Abstract
This study reports the results of research with respect to policy and diversity, as part of a larger case study of a Canadian university-college. The study details an examination of policy discourses as a vehicle for institutional change and provides insights into the everyday experiences of educators, their perspectives on policy and change, and the contested territory of diversity (i.e.,race, gender, class, disability,and sexual orientation) in an institution. The paper begins by considering the university-college and the context of the college and institute system in Canada. The paper briefly reviews state policy and the context that state public policy provides in principles of valuing diversity. Policy discourses were generated from the narratives of educators, from an institutional committee and from ‘outsiders’ to committee processes and to the institutional culture. Drawing from narrative auto/biographies (Gluck, S.B. and Patai, D., Women’s Words: the Feminist Practice of Oral History. London: Routledge, 1991; Stanley, L., The Auto/biographical I. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992; West, L., Beyond Fragments. London: Taylor and Francis, 1996), policy stories are presented which illuminate the contention surrounding policy, practice and institutional change. A discourse of fairness is discussed in relation to hiring practices and how the perception of fairness actually contributes to the practice of discrimination. Discursive power relations (Foucault, M., Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972–1977. London: Harvester Press, 1980; Smith, D., The Conceptual Practices of Power. Toronto: University of Toronto, 1990) are considered in interpreting these stories and reveal the complex, competing forces affecting individuals engaged in the change process. The paper concludes by identifying a number of factors that contribute to the hindrance and advancement of the goals of diversity within an educational institution.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
C. Agocs C. Burr F. Somerset (1992) Employment Equity: Cooperative Strategies For Organizational Change Prentice-Hall Scarborough
C.L. Bacchi (1999) Women, Policy and Politics: The Construction of Policy Problems Sage Thousand Oaks
S. Ball (1987) The Micropolitics of the School: Towards a Theory of School Organisation Menthuen London
S. Ball (1990) Politics and Policy Making in Education Routledge London
H. Bannerji (1995) Thinking Through: Essays on Feminism, Marxism and Anti-racism Women’s Press Toronto
T. Becher P.R. Trowler (2001) Academic Tribes and Territories The Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press Buckingham
B.L. Berg (1995) Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences Allyn and Bacon Boston
P. Berger Luckman (1966) The Social Construction of Reality Allyn and Bacon Boston
P.H. Collins (1998) Fighting Words University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis
M. Cortazzi (1993) Narrative Analysis The Falmer Press London
T. Cox SuffixJr. (1994) Cultural Diversity in Organisations Berrett-Koehler Publishers San Francisco
R. Delgado (2000) ‘Storytelling for oppositionists and others: a plea for narrative’ R. Delgado J. Stefancic (Eds) Critical race theory. The cutting edge. Temple University Press Philadelphia 60–70
J.G. Delaney (2002) ‘Educational Policy Studies’ Detselig Enterprises Ltd. Calgary
J. Demaine (Eds) (1999) Education Policy and Comtemporary Politics MacMillan Press Ltd. London
J.D. Dennison (1998) A Commentary on the Petch Report on University Colleges – and Related Issues University of British Columbia Vancouver
J. Dennison P. Gallagher (1986) Canada’s Community Colleges University of British Columbia Press Vancouver
N. Denzin (1989) Interpretive Biography Sage Newbury Park
M. Escobar A.L. Fernández G. Guevara-Niebla P. Freire (1994) Paulo Freire on Higher Education SUNY Press New York
M. Evans (1993) ArticleTitle‘Reading lives: how the personal might be social’ Sociology 27 IssueID(1 5–13
D.M. Fetterman (1998) Ethnography Sage Thousand Oaks
M. Foucault (1972) The Archaeology of Knowledge Tavistock Publications London
M. Foucault (1977) Discipline and Punish Allen Lane London
M. Foucault (1978) The History of Sexuality Pantheonm New York
M. Foucault (1980) Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972–1977 Harvester Press London
N. Fraser (1989) Unruly Practices: Power, Discourse and Gender in Contemporary Social Theory University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis
P. Freire (1995) Pedagogy of Hope Continuum New York
S. Gherardi (1995) Gender, Symbolism and Organizational Cultures Sage London
A. Giddens (1984) The Constitution of Society University of California Press Berkley
S.B. Gluck D. Patai (Eds) (1991) Women’s Words: the Feminist Practice of Oral History Routledge London
A. Gonczi H. Hager (1998) Development of professional competencies a case study in the complexities of corporatist policy implementation A. Yeatman (Eds) Activism in the Policy Process. St. Leonards. Allen and Unwin NSW 56–80
A. Gramsci (1971) Selections From the Prison Notebooks International Publishers New York
J.A. Hatch R. Wisniewski (Eds) (1995) Life History and Narrative The Falmer Press London
B. Hooks (1994) Teaching to Transgress Routledge London
J.L. Kunz A. Milan S. Schetagne (2000) Unequal Access. A Canadian Profile of Racial Differences in Education, Employment and Income. Report prepared by the Canadian Council on Social Development Canadian Race Relations Foundation Ottawa
M.D. Le Compte (1993) A framework for hearing silence D. McLaughlin W.G. Tierney (Eds) Naming Silenced Lives. Routledge London 9–27
M. Loden J.B. Rosener (1991) Workforce America! Managing Employee Diversity as a Vital Resource Business One Irwin New York
Malatest, R. and Associates. (1991).The Lower Mainland Multicultural Education Project – Phase 1 – Demographic Overview. Vancouver: Lower Mainland Multicultural Education Project.
