Assessing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives in Education: Professional Higher Education Staff and the People Side of Change
Date of Award
Spring 2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership (EdD)
Committee Chair
Donis Toler
Committee Member
Shantelle Jenkins
Committee Member
Tonia Young-Babb
Abstract
Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) continue to struggle with implementing sustainable diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) changes despite known benefits and support found in the literature. Although engagement with DEI expanded after the 2020 racial reckoning, the past six years have seen DEI dismantled across many university campuses. This qualitative descriptive study examined how professional higher education staff at a PWI in central Ohio described the impact of DEI initiatives. Grounded in the ADKAR change model and Critical Race Theory (CRT), the study examined the experience of professional higher education staff across awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcement. Twelve professional higher education staff members participated in semi-structured interviews. Data was analyzed using a hybrid deductive and inductive thematic analysis approach. Findings revealed a disconnect between institutional intents and everyday experiences. Participants reported unclear communication, inconsistent leadership engagement, and a lack of strategic clarity as obstacles to authentic DEI change. The study also found that while access to DEI training and resources has increased, the effectiveness of these initiatives is often limited by the absence of a shared language, inconsistent program quality, and resistance rooted in entrenched institutional norms. At the micro level, departments and individuals have demonstrated the capacity to innovate and implement DEI practices. However, barriers to these efforts at the institutional level include limited resources, policies that constrain advancement, and the constant flux of legislative changes. The effect of recent anti-DEI legislation in Ohio and beyond underscores the fragility of progress and the need to embed DEI work into organizational culture.
Recommended Citation
Lumpkin, Monique, "Assessing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives in Education: Professional Higher Education Staff and the People Side of Change" (2026). All Doctoral Student Dissertations. 253.
https://fuse.franklin.edu/docpub/253
