CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICERS ORGANIZATIONAL LEGITIMACY AND THEIR INCORPORATION INTO THE STRUCTURE OF PREDOMINANTLY WHITE INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

Colleges and universities have often been seen as a social catalyst for diversity, equity, and inclusion. The shootings of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin, and deaths of George Floyd and Breanna Taylor, gave rise to a national awakening of social justice. Colleges and universities have not been immune to the challenge of reconciling social and racial justice on their own campuses. Demands to address the diversity of student populations, lack of faculty and staff of color, and the absence of minority voices in the curriculum, among other things, have commanded colleges and universities to respond. One widespread response has been the incorporation of a Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) into the institutions organizational structure. Banerji (2005) and Leon (2014) defined the CDO as an executive-level position of who addresses, guides, and advocates for diversity initiatives within the institution, constituent groups, and curriculum. These executive-level decision-makers are intended to not only be a response to the outcry from unrepresented populations for more representation, but it is expected these positions will make real and lasting change on college and university campuses. Through a qualitative interview-based approach, I examined the organizational legitimacy of four CDOs at ix predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Legitimacy is defined as “a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs, and definitions” (Suchman, 1995, p. 574). Legitimacy guides the exchange of resources between an organization and their external environment. Those who hold the resources hold the power and dictate how those resources are allocated (Austin & Jones, 2016). Using resource dependence theory (RDT) and institutional theory (IT), I found that internal legitimacy was created when a CDO was embedded into the organizational structure; there was support from executive-level leadership and senior leadership team; the CDO had adequate human, financial, capital, and technical resources; and they had credibility with the university faculty. The internal legitimacy allowed the CDO to influence the diversity work on their campus. A CDO should be established as the champion for the diversity work, but when the diversity work is internalized and operationalized, that is what “moves the needle” on DEI.