Promoting Antiracism Among Higher Education Faculty

Background/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate outcomes of a newly developed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion course for an accredited MSW program to address the growing need to prepare social work educators and students for anti-racist and anti-oppressive practice. There is limited research evaluating strategies to promote antiracism in teaching, particularly in MSW programs. Previous findings suggest that faculty members may not be prepared in teaching antiracism (Feize & Gonzales, 2018). In their review of the literature, Massey and Johnson (2021) argue that to promote antiracism in social work education, faculty members need to undertake critical self-reflection and education. This research seeks to contribute to knowledge surrounding approaches to prepare social workers to advance racial equity. The research questions are, does educating faculty on DEI topics improve faculty’s knowledge and awareness, and second, how do faculty participants describe the value and experience of engaging with a DEI course?

Methods: An interdisciplinary group of faculty members participated in the six-week pilot course and were recruited to participate in this mixed method study. Data were collected using a pretest and posttest survey design to measure improvement in the areas of knowledge, skills, and self-awareness in advancing DEI teaching practices. The focus groups were conducted at the conclusion of the pilot course to assess the participants’ qualitative experience.

The 27-item Multicultural Counseling Knowledge and Awareness Scale (Ponterotto, 2003) was selected as a primary data collection instrument. Because the purpose of the faculty pilot course was to improve participants’ inclusive teaching, the MCKAS was modified to reflect teaching rather than counseling practices. The researchers created original questions for the focus group participants.

Results: Of the 22 faculty pilot participants, we received paired pre and post survey data from 6 faculty members and 7 focus group participants. Using paired sample t-test significant differences (p<.05, 2-tailed) were identified on 5 MCKAS items and marginally significant differences (p<.10, 2-tailed) were identified on 4 additional items.

Faculty participants overall reported positive experiences with the course. Focus group themes included enhanced knowledge and exposure to unfamiliar DEI resources, material, and interventions to use in the classroom, opportunities to engage in self-reflection, and the need for continued ongoing engagement on the topic as well as other topics across other intersectionality.

Conclusion/Implications: The findings highlight the impact of a DEI course in enhancing knowledge, awareness, and skills. Although the sample size was small, findings demonstrate potential benefits this curriculum. Offering a course that enables a faculty member to self-reflect on their beliefs, values, and implicit bias regarding race, can be impactful in promoting antiracist practices in the classroom setting. By offering a course designed specifically to promote anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices, students are better equipped to address and implement practices and policies that will decrease and hopefully eradicate racial and oppressive practices and policies that cause harm to marginalized populations.