Advancing Institutional Alliances: An Equity-Centered, Dynamic Approach to Higher Education Network Learning Across Policy

• In Event: The Challenges and Opportunities of Implementing Equity Policies in Higher Education

Abstract

Policy drives the structural inertia and practices in US colleges and universities. Increased attention to policy change - to ensure significant vs. incremental change – has focused attention on the suborganizations, and the formal and informal networks responsible for implementation at all levels of higher education. Scholars draw on organizational theory and learning to illuminate how people interact with, shape, and influence norms, practices, and policies (Bastedo, 2012; Bolman & Deal, 2017). Further, organizational learning has been adapted to understand institutional dynamics related to equity and inclusion commitments and subsequent initiatives (Baker & Blisset, 2018; LePeau et al., 2016; Lopez et al., 2022). Efforts to scale highly-effective efforts have reached peak demand when higher education stakeholders consider the scale of the challenges, the existing solutions space, the quality and health of relevant networks and alliances, and the increasingly complex policy environment in which groups and subgroups must operate. Understanding and situating the learning and knowledge management processes within higher education alliances, with an explicit focus on eliminating achievement gaps for traditionally-minoritized students, can lead to the bold and aggressive frameworks, methods, and future meaningful research.

In this presentation, I will present formative and summative findings from a national higher education equity evaluation pilot engaged in student service delivery through intermediary (~10) and institutional engagement (~300). I will also provide brief background on the formative underpinnings drawn from over a decade of racial campus climate study assessments. The following guiding questions shaped the evaluation and presentation: 1) Does organizational learning lead to organizational efficacy in delivering high-quality student services geared toward bridging academic and other performance gaps; 2) Does an underlying and documented focus on equity lead to more constructive discussions and decision making on key policy levers likely to lead to equitable outcomes? 3) Do network structures and operations impact stakeholders sense of trust, belonging, and sense of efficacy? Additionally, I will clarify key considerations and offer recommendations for equity-centered organizational learning for institutional transformation at scale across multiple policy contexts.

Author

• Kendrick B. Davis, University of Southern California
  Presenting Author