Academic Administrators’ Beliefs About Diversity

ABSTRACT

As our nation and society becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, college campuses are experiencing a dynamic shift in the student demographic on campus as well. Purposes of the study were to: (a) analyze the beliefs of kinesiology academic unit leaders (i.e., chairs, directors, heads) regarding faculty and student diversity within their programs and departments and (b) inquire about strategic goals for faculty and student diversification within their programs and departments. The participants were 68 administrators (43 men, 25 women) and all current members of the American Kinesiology Association (AKA) as of 2015. Thematic content data analysis of the open-ended probes exposed the recurrent themes: (a) advocacy, motives, and actions; (b) diversity identified, but rarely defined; and (c) history, status, and outlook. Implications of the findings are that issues associated with diversity in kinesiology programs and departments should be addressed with vigor and progressive actions.

Keywords:

• Equity and diversity
• academic administrators
• kinesiology programs and departments
• faculty and students

Notes

1. In accord with the U.S. Department of Education, we use the term Black as an ethnic identifier for mostly African American and others with African ancestry (Aud et al., 2012).

2. In this article, the label Hispanic represents persons who typically are identified as Hispanic, Chicano/a, Cuban, Latino/a, Latin American, Mexican, or Puerto Rican (Aud et al., 2012). We use the term Hispanic for consistency with the U.S. Department of Education, the source of most data reported in the article.

3. The term minority is used in this article to be consistent with the work of other authors or sources, but we prefer to avoid this term in reference to a person or ethnic group (e.g., African Americans) because (a) it does not acknowledge differences between ethnic groups, (b) lacks global validity, and (c) connotes an inferior status (Hodge et al., 2012).

4. The term kinesiology is broadly defined as the study of human movement, which includes such disciplines as adapted physical activity/education, exercise science, health and wellness, physical education teacher education, sport industry, and more (Sage, 2013).

5. Faculty or students of color typically refers to persons who identify as African American/Black, indigenous Indian/Alaska Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latina/Latino (but not White), and Two or more races (Aud et al., 2012; Ryu, 2010).

6. Degree-granting institutions (DGIs) are “defined as postsecondary institutions that grant associates or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs” (Snyder, Dillow, & Hoffman, 2009, p. 3).

7. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing, and reporting full and complete statistics on the condition of education in the United States, as per a congressional mandate (Snyder & Dillow, 2015).

8. The NCES categorizes Parks, Recreation, Leisure, and Fitness Studies as a discipline comprised of (a) Parks, Recreation, Leisure Studies; (b) Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management; (c) Health and Physical Education (general); (d) Sport and Fitness Administration and Management; (e) Kinesiology and Exercise Science; (f) Health and Physical Education/Fitness (other); and (g) Parks, Recreation, Leisure, and Fitness Studies (other) (Snyder & Dillow, 2015).

9. The term White represents an individual or race-category of people “having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa (Aud et al., 2012, p. vii).

10. The Higher Education Act of 1965 defines historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) as institutions of higher education established before 1964 whose principal mission was then, and remains today, the education of Black Americans (Wilson, 2008).

11. The Office for Civil Rights, under Public Law 103–208, defines Hispanic-serving institutions as degree-granting colleges and universities with a full-time-equivalent undergraduate enrollment of 25% or more Hispanic students, and at least 50% of the Hispanic students have incomes at or below 150% of the poverty level as identified by the U.S. Census Bureau (Snyder et al., 2009).