Using an equity audit investigation to prepare doctoral students for social justice leadership

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to both introduce and describe the use of an equity audit investigation to prepare students in an educational leadership doctoral program for social justice leadership. The course setting where the equity audit served as the culminating activity is described. The authors also report on a five‐question, open‐ended survey in which students identified the equity audit problem they investigated, their findings, the result of their findings, how the investigation impacted their school and the perceived value of the process to them as a scholar‐practitioner. Qualitative feedback from the student survey responses indicated that using an equity audit led to powerful experiences for students seeking to become social justice leaders. Most students reported that sharing data from their equity audit investigation led to changes on their campuses that were more equitable and more socially just. Students also reported that conducting an equity audit was one of the most educationally transformative course requirements in the doctoral program.