Inclusive Excellence: From Higher Education to Sport

text by Lisa Ingarfield, PhD

For many years, I have worked in higher education, providing support and services to survivors of interpersonal violence. Since interpersonal violence is a product of gender oppression and marginalization, my work frequently dove tailed with larger campus’ diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The institution of higher education was designed by and primarily for, white men. Over the years, it has evolved with campuses nationwide developing more inclusive missions and visions. In addition to recruiting a greater number of individuals from marginalized groups, campuses have also been working to shift their climates to reduce both overt and covert manifestations of hostility for marginalized groups.

A campus can recruit more students of color for example, but unless the climate is welcoming to them, the likelihood of them persisting through four years of school to graduate, diminishes.

For some time now, creating an inclusive campus rested upon the number of students, staff, and faculty from marginalized groups attending a particular school. A campus’ success in this area was largely measured by how effectively an institution increased the numbers of students, staff, and faculty of color, with disabilities, of the LGBTIQ community, and international students. However, increased numbers do not significantly transform a system, culture, or climate. A campus can recruit more students of color for example, but unless the climate is welcoming to them, the likelihood of them persisting through four years of school to graduate, diminishes. In my time as a higher education administrator at a predominantly white institution, numerous students of color shared their everyday experiences of racism, often in the form of subtle microaggressions and assumptions about why they were there and what they could achieve.

Women also experience high levels of marginalization on college campuses. Much like other marginalized groups, they were largely excluded from higher education. It wasn’t until late in the nineteenth century into the early twentieth century that things began to change. Even when the ivory tower opened its doors, it was mainly for white women often leaving women of color out of the equation. Even though the numbers of women entering higher education has been steadily rising over the last thirty years, the climate on campus has been slow to change to accommodate the demographic shift. From sexual assault victimization to ingrained beliefs about women’s intellectual capacity, the stories of sexism overflow from the higher education chalice.

In 2005, the American Association of Colleges and Universities published a white paper entitled Toward a Model of Inclusive Excellence and Change in Postsecondary Institutions. The central call of this paper was for institutions of higher education to move beyond numbers and more fully integrate diversity, inclusion, and equity work into the core of their policy and practice. Embedding such a commitment, the paper argues, will assist in shifting campus culture to more effectively prepare students for an increasingly global and integrated world. Doing so will also facilitate the creation of campus climates that are fully welcoming to students, staff, and faculty who experience oppression and marginalization.

I think we can learn a lot from what higher education continues to grapple with in terms of enhancing its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in meaningful ways.

“Diversity and inclusion efforts [must] move beyond numbers of students or numbers of programs as end goals. Instead, they are multilayered processes through which we achieve excellence in learning; research and teaching; student development; local and global community engagement; workforce development; and more.” (Williams, Berger & McClendon, 2005, p. iii) Linking diversity and quality is central to making excellence inclusive. The authors of the paper recommend broad organizational change to assist campuses in achieving Inclusive Excellence and developing a campus climate that “systematically leverages diversity for student learning and institutional excellence” (Williams, Berger & McClendon, 2005, p. v).

So what does the concept and practice of Inclusive Excellence in higher education have to do with sport, or more specifically engaging women in sport, sports leadership, and professional competition? I think we can learn a lot from what higher education continues to grapple with in terms of enhancing its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in meaningful ways. Implementing a practice of Inclusive Excellence pushes organizations to move beyond numerical data as a demonstration of diversity success, and instead challenges them to think about how inclusivity can be embedded at all levels of the organization. Compositional diversity alone, Inclusive Excellence posits, does not sufficiently change a culture. If an organizational culture remains unwelcoming for a marginalized person or group, then they will be less likely to stay, less likely to spend money, and less likely to refer their friends.

Take Ironman’s 50 Kona World Championship slots for elite men as compared to 35 slots for elite women. An easy way to address this numerical discrepancy, which has resulted in a discriminatory practice, is to increase the number of elite women’s slots to 50. Done. Perhaps not. Inclusive Excellence as a framework asserts that it is not enough equalize the number of elite men and women competing. Doing so is really just the first step in becoming inclusively excellent.

Other factors to address would be to look at the Ironman organization as a whole by asking questions such as:

• In what ways does Ironman as an organization and race organizer implicitly or explicitly privilege male racers?
• What kinds of inclusivity and equity training exist for Ironman staff and race directors?
• What standards are Ironman staff and race directors held to in regards to their efforts towards diversity in triathlon?
• Who writes and enforces the rules of Ironman?
• How often are they reviewed and by whom?
• How is the entire Ironman ecosystem engaged in responding to, and changing a climate that has historically been centered on the experiences of male athletes?

The Inclusive Excellence Change Model advocates for moving beyond static diversity initiatives such as “a programmatic element here, a compositional goal there” toward “a comprehensive strategy for achieving institutional excellence” (Williams, Berger & McClendon, 2005, p. 3).

Sub out “institution” for “sports organization,” “discipline,” or “race/event,” and its applicability is clear.

How are sports organizations analyzing and addressing both the participation and achievement gap between men and women in sport?

What about the inclusion and success of athletes of color or transgender athletes? How about the inclusion of athletes with disabilities or the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and intersex community?

Any less of an effort, falls short. To be excellent, we must also be inclusive.

Institutions of higher education look at retention and persistence rates as a measure of success. Low persistence rates point to a discrepancy between how they position themselves as providing inclusive learning environments and the reality that inclusion is not universally experienced by marginalized groups recruited to campus.

With dollars and cents being funneled into the recruitment of women athletes, athletes of color, and other marginalized groups, it begs the question: is any attention being paid within sport to whether these groups stay involved, and if not, why not?

A top to bottom review and reform of your practices and policies is crucial if you want to implement Inclusive Excellence as a framework for your sports discipline and organization. It requires a “synergy within and across organizational systems through the alignment of structures, politics…policies, resources, symbols, and cultures” (Williams, Berger & McClendon, 2005, p. 3).

Any less of an effort, falls short. To be excellent, we must also be inclusive. We must move the conversation beyond demographic check boxes and numbers. Will this kind of reform be easy? Probably not. But is it essential and the right thing to do? Absolutely.

 

References
Williams, D. A., Berger, J. B., and McClendon, S. A. (2005). Toward a model of Inclusive Excellence and change in postsecondary institutions. Washington, D.C.: Association for American Colleges & Universities.

Lisa Ingarfield, PhD, is a runner, triathlete, and Road Runners Club of America—RRCA certified coach. She owns Tri to Defi Coaching and Consulting and provides organizational communication evaluation and consulting services. She is a freelance writer specializing in issues affecting women—particularly in sport and education, and is a member of Boulder, Colorado’s Vixxen Racing’s 2017 women’s triathlon team.