Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education
Date of this Version
Spring 2022
Document Type
Article
Citation
To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development (2022) 41(1)
doi: 10.3998/tia.459
Special issue: What's the Problem Now?
Abstract
The global pandemic that began in 2020 amplified the chasm between higher education’s stated goals to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and the systemic realities that many students, instructors, and staff grapple with on a daily basis. We contend that attenuating the barriers to DEI outcomes means first acknowledging that DEI is a wicked problem, in that it is impossible to solve because of competing, conflicting, and complex sociocultural forces from within and outside our institutions. We also contend that educational developers (EDs) are particularly well situated within the higher education ecology to be key cultural influencers in how to mitigate DEI-related wicked problems by tapping into our deep commitment to lifelong learning as a means for honing and modeling an equity mindset.
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Higher Education Commons, Higher Education Administration Commons, Higher Education and Teaching Commons, Other Education Commons
Comments
License: CC BY-NC-ND