Department of Education, Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain.
PLoS One. 2019 Jul 24;14(7):e0219525. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219525. eCollection 2019.
The participation of diverse demographics in higher education has risen over the last half-century; meanwhile, different political and social tiers have been assigning a more active role to institutions in terms of equality and social justice. This change in circumstances has led to the roll out of processes to institutionalise diversity outreach. This study was conducted for the clear purpose of assessing the current institutionalisation status of diversity outreach in 127 key universities from the Academic Ranking of World Universities based on the opinions of diversity outreach managers and the information published on institutional websites, in turn measuring compliance with various indicators. A qualitative analysis of the institutional statements, the goals sought through strategic plans and the definitions of diversity itself was also conducted. The evidence reveals the early stage of the institutionalisation process in universities on account of the low percentage obtained for the proposed indicators. Furthermore, the study failed to exhibit significant differences in this process in terms of the institutional ownership or position held in the ranking; however, more prominent progress was noted in the North-American region when geographical differences were taken into account, likely as a result of the historical background in the advocacy for equal opportunities. Lastly, a change of approach to the conceptualisation of diversity is suggested in favour of equality and social justice.
在过去的半个世纪里，不同背景的人参与高等教育的比例有所上升；与此同时，不同的政治和社会阶层赋予了机构更多的平等和社会正义方面的积极作用。这种情况的变化导致了多元化推广的制度化进程。本研究的目的是根据多元化推广经理的意见和机构网站上发布的信息，评估世界大学学术排名的 127 所重点大学中多元化推广的当前制度化状况，以衡量各项指标的达标情况。还对机构陈述、战略计划中寻求的目标以及多样性本身的定义进行了定性分析。证据表明，由于提出的指标的百分比很低，大学的制度化进程仍处于早期阶段。此外，就机构所有权或在排名中的地位而言，这一进程并没有表现出显著差异；然而，考虑到地理差异，北美的进展更为显著，这可能是由于历史上倡导机会均等的背景。最后，建议改变对多样性的概念化方式，以促进平等和社会正义。
