Abstract
M. Cristina Alcalde and Mangala Subramanian’s edited work, Dismantling Institutional Whiteness: Emerging Forms of Leadership in Higher Education, is indeed a much-needed and worthy addition to the array of books helping women faculty of color navigate academia. What makes this work different from others is that it broadens the concerns of women faculty of color to women of color in leadership roles on campus. While there are many questions that can be asked about the lack of opportunities for women of color in leadership positions, there are answers and commentaries about the tendency to silence or ignore them when in such roles. Institutions differ in their commitment, their makeup, and their leadership. This book, however, provides the reader with interesting data, examples, and commentary on how institutions of higher education, if serious, may begin to dismantle institutional whiteness.
Dismantling Institutional Whiteness assembles a range of essays by women of color and examines the challenges they face not only at a systemic level, but also at a deeply personal level. Their experiences combined with research and statistics paint a sobering portrait of higher education’s problems when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Interspersed throughout their stories are practical suggestions for how to address inequity in higher education and how to give a voice to people who have been silenced and excluded.
Through its six essays, Dismantling Institutional Whiteness offers the reader advice in how to navigate higher education. The deans, directors, diversity officers, and others who work to make institutions of higher education more equitable spaces show that while not always easy, and definitely challenging to even the most seasoned of women of color leaders, there are some successes.
The inability of institutions to be honest about their complicity in the oppression of non-whites at both an institutional and personal level means they never have to actually address the acts of racial terrorism occurring inside the ivory tower. This is especially evident in those chapters where the authors explore institutional responses to the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed. Some institutions claimed to be aware of systemic racism in stating their support for social justice, but seemed to be saying at the same time that they have just now become aware of how important it is to do something about it.
For those who are marginalized, demanding institutions be authentic in their claims of inclusivity is a major dilemma. When making suggestions for how this can be done, they find their so-called enlightened institutions not so enlightened when it comes to creating real change. Several chapters mention authors’ and others’ efforts to push institutional leaders to do more than claim their support when faced with social or campus-wide issues, especially when the problem at hand is too large to ignore. A number of authors note the plethora of performative statements by institutional leaders and coworkers who never seem to be able to do more than speak words of support and engage in no action.
The concerns of faculty and staff about how hiring, retention, and advancement opportunities continue to be ignored by those who claim that they and their institutions will “do better” is a frequent theme across several chapters. Sadly, it is not uncommon to hear women of color in leadership positions talk about their struggles to be seen, heard, and taken seriously. As they note, institutions claim to want to “do better”; but when it comes to doing so, the policies and practices that are suggested are usually proposed by a committee with a single token person of color whose ideas, when offered, are summarily extinguished. As for the lone diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, they carry the lion’s share of the institution’s DEI work, which leaves the institution’s leadership to do “more important things.” In either case, it is persons of color, often women, who must do the heavy lift of alleviating the institution’s concern that it needs to do better while elevating its image that it is doing just that.
In critiquing institutional whiteness, many of the book’s authors note the inability to address the racism that is occurring when individuals on campus have not gained sufficient knowledge to actually make informed decisions about what needs to be done. Furthermore, the idea that they are complicit in racism is never considered. Authors point out the many ways in which race is said to be important but how this is rarely evident in institutional practices or policies, including but not limited to hiring, retention, and leadership opportunities.
One of the most poignant statements reads, “Universities tend to respond to racial incidents as ‘teaching moments,’ which is certainly needed, but it is a problem in that it ends there without the much-needed action or steps to move forward by leadership” (p. 37). If campuses are places where learning is to take place, then one may wonder why teaching moments do not appear to extend to university leaders. How many campus leaders have taken advantage of the courses or books on inequality available on their campuses? Not many, if any. Thus it is not surprising that some of the book’s authors are frustrated by the lack of real action on the part of their institutions.
The chapters in Dismantling Institutional Whiteness do much to dispel the myth of institutions of higher education being spaces where equity is spoken and performed. While the book may not be able to address all the ways in which different forms of leadership are instrumental in dismantling institutional whiteness, the struggles and successes of the authors are on full display—but so are the expectations for how institutions may actually do more than talk the talk. Whether a university president, dean, trustee, director, or faculty member at any level, this book is essential reading for those interested in diversifying higher education leadership to ensure decisions reflect the priorities of all.