Perpetuating Inequality in Pursuit of Diversity

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the role of instrumental diversity rationales in perpetuating racial inequality. Instrumental rationales are pervasive in education (Starck, Sinclair & Shelton, 2021), legal (Frymer & Skrentny, 2004), and organizational contexts (Georgeac & Rattan, 2020). Previous work has shown that they are also associated with greater disparities in the graduation rates of universities’ White and minority students (Starck et al., 2021). The current work seeks to uncover mechanisms through which instrumental rationales may cause racially disparate outcomes. In the first part of the dissertation, I evaluate whether instrumental rationales correspond with lower uptake of teaching practices intended to assist racial minority students. The first study therein evaluates this hypothesis by asking a sample of teachers about their expectations regarding culturally responsive teaching at instrumentally and morally motivated schools, and the second study replicates the first while providing additional insights into the mechanisms driving our anticipated effect. In the second part of the dissertation, I evaluate whether instrumental diversity rationales create environments that subject racial minorities to greater social pain. The first study in this section tests this hypothesis in a classroom context while the second study tests it in a social environment characterized by intergroup conflict. These studies inform legal and organizational discourse about whether and why to value diversity through investigating how the dominant approach to diversity in the U.S. might facilitate racial inequality in educational organizations.