Is Higher Education Experiencing Institutional Racial Paralysis?

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Six
  In Roundtable Session: The Role of Advocacy in Mitigating Marginality and Power in Leadership (Table 10)

Abstract

The authors explore the phenomena of Institutional Racial Paralysis (IRP) in higher education to better identify, confront, and challenge the higher education practices that enable and perpetuate systemic racism. This paper draws upon aspects of Critical Race Theory (CRT) to contextualize the four stages of IRP (idleness, concealment, evolving modus operandi (EMO), and pervasive) as a framework. Next, IRP is utilized as a critical lens to understand diversity, equity, and inclusion stagnation in higher education. Through a critical co-constructed autoethnographic methodology, the authors explore why higher education administration often struggles to make long-term progress in racial equity and inclusion. The paper concludes by offering a path toward interrupting the racial status quo in higher education.

Authors

• Christina Wright Fields, Marist College
  Presenting Author

• Addrain Conyers, Marist College
  Presenting Author