Diversity Committees During The Era of Social Justice: Where do we go From Here?
The deaths of George Floyd and other African American men and women in 2020 awakened the consciousness of Americans and social justice advocates across the world. The chants of “Black Lives Matter!” echoed from the streets of Minneapolis – all the way to the shores of Cape Town, South Africa. Immens...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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East Carolina University
2021-10-01
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| Series: | The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion |
| Online Access: | https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/article/view/37145 |
| _version_ | 1797936575711019008 |
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| author | Gilbert Singletary Kenneth Royal Kathy Goodridge-Purnell |
| author_facet | Gilbert Singletary Kenneth Royal Kathy Goodridge-Purnell |
| author_sort | Gilbert Singletary |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The deaths of George Floyd and other African American men and women in 2020 awakened the consciousness of Americans and social justice advocates across the world. The chants of “Black Lives Matter!” echoed from the streets of Minneapolis – all the way to the shores of Cape Town, South Africa. Immense pressure from protestors and community organizers caused those in education and traditional business sectors to evaluate their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Many organizations responded by releasing statements in support of minoritized groups, often including the hashtags #BLM or #NAACP[i]. However, despite support offered via social media, consumers and social justice advocates demanded more than just words. To that end, many institutions began to establish diversity book clubs, while others created DEI committees, and/or appointed a Chief Diversity Officer to guide DEI initiatives across the institution (Byrd et al., 2021).
Constructing and operating a diverse DEI committee presents significant challenges. In addition to the barriers associated with assembling diverse members, there are also methodological constraints as there is a dearth of empirical research within the extant literature that provides guidance in constructing and evaluating the effectiveness of DEI committees. To that end, the purpose of this article is three-fold: (1) to discuss the necessity of DEI committees in higher education and corporate settings; (2) to explain why DEI committees sometimes fail; and (3) to offer some suggestions for addressing ways to improve their overall effectiveness.
[i] These are the Twitter designations for Black Lives Matter and The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, respectively. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T18:32:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0e2da77714114acba53f87872888447b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2574-3430 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T18:32:43Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | East Carolina University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion |
| spelling | doaj.art-0e2da77714114acba53f87872888447b2023-02-02T02:54:45ZengEast Carolina UniversityThe International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion2574-34302021-10-015510.33137/ijidi.v5i5.37145Diversity Committees During The Era of Social Justice: Where do we go From Here?Gilbert Singletary0Kenneth Royal1Kathy Goodridge-Purnell2Chamberlain UniversityNorth Carolina State University Walden UniversityThe deaths of George Floyd and other African American men and women in 2020 awakened the consciousness of Americans and social justice advocates across the world. The chants of “Black Lives Matter!” echoed from the streets of Minneapolis – all the way to the shores of Cape Town, South Africa. Immense pressure from protestors and community organizers caused those in education and traditional business sectors to evaluate their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Many organizations responded by releasing statements in support of minoritized groups, often including the hashtags #BLM or #NAACP[i]. However, despite support offered via social media, consumers and social justice advocates demanded more than just words. To that end, many institutions began to establish diversity book clubs, while others created DEI committees, and/or appointed a Chief Diversity Officer to guide DEI initiatives across the institution (Byrd et al., 2021). Constructing and operating a diverse DEI committee presents significant challenges. In addition to the barriers associated with assembling diverse members, there are also methodological constraints as there is a dearth of empirical research within the extant literature that provides guidance in constructing and evaluating the effectiveness of DEI committees. To that end, the purpose of this article is three-fold: (1) to discuss the necessity of DEI committees in higher education and corporate settings; (2) to explain why DEI committees sometimes fail; and (3) to offer some suggestions for addressing ways to improve their overall effectiveness. [i] These are the Twitter designations for Black Lives Matter and The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, respectively.https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/article/view/37145 |
| spellingShingle | Gilbert Singletary Kenneth Royal Kathy Goodridge-Purnell Diversity Committees During The Era of Social Justice: Where do we go From Here? The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion |
| title | Diversity Committees During The Era of Social Justice: Where do we go From Here? |
| title_full | Diversity Committees During The Era of Social Justice: Where do we go From Here? |
| title_fullStr | Diversity Committees During The Era of Social Justice: Where do we go From Here? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Diversity Committees During The Era of Social Justice: Where do we go From Here? |
| title_short | Diversity Committees During The Era of Social Justice: Where do we go From Here? |
| title_sort | diversity committees during the era of social justice where do we go from here |
| url | https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/article/view/37145 |
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