Diversity Definitions

Equitable access allows for an individual to experience a mutually beneficial relationship with the institution that creates a true sense of ownership, belongingness and familiarity. It is the ability, right, and permission to approach, enter, speak with, or use all aspects of the community college, no matter who you are. This challenges the assumption that the community college open door policy equates to access for all, including historically underrepresented populations. (Portland Community College,  as adapted from EvCC’s 5 Dimensions of Equity™)

A member of an advantaged social group who uses social power to take a stand against injustice directed at targeted groups (a white person who speaks out against racism, a man who speaks out against sexism). An ally works to be an agent of social change rather than an agent of oppression. (PCC ) 

The act of becoming aware of the impact of internal, interpersonal, structural, institutional, and historical racism; proactively assessing behaviors, policies and practices for embedded racism; and actively opposing, dismantling, restructuring, and rebuilding an equitable system. 

An equitable campus culture where students, faculty, staff, and the larger community are valued, welcomed, and actively supported. This is the top priority identified in EvCC’s strategic plan. 

A term used primarily in the United States to describe communities of people who are not identified as white, emphasizing common experiences of racism. (Tacoma Community College) 

Social work concentrating upon the organized development of community social welfare through coordination of public and private agencies. (TCC, citing Merriam-Webster) 

A process of learning about and becoming allies with people from other cultures, thereby broadening our own understanding and ability to participate in a multicultural process. The key element to becoming more culturally competent is respect for the ways that others live in and organize the world and an openness to learn from them. (PCC, see Intercultural Competency) 

The understanding of what is suitable given a particular context, including awareness of norms, symbols, values, etc. (Seattle Central College) 

An educator’s ability to recognize students’ cultural displays of learning and meaning-making and respond positively and constructively with teaching moves that use cultural knowledge as a scaffold to connect what the student knows to new concepts and content in order to promote effective information processing. All the while, the educator understands the importance of being in a relationship and having a social-emotional connection to the student in order to create a safe space for learning. (Zaretta Hammond, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain) 

A person experiences disability when impairment substantially limits a major life activity, or when there is a history or perception of such a limitation. The solution is to accommodate the individual. In a social or cultural model, disability is recognized as a result of the interaction between the person and the environment. The solution is to proactively remove barriers. In practice, a person may have a disability in some environments, but not in others. (PCC) 

Psychological, physical, and social differences that occur among any and all individuals, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, age, gender, sexual orientation, mental or physical ability, and the ways in which identities or characteristics intersect. While diversity can be measured by the number of individuals with a variety of identities present, without active Equity and Inclusion measures, that diverse population of students or employees is unlikely to be retained or to feel supported by the institution. 

The process by which individuals are provided access to the correct amount and types of resources, opportunity, and support needed to achieve equal footing with others. It differs from equality, which focuses on the equal distribution of resources rather than equal outcomes. 

A way of thinking that calls attention to patterns of inequities in student outcomes, resulting in individual and institutional responsibility for advancing equity-achieving practices to impact success for all students. (Adapted from From Equity Talk to Equity Walk, Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education) 

Groups who have been denied access and/or suffered past institutional discrimination in the U.S, including but not limited to the following: Native/Indigenous, Black/African/African-American, Hispanic/Latino/a, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders. (Adapted from From Equity Talk to Equity Walk)  We also use the term “historically underserved” when looking at student success data, but the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) does not include Asian Americans in that group. 

The deliberate, authentic, and intentional act of including systemically-excluded individuals and groups in processes, activities, decision-making, and policymaking and acknowledging the ways individuals interact within systems and institutions to achieve a sense of belonging. 

1. A focus on student intellectual and social development. Academically, it means offering the best possible course of study for the context in which the education is offered.
2. A purposeful development and utilization of organizational resources to enhance student learning. Organizationally, it means establishing an environment that challenges each student to achieve academically at high levels and each member of the campus to contribute to learning and knowledge development. 
3. Attention to the cultural differences learners bring to the educational experience and that enhance the enterprise.
4. A welcoming community that engages all of its diversity in the service of student and organizational learning.

(Making Excellence Inclusive) 

SBCTC designates a student as low income if they live in a census tract ranked in the bottom 20% by median family income (statewide).

The opportunity gap explanatory framework is critical of a focus on "achievement gaps" that examine outcomes and not the processes and systems that led to those outcomes, are often deficit-oriented, and situate white students as the norm from which other racial groups are compared.

As explained by Richard Milner, an opportunity gap framework examines five concepts that impact student educational outcomes: a "color-blind" approach to curriculum and instruction, cultural conflicts in which educators operate from a cultural context that differs from their students, the myth of meritocracy in which educators mis-perceive the role that class and socioeconomic privilege play in their own and their students' success, low expectations and deficit mindsets that teachers hold of students and therefore do not present challenging learning opportunities, and context-neutral mindsets in which educators fail to recognize the deep-rooted realities of their school or community. (Richard Milner, "Beyond a Test Score: Explaining Opportunity Gaps in Educational Practice")

The perpetuation of historic, systemic discrimination against Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).

• Individual or interpersonal racism: An individual's racist assumptions, beliefs, or behaviors that stems from conscious and unconscious personal prejudice. Individual racism is learned from and connected to broader socio-economic histories and supported by systemic racism.
• Institutional racism: Laws or policies crafted and enforced through institutions that disproportionately target oppressed BIPOC.
• Systemic or structural racism: Policies and practices entrenched in established institutions which result in the exclusion or promotion of designated groups throughout society.

(TCC)