Monday, February 8, 2021

Diversity at the Top

I will try to write the following post without zeroing in too specifically on any one institution.  My experiences in thinking about returning to school seem to offer some larger societal insights.

Let me preface by saying that I'm no Luddite.  I've been incorporating online elements to my classes long before we had the tech infrastructure to make it easy.  I've been online for longer than most of my students have been alive.

I was surprised at how much trouble I had navigating the early stages of the ELCA candidacy process.  I couldn't find some documents, like the application, in the places where I expected to find them.  Finally I just clicked every place I could click; ignoring what made intuitive sense was what led me to the form I needed.  I went ahead and filled it all in, even though I hadn't intended to do it right then, because I was afraid I might never find the form again.

Along the way, I thought about the people who don't have the online experiences that I have, about the people who haven't been to grad school before (or who went so long ago that the online part of applying is new).  I thought about the people who might look at certain price tags and assume that doors are closed.

When we talk about leadership in our institutions--government, school, church, corporations--many of us wonder why the leadership is so white, so male, so rich, and in many cases so old.  I think I've found a reason why.

Many of us might have speculated that certain doors are closed to more diverse candidates, and that's traditionally been the case.  I've always thought about how many people are out there who never knock on the door at all.

This week, I'm wondering about all of those who never find their way to the door to knock.  Can we get rid of some of the roadblocks?


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