Improving Racial Equity in Community College: Developing a Plan, Implementing the Vision

Abstract

California policymakers passed the Student Equity Policy, requiring all community colleges to develop a “student equity plan” that identified outcome disparities for select student groups, including racial/ethnic students. Through an instrumental case study, I examined Huerta College because their equity plan stood out for its focus on addressing Latinx transfer inequity. I spent two years interviewing implementers, observing equity meetings, and collecting documents that served as artifacts of implementation. Key to equity planning was a critical mass of Latinx practitioners able to see the policy as an opportunity to tackle one of the greatest inequities on their campus, Latinx transfer. They used the implementation process to propose new projects that would support Latinx students in their journey to transfer from Huerta.

Developing “Equity Sense”: Meaning-Making at a Community College

“…Fourth, my analysis did not delve into how practitioners’ social identities and realities could have shaped collective meaning-making about equity. Researchers can build on recent work showing that practitioner positionality influences policy implementation (e.g., Felix, 2021; Nienhusser & Connery, 2021). They can analyze whether and how practitioners’ racial/ethnic, gender, and professional identities shape (a) their individual beliefs about who and what equity is for and how equity should be pursued and (b) their willingness to exert episodic power in group discussions to steer collective meaning-making about equity.…”

“…An equity-minded practitioner centers race even when an effort (e.g., the SEP) is not only focused on racial equity. Felix's (2021) study of SEP implementation showed how a dean turned the Developing ''Equity Sense'' equity planning process from a compliance and procedural endeavor to one that addressed inequities in transfer rates for Latina/x/o students. Further, an equity-minded practitioner sees structural racism as the cause of racial inequity.…”

Mobilizing theory to application: Equity‐driven and social justice‐oriented leadership in community colleges

“…In addition, equity‐driven leadership ought to be tied to student outcomes, with an emphasis on equitable educational outcomes for historically marginalized populations. This definition aligns with equity‐mindedness, which several scholars have used as a framework to promote racial equity in faculty hiring (Liera, 2020), close racial equity gaps (Malcolm‐Piqueaux & Bensimón, 2017), and examine institutional‐level policies and implementation plans that support racially minoritized students (Felix, 2021). Under this definition, community college leaders and scholars should be able to push the boundaries needed to create more equitable and transformative community college environments.…”

“…Namely, grounded in their historic mission of access, community colleges serve the collective public good by promoting full participation and citizenry (Baber et al., 2019), ideals that are vital to our democracy. Under this mission, community colleges cultivate social justice tenets rooted in opportunity, racial inclusion, and holistic student care (Felix, 2021; Goldrick‐Rab & Cady, 2018). In this final chapter, we underscore that although community colleges are integral to our nation's economic success, they are just as vital for promoting key values that uphold the most fundamental democratic principles of our nation, such as promoting civic discourse and engagement (see Chapter 3) and racial inclusion (see Chapters 2, 4, 11, and 15).…”

Using policy to build equitable Latinx transfer pathways

“…Similarly, Nienhusser (2018) describes how institutional leaders can intentionally use the ambiguity of policy language to interpret the legal mandates as an opportunity to enhance equity for undocumented students and their “dreams of pursuing a college education” (p. 16). Whether administering a grant or overseeing policy reform, these examples highlight the need for institutional leaders who draw on their experiences, motivations, and positions to leverage federal and state policy as a catalyst for campus transformation (Felix, 2021). Both the research cited and our experiences shared in the next section illustrate the critical role of institutional leaders in shaping how reform efforts are used to improve equity for marginalized communities in education.…”