S. Merriam (1998) Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education Jossey-Bass San Francisco
Meyers, D.T. (1999). ‘Feminist perspectives of the self’, in Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press. Available from: http://plato.standford.edu/entries/feminism-self.
D.T. Meyers (2000) ‘Intersectional identity and the authentic self opposite attract!’. C. Mackenzie N. Stoljar (Eds) Relational Autonomy. Feminist Perspectives on Autonomy, Agency and the Social Self. Oxford University Press Oxford 151–180
InstitutionalAuthorNameMinistry of Advanced Education (1988) Access to Advanced Education and Job Training in British Columbia Report of the Provincial Access Committee. Government of British Columbia Victoria
InstitutionalAuthorNameMinistry of Advanced Education, Training and Technology. (1990) Report of the Provincial Advisory Committee on Post-secondary Education for Native Learners Government of British Columbia Victoria
InstitutionalAuthorNameMinistry of Advanced Education, Training and Technology. (1995) Aboriginal Post- secondary Education and Training Policy Framework Government of British Columbia Victoria
InstitutionalAuthorNameMinistry of Education, Skills and Training. (1996) Charting a New course: A Strategic Plan for the Future of British Columbia’s College, Institute and Agency System. Government of British Columbia Victoria
C.T. Mohanty (1994) ‘Women workers and capitalist scripts’ M.J. Alexander C.T. Mohanty (Eds) Feminist Geneologies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures. Routledge New York and London 3–29
K.A. Moodley (1995) ‘Multicultural education in Canada: Historical development and current status’ J.A. Banks C.A. McGee Banks (Eds) Handbook for Research on Multicultural Education. MacMillan Publishing New York 801–820
B.C. Multiculturalism (2000) A Framework for Diversity. Multiculturalism, Human Rights, Employment Equity and Social Justice Ministry Responsible for Multiculturalism and Immigration Vancouver
J. Newman (1995) Gender and cultural change C. Itzen J. Newman (Eds) Gender, Culture and Organizational Change. Routledge London 11–29
R. Ng (1994) ArticleTitle‘Sexism and racism in the university: analysing a personal experience’ Canadian Woman Studies 14 IssueID2 41–46
T. Ngũgĩ Wa (1986) Decolonizing the Mind Heinemann London
H. Petch (1998) Degree Programs at the University Colleges: a British Columbia Success Story Ministry of Advanced Education, Training and Technology Victoria
D.E. Polkinghorne (1995) ‘Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis’ J.A. Hatch R. Wisniewski (Eds) Life History and Narrative. The Falmer Press London 5–23
S. Razak (1998) Looking White People in the Eye University of Toronto Press Toronto
S. Richer L. Weir (Eds) (1995) Beyond Political Correctness. Toward the Inclusive University University of Toronto Press Toronto
W. Ruemper (1996) ArticleTitle‘Models for Change Antiracist education for universities and colleges’ Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 33.3 317–333
E.W. Said (1979) Orientalism Vintage Books New York
A. Samuels (1993) The Political Psyche Routledge London
H.B. Schwartzman (1993) Ethnography in Organizations Sage Newbury Park
C. Sleeter (1995) ‘Reflection on my use of multicultural and critical pedagogy when students are white’ C.E. Sleeter P. McLaren (Eds) Multicultural Education, Critical Pedagogy, and the Politics of Difference. SUNY Press Albany 415–4341
D. Smith (1987) The Everyday World as Problematic University of Toronto Press Toronto
D. Smith (1990) The Conceptual Practices of Power University of Toronto Press Toronto
D. Smith (1999) Writing the Social University of Toronto Press Toronto
L. Stanley (1992) The Auto/biographical I Manchester University Press Manchester
S. Taylor F. Rizvi B. Lingard M. Henry (1997) Educational Policy and the Politics of Change Routledge London and New York
M. Manen Particlevan (1997) Researching Lived Experience University of Western Ontario, The Althouse Press London, Ontario
L. West (1996) Beyond Fragments Taylor and Francis London
L. West (2001) Doctors on the Edge Free Association Books London
P. Williams L Chrisman . (Eds) (1994) Colonial Discourses and Post-colonial Theory Columbia University Press New York
I.M. Young (1990) Justice and the Politics of Difference Princeton University Press Princeton
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chan, A.S. Policy discourses and changing practice: Diversity and the university-college. High Educ 50, 129–157 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-6351-3
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-6351-3