Fostering social justice leaders through the social action, leadership and transformation (SALT) model

Abstract

Neoliberal ideologies function to transfer capitalist logics from the economic sector to all aspects of social and political life (Brown, 2006). Neoliberal logics include, but are not limited to, a hyperfocus on capital accumulation, beliefs in individualistic hyper-competition for capital as the primary means of advancing society and humanity, and the commodification of everything (e.g., education, knowledge, diversity, multiculturalism;Museus & LePeau, 2019). In response to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the most privileged sects of society launched concerted efforts to infuse neoliberal logics throughout U.S. society in the mid-20th century (Ferguson, 2017). Many argue that this neoliberal turn since the 1970s has had profound effects on higher education, as well as the study of postsecondary systems.Ferguson (2017) explained how the neoliberal turn influenced social justice conversations in higher education over the last 50 years. He noted that it functioned to replace Civil Rights Movement agendas for the radical eradication of systemic oppression with conversations about diversity and multiculturalism. Other scholars have documented how higher education's increased focused on commodified forms of diversity and multiculturalism has come at the expense of more substantial systemic transformation during this period as well (Iverson, 2008). Higher education institutions and professionals increasingly viewed and framed education and diversity as commodities, of things that could enhance graduates' competitiveness in the workforce and their ability to advance the nation's standing in the global economy (Bok, 2009).It was within this historical context that the study of higher education took shape. In the latter half of the 20th century, researchers began studying college students ' trajectories, experiences, and outcomes (Museus, 2023). The focus was often on how to produce graduates prepared to contribute to the economic viability of the U.S. (Bok, 2009). In the late 20th Century, an increasing number of higher education scholars sought to challenge the invisibility of power, privilege, culture, and identity in many of these dominant discourses (e.g., Hurtado & Carter, 1997). They often called for more efforts to center the knowledge, values, and perspectives, of communities that faced significant systemic injustices.Conversations in the area leadership education and development also emerged within this historical context. For example, many early leadership theories focused on factors, such as leadership traits and leaders' relationships with and ability to influence their constituents (Dugan, 2017). Over the last few decades, scholars have made efforts to underscore the importance of leaders' social responsibility (Komives & Wagner, 2016). They have also argued that leadership should not be viewed as a transactional endeavor, but instead is inevitably a moral one (Dugan, 2017;MacGregor Burns, 2012). Many working in leadership education and development have invested extensive energy to include people f...