Leveraging Natural Language Processing Techniques to Interrogate Discourses of Diversity and Racism: Institutional Diversity Statements

• In Event: A Call for Institutional Response: Racialized Experiences on College Campuses

Abstract

The growing visibility of postsecondary institutions’ rhetorical commitment to diversity and inclusion is well documented in higher education literature (Hoffman & Mitchell, 2017; Squire 2017). Adding to this work, we focus on member institutions of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education and leverage natural language processing software to examine their diversity statements. Do institutions with NADOHE membership explicitly discuss the relevance of structural forces of oppression (such as racism) in rationales for their diversity work? By examining the contextualized manner in which institutions frame their work, our empirical study aims to better situate the manner in which societal forces of oppression are included (or excluded) from institutions’ justifications for the importance of diversity work in higher education.

Authors

• Lisa Unangst, Ohio University

• Natalie Borg, Boston College