Redesigning Workplaces: DEI Policy Advocacy That Works
A call to action for Black women in higher education
In this political moment, when diversity, equity, and inclusion work is being actively dismantled, Black women in higher education are at a critical crossroads. Many of us were called into this work—officially or unofficially—not just as employees, but as advocates, bridge-builders, and truth-tellers. And now, we’re being told there’s no room for the very work we’ve sustained for decades.
But make no mistake: this moment doesn’t require us to shrink—it demands that we recalibrate, reimagine, and recommit.
Here’s how Black women in academia can continue to shape the future of DEI, even in institutions that are reluctant to evolve.
Interrogate Pay Inequities—And Demand Transparency
We know the stats: Black women are consistently underpaid compared to their white and male counterparts, even when we hold the same qualifications. In higher ed, these disparities are often buried under vague promotion criteria and hidden salary bands.
What you can do:
Request your data. Ask HR for anonymized pay scales or institutional reports disaggregated by race and gender.
Normalize the conversation. Talk openly with trusted colleagues about compensation and benefits—collective knowledge is collective power.
Document and advocate. Keep records of your accomplishments and use them to push for reclassification, merit increases, or equity adjustments.
Push for Pathways, Not Performances
Leadership development for Black women in higher ed must go beyond one-off workshops and “firsts.” It must include intentional succession planning, mentorship, and access to roles where we have real influence—not just optics.
What you can do:
Mentor and sponsor other Black women. Your visibility becomes a bridge when you reach back.
Sit on search and promotion committees. Influence the processes that shape leadership demographics.
Ask the hard questions. What percentage of Black women are in leadership? What’s the promotion timeline compared to others? Why?
Don’t just ask to be included—ask for the pathway to be rebuilt.
Hold Institutions Accountable—With or Without Titles
You don’t need a DEI job title to do equity work. In fact, some of the most powerful advocacy happens through grassroots efforts, collective organizing, and data-driven demands.
What you can do:
Create informal accountability. Track and publish data when your institution doesn’t. Host brown bag discussions on equity goals. Create space.
Know the policies. Study your institution’s diversity plan, strategic goals, and hiring data. Learn where the gaps are—and name them.
Link DEI to accreditation, funding, and compliance. Equity isn’t just ethical—it’s structural. Learn to speak the language of policy and leverage it.
Redefine DEI as Infrastructure, Not Initiative
DEI cannot be a separate project on the side of institutional operations—it has to live within how we do everything: hiring, teaching, funding, evaluating, promoting, and leading.
What you can do:
Integrate DEI into your syllabus, your meetings, your advising. Small moves across a system shift the culture.
Push your department to conduct a policy audit. What policies harm or exclude students and faculty of color? What practices need dismantling?
Make equity everyone’s job. Refuse the burden of being the “only one” doing the work. Require your colleagues to be accountable too.
This Is Not the End—It’s a Reckoning
Yes, DEI is under attack. But what’s really being challenged is the idea that institutions should reflect and respect the people within them.
As Black women, we’ve always known how to work through systems not built for us. What we do now—how we gather, how we resist, how we imagine new ways of working—will define the next generation of academic culture.
Let’s not wait for permission.
Let’s design the workplace we deserve.
Let’s keep leading—even when they try to push us out.
