Context Diversity: Reframing Higher Education in the 21st Century

Diversity is three-dimensional: 1). Structural Diversity is characterized by compliance-oriented, quota-driven Affirmative Action initiatives to recruit and retain underrepresented populations, 2). Multicultural Diversity is identified by activities creating awareness of and respect for human differences by infusing cultural, gender or other group issues into our institutions; and now 3.) Context Diversity is characterized by reframing academic cultures to meet the needs of all populations, and to attract the underrepresented so that they may thrive in academe. The objective is to build diversity into the context of our higher education system, our learning communities and beyond. In this new paradigm, access is still vital, but is no longer the major problem. The lack of underrepresented populations (critical mass) is merely a symptom, but it too is not the problem. Underperformance issues and conflict over the cultural context of higher education in the U.S. surface as major problems. The context of higher education is locked into a centuries old research model imported from Europe. The predominance of a particular and preferred learning environment tends to exclude all the others, and defines the cultural context of higher education as one of disengagement. The outcome is not only a one-sided learning community that turns away diverse populations, but also a hidden dimension of cultural context that has been ignored until now. Fortunately, the dilemmas of diversity can be resolved with application of guiding principles, which convert institutions into Multicontextual environments that embrace civic engagement as a foundation for higher education in the 21st century.