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How Professional Development and Inclusive Education Combine to Create a Welcoming and Diverse Classroom
By Giselle Castaneda and Dr. Benjamin M. Drury
Professional development opportunities for faculty and administrators in higher education that focus on leadership mindsets valuing diversity of thought and inclusion of ideas from people of different backgrounds are becoming increasingly rare these days on college and university campuses. Some colleges and universities have entire offices dedicated to the reduction and eradication of racism and discrimination based on race from the educational experience of Black and Latino students…especially when they are students at a Predominantly white Institution. An overwhelming majority of faculty at colleges and universities today are white (and mostly men…but that is a different topic for a future article, of course). It is not to say this is inherently a bad thing. Problems do occur when faculty who experienced a higher education system that was full of people that looked like them and supported them and opened doors and shared resources and opportunities are far more likely to assume that this is the normative college student experience. It makes perfect sense why faculty who have this mindset cling tightly to the “Bootstrap Mentality” that we are all capable of easily improving our situation with the exertion of effort. What…
