding race-related diversity. Faculty members of color and White faculty members both perceive students attending a more racially and ethnically diverse university, with effective diversity practices, and effective faculty governance, as a positive. Therefore, universities need to embrace their renewed opinions, priorities, and the roles of their faculty members in order to lead students towards a more just and equitable future. Recommendations. Further studies could likely expand on the validity of the results with modifications. Future research should focus on the perceptions of all faculty members, administrators and students to understand and leverage diversity