Radical Incrementalism and the Queer Institution in Campus Climate Studies

Abstract

In this article, I examine campus climate studies through radical incrementalism and queer pragmatism. As a statistician and institutional researcher, I embrace data-informed decisions to promote resource reallocation and policy formation. Yet, as a queer person, I have misgivings about incrementalism as a dominant strategy that aligns queerness with interests of the state (or in this context, the institution). I use campus climate studies as a vehicle to illustrate the epistemological and practical implications of radical incrementalism and a queered institution, relying on both my own queer embodiment and my expertise in campus climate studies. My intended audiences include administrators with positional power at colleges and universities, especially those with influence concerning campus climate studies and data-informed decision making. I also direct my conversation to researchers who conduct campus climate studies, including institutional researchers and assessment professionals, academic scholars, and consultants. Lastly in this article. I also provide clarity and disruption for queer people who exist in higher education and who engage in the campus climate landscape to illuminate often silenced discourse concerning tensions and opportunities for queer liberation in the academy. I begin my article with my theoretical groundings, including radical incrementalism and queer pragmatism. I then provide an overview of campus climate studies in higher education, including federal mandates from the Department of Education, the campus climate industrial complex, and data trauma through deficit-based assessment. I close my conversation with hope and queer agency.