Abstract
In recent times there has been sustained momentum to address inequalities within university faculties and improve the diversity of students. Also, in response to historical and current social injustices, universities have sought to decolonize curricula. These progressive movements have had particular significance for departments focused on development studies and related subjects because the need to be inclusive is not only the right thing to do from a moral position, but also because to be exclusive is fundamentally challenging to the conceptualization and philosophy of the discipline. Development is a contested term but addressing inequality and working towards social justice are common themes found across most definitions. This commentary provides a critical insight into the importance of inclusive universities as gatekeepers to equitable knowledge production and the development of future professionals. To play their part in addressing the challenges posed by a globalized world, universities need to be proactive in ensuring that they become fully and meaningfully inclusive. While all university departments would benefit from becoming more inclusive, departments focused on development must be the pioneers leading the way, as inclusivity is relevant to the delivery of development studies, as well as emerging as an important discourse within the discipline that continues to evolve. This commentary will explore how and why in an increasingly interconnected global society, the need for universities to leave no one behind, and challenge hegemonic and unequal structures has never been greater.
Highlights
The drive towards making universities inclusive has received much attention in recent years
The need to decolonize curric‐ ula is framed by the ambition to overcome power and take back control of the knowledge that is taught and produced at universities
Drawing on the ideas of Allen Luke, Janks (2019) argues that decolonizing curricula is about working towards effect‐ ing recognitive, redistributive and representative social justice in education
Summary
The drive towards making universities inclusive has received much attention in recent years. Social Inclusion, 2021, Volume 9, Issue 3, Pages 27–31 ways of generating evidence that were previously sur‐ prised or ignored must be reappraised and re‐socialized These formally overlooked approaches must be inte‐ grated with new approaches relevant to contemporary challenges and aspirations (Nyamnjoh, 2019). While student bodies are in general becoming more diverse, the teaching workforce, is failing to reform and become inclusive at the same pace (Poloma, 2014) This is despite evidence suggesting that a diverse university faculty can have a positive impact on both educational outcomes ( so for students from underrep‐ resented minority backgrounds) and employee perfor‐ mance (Setati et al, 2019; Stout et al, 2018). For departments that focus on development studies, it is a challenge that threatens to undermine the main philo‐ sophical pillars of the discipline
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