Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education

AMERICANS’ PERCEPTION OF COLLEGE STUDENTS does not correlate with the reality of the rich diversity seen on university campuses. Over 60% of Americans believe the average age of a college student is 20 years old but, in fact, it’s 26.4 years old. Demographics in the classroom are shifting and instructors bear a responsibility to adjust their teaching style and curriculum to be inclusive for all students.

Equity and Inclusion for Higher Education: Strategies for Teaching, edited by Rita Kumar and Brenda Refaei, details the necessity for an inclusive curriculum with examples of discipline-specific activities and modules. The intersectionality of race, age, socioeconomic status, and ability all embody the diversity college instructors encounter in their classrooms. Through the chapters in this book, the contributors make apparent the “hidden curriculum,” which is taught implicitly instead of explicitly. The editors focus on learner-centered environments and accessibility of classroom materials for traditionally marginalized students; a critical part of the labor needed to create an inclusive curriculum.

This text provides instructors with resources to create equity-based learning environments. It challenges instructors to see beyond Eurocentric curricula and expand their pedagogy to include intercultural competence. The contributors challenge the student/instructor dichotomy and embrace collaboration between the two to construct a curriculum that fits all students’ needs. The resources and examples in this book demonstrate the importance of inclusion and equity in the classroom. A open-access, online companion page provides examples and tools from the editors and contributing authors, which allows for readers to add materials from their own classrooms. This book and companion page allow instructors to begin intentional practice of an inclusive curriculum and implement changes to promote respect for diversity.



RITA KUMAR is the Executive Director of the Faculty Enrichment Center at the University of Cincinnati and former Professor of English at University of Cincinnati, Blue Ash.
BRENDA REFAEI is Co-Director of the Learning + Teaching Center and a Professor of English and Communication at the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College.







With this online companion page, we invite you to use and download any of the resources to the right. Clicking on a particular resource will allow it to automatically download. If you have a resource you would like to share on this page, please email Sarah Muncy (sarah.muncy@uc.edu) and CC the authors (rita.kumar@uc.edu and brenda.refaei@uc.edu)