Food for Thought with Dr. Linda DeAngelo

Join us for our next Food for Thought Talk, What Are Faculty Experiencing in the Anti-DEI Era? by Dr. Linda DeAngelo!

The research program on faculty Dr. DeAngelo will share began in a different political and institutional moment. After decades of national efforts to broaden participation in STEM and engineering, important questions remained about faculty equity-mindedness and readiness to advance equity work. Building on five years of research through two NSF-funded studies, her current research line initially sought to understand engineering faculty's equity-mindedness and readiness to advance transformational change. However, as the study prepared to enter the field, the shifting sociopolitical landscape in the wake of Trump’s election fundamentally altered the conditions under which faculty were being asked to engage in DEI work. These changes also directly affected Dr. DeAngelo's own research, including the termination of one NSF-funded study and required revisions to the public-facing materials of another. This changing context created both a challenge and an opportunity: to examine the relationship between the shifting sociopolitical landscape and faculty perceptions of their responsibility, advocacy, and self-efficacy for advancing equity.

Drawing on survey responses from more than 800 engineering faculty across the United States and follow-up interviews with more than 80 faculty, this talk examines how faculty are experiencing, interpreting, and navigating the current sociopolitical context. Grounded in Estela Bensimon's theorization of equity-mindedness and Sara Ahmed's scholarship on institutional power and complaint, the presentation explores patterns in faculty perceptions and self-efficacy, including variation across racial and ethnic groups and state legislative contexts. Qualitative findings further illuminate how faculty make sense of changing institutional conditions and what they understand to be possible in their equity work. Dr. DeAngelo will also discuss emerging directions for research using these data.

During the presentation, participants will be invited to reflect on their own experiences navigating the current sociopolitical context, how they are making sense of these changes, and what this moment means for how they understand and approach equity work. Together, we will consider what the research and our collective experiences reveal about the possibilities and challenges of advancing equity in higher education.

The first 15 attendees to arrive will receive a copy of Hope Circuits: Rewiring Universities and Other Organizations for Human Flourishing by Jessica Riddell.

A complimentary lunch will be served at 12pm.