Communicating about diversity: challenges and strategies related to integrating race into the rural higher education classroom

Abstract

ABSTRACT In a country where conversations about race, racism, power, and identity are becoming more commonplace and viewed as a necessity for creating an inclusive society, it is striking that many higher education faculty members struggle to incorporate these kinds of conversations into the classroom. While studies have pointed to a variety of reasons, including faculty members’ racial literacy and their White fragility, few studies to date have examined what faculty members from American rural contexts view as obstacles and opportunities in discussing race in the classroom. This study fills this gap by examining what barriers and strategies faculty members from a rural Predominantly White Sea and Land Grant institution engage with when discussing race-related topics in the classroom. Utilising a mixed-methods approach, this study’s findings revealed barriers consisting of instructor ambivalence and discomfort, student discomfort, lack of experience with and insight into discrimination, and institutional issues such as lack of support. This study also identified strategies that instructors indicated using to successfully incorporate race into the classroom, including strategies aimed at creating a productive classroom environment, exposing students to diversity, and creating an environment that allowed for critical reflexivity. The study concludes with recommendations on how higher education administrators and instructors in rural areas can work to render discussions about race more constructive and meaningful.