When Equity Is Not Invoked: Transfer of an Ed.D. Program’s Equity Curricula to Generalized Practice

• In Event: Manifestations of Equity Practices in Leadership Preparation

Abstract

This qualitative case study explores how graduates of an Educational Doctorate (Ed.D.) program frame equity in response to novel leadership settings. Participants thought aloud a response to a leadership problem of practice. Subsequently, they were given the opportunity to revise their response with an equity lens. We compare responses to programmatic coursework on equity. Preliminary findings reveal that though participants indicate confidence with their initial responses, they draw on different logics to justify their equity orientation. Despite similar priorities across participants, we find variability in how race and diversity are framed within their responses. We suggest that in contrast with current claims of ‘indoctrination’ in higher education, graduates’ equity frames are influenced by factors beyond curricula.

Authors

• David Albert Rodes Trautman, University of California - San Diego

• Maxwell Yurkofsky, Radford University

• Randy W. Hetherington, University of Portland