How to get buy-in when confronting your historical racial legacy
Calls on U.S. and Canadian institutions to address their historical ties to racial discrimination and oppression have intensified across 2020 and 2021. However, many college and university leaders often find their actions constrained to symbolic efforts that fail to address underlying context and ultimately contribute to repeated cycles of frustration and flashpoints on campus. Even leaders committed to systemic change often struggle to truly grapple with and meaningfully address legacies of racial injustice.
Across the last year, EAB experts spoke with university leaders to better understand the biggest change management barriers preventing bold change on campus. In a recent roundtable, the research team shared their findings, including a framework to help secure buy-in. Whether you’re actively addressing a historical racial legacy or plan to do so in the future, these takeaways will help prepare you and other leaders at your institution to shepherd your campus through change.
Review the key takeaways
1. Fear is a major barrier to confronting historical legacies of racial oppression
When it comes to confronting historical legacies, influential stakeholders often fear the perceived risks of taking action rather than the risks of doing nothing. Fears are often based on anecdotal or personal experience, but the mere perception of risk is enough to derail efforts.
2. Fears generally fall into one of three categories: procedural, institutional, or interpersonal
To better understand why some stakeholder groups are so resistant to change, EAB investigated more than 40 perceived fears that pose barriers to progress. The analysis found that fears generally fall into one of the following three categories:
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