Book Buzz from The International Leadership Association 2023 Global Conference. Authors Amena Anderson, J. Kasi Jackson, and Maja Holmes discuss their book Engaging Faculty in Group-Level Change for Institutional Transformation.

A team of scholars from the West Virginia University ADVANCE Center has developed a new model to instill a stronger equitable, diverse, and inclusive environment at higher education institutions. The work aims to create lasting, transformative institutional change.

Uniquely grounded in group-level processes for faculty and academic staff, the research, practice, and theory explore how group dynamics impact social and psychological situations as well as gender and racial inequity. The goal is to improve the group’s communication, collaboration, and trust by bringing to light potential issues of implicit bias, social injustice, and other inequities among group members.

Insights from multiple disciplines factor into this work, including learning sciences, social psychology, higher education leadership, communication studies, and group facilitation.

“With so much attention to what individuals and institutions can do to create change, we are eager to emphasize the powerful role of group work – that ‘magic middle’ between individuals and the institution. We’ve seen through our research that group work among unit members co-creates more positive, inclusive, and just academic cultures.” – Christy Kunkle, professor, Communication Studies Department, West Virginia University

“The work of institutional transformation for equity and justice is a lot less sexy than the rhetoric around institutional equity and justice. The work is intricate and strategic and pushes up against the neoliberal notions about what deserves time and energy. The work described in our text illustrates this reality.” – Amena Anderson, assistant professor of practice, WVU ADVANCE Center