Handbook of Research on Leading Higher Education Transformation With Social Justice, Equity, and Inclusion

Book excerpt: With the resurgence of race-related incidents nationally and on college campuses in recent years, acts of overt racism, hate crimes, controversies over free speech, and violence continue to impact institutions of higher education. Such incidents may impact the overall campus racial climate and result in a racial crisis, which is marked by extreme tension and instability. How institutional leaders and the campus community respond to a racial crisis along with the racial literacy demands of the campus leaders can have as much of an effect as the crisis itself. As such, 21st century university leaders must become more emotionally intelligent and responsive to emergent campus issues. Improving campus climate is hard, and to achieve notable gains, higher education professionals will have to reimagine how they approach this work with equity-influenced practices and transformative leadership. The Handbook of Research on Leading Higher Education Transformation With Social Justice, Equity, and Inclusion offers a window into understanding the deep intersections of identity and professional practice as well as guideposts for individual leadership development during contested times. The chapters emphasize how identity manifests in the way we lead, supervise, make decisions, persuade, form relationships, and negotiate responsibilities each day. In this book, the authors provide insight, examples, and personal narratives that explore how their identities, lens, and commitments shaped their leadership and supported their courageous acts for equity and social justice. It provides practical tools that leaders can draw on to inform sustainable equity and inclusion-focused practices and policies on college campuses and will discuss important campus climate issues and ways to address them. This book is a valuable reference work for higher education administrators, policymakers, leaders, managers, university presidents, social justice advocates, practitioners, faculty, researchers, academicians, and students who are interested in higher education leadership practices that support and promote social justice, equity, and inclusion.