"Diversity," Inequality, and Elite Education: A Genealogy of "Diversity" Discourse in U.S. Independent Schools

• In Event: Race, Place, and Genealogies of Empowerment

Abstract

Since the 1960’s, private independent schools have attempted to become accessible to more students, mainly by admitting more Students of Color. However, financial aid relative to school revenue has remained flat, suggesting that “diversity” in independent schools has taken on a particular meaning. This study traces the history of “diversity” and interrogates why “diversity” is a problem worth addressing, how it has been conceived at different times, and what doing so has accomplished for independent schools. This study employs a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis to examine the primary industry journal, Independent School, to construct a genealogy of “diversity” discourse since 1976. This approach broadens the theoretical perspectives of elite research and reconceptualizes independent schools’ roles in perpetuating inequities in the U.S.

Author

• Andrew Greene, Teachers College, Columbia University
  Presenting Author