Equity in Action in Community College Leadership

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ie.2024.437

Keywords:

equity, social justice, equitable, equity leadership, identity, ideology, positionality, community college leadership, higher education leadership, community college presidents, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander

Abstract

Equity in action starts with a leader’s critical consciousness in relation to their identities, ideologies, and positionalities. In this essay, the following factors: ideologies, identities, and positionalities are explained and emphasized as they are essential factors that impact equity work. Leaders who center equity must explore their own critical consciousness through an equity lens so that they prioritize equity at the forefront while leading, collaborating, and making decisions in their leadership positions. The positionality of leaders is also critical on how they use their power to influence their community and amplify the voices of the underrepresented. One subset of the findings, Equity in Action, from my dissertation, Asian American Community College Presidents: The Power of Identities, Ideologies, and Positionalities is included in this essay. To set the foundation of the dissertation, the SEL framework, also known as the shared equity leadership framework (Kezar et al., 2021) is used to analyze how leaders build their own capacity in equity work. In addition, my positionality and development as an equity leader are reflected in this essay.

References

California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. (2022). Methodology Note 2022 Update: Percentage point gap minus one. https://launchboard-resources.wested.org/resources/113

Davis, G. P., Huang, B. L., Lee, K., Yamagata-Noji, A., & Suzuki, B. H. (2013). Raising voices, lifting leaders: Empowering Asian Pacific Islander American leadership in higher education. American Council on Education.

Kezar, A., Holcombe, E., Vigil, D., Dizon, J. P. (2021). Shared equity leadership: making equity everyone’s work. American Council on Education. USC Rossier.

Lee, F. (2019). Asian American and Pacific Islander faculty and the bamboo ceiling: Barriers to leadership and implications for leadership development. New Directions for Higher Education, 186, 93–102.

Shields, C. M. (2010). Transformative leadership: Working for equity in diverse contexts. Educational Administration Quarterly, 46(4), 558–589. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X10375609

Theoharis, G. (2007). Social justice educational leaders and resistance: Toward a theory of social justice leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 43(2), 221–258.

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Published

2024-08-06

How to Cite

Leung, N. Y. (2024). Equity in Action in Community College Leadership. Impacting Education: Journal on Transforming Professional Practice, 9(3), 53–57. https://doi.org/10.5195/ie.2024.437