top of page

Social Justice and Inclusion

The Social Justice and Inclusion competency focuses on understanding how identity, privilege, and oppression shape students’ experiences in higher education. It includes recognizing one’s own socialization and biases, building relationships across differences, and creating environments where all students can participate fully. As educators grow, this competency also involves designing inclusive programs and addressing structural barriers. For a full description of the Social Justice and Inclusion competency and it's outcomes, see NASPA/ACPA Competencies.

My Experience:

My work with the Hudson and Holland Scholars Program has been a major space where I have developed my understanding of social justice and inclusion. Through its focus on supporting students from historically minoritized backgrounds, the program creates ongoing opportunities to engage in conversations about identity, power, and equity as a central part of my daily work. These experiences, including designing and facilitating programming and serving as an instructor for EDUC-U 215, have helped me better understand how systems of privilege and oppression shape students’ experiences in higher education and the ways educators can work to support more inclusive environments.

 

As an instructor for EDUC-U 215: Foundations for Student Success at a Research University, I facilitate weekly discussions with 20 first-year seminar students that focus on identity development and students’ transition to college. Many of our class discussions explore topics such as race, socialization, and belonging, and how students’ intersecting identities shape their experiences at a predominantly white research institution. These conversations are not always easy, but they encourage students to reflect on their own perspectives while also pushing me to continue examining my own biases and assumptions. I use tools like the Multicultural Ground Rules to create a shared framework for discussion, ensuring that dialogue remains respectful, inclusive, and supportive of all students’ voices. Through this work, I have been developing my ability to facilitate dialogue that is thoughtful, respectful, and inclusive

 

Another part of this learning has come through my collaboration with campus partners and cultural centers to promote programming and connect students with resources that support their academic and personal success. Through these partnerships, I have had opportunities to build relationships across departments while also learning more about how different offices support students from diverse identities and backgrounds. These experiences have helped me better recognize how institutional practices and programs can either reduce or unintentionally reinforce barriers to inclusion. They have also pushed me to think more intentionally about how I facilitate programs and conversations so that students feel respected, supported, and able to engage with topics related to identity, power, and belonging. Moving forward, I will intentionally apply these experiences in my work as an educator by designing and facilitating programs and classroom spaces that center the voices and experiences of marginalized students and encourage critical engagement with issues of identity, power, and belonging.

Collectively, I have met the following of ACPA/NASPA’s PEF outcomes:

  • Foundational:

    • Identify systems of socialization that influence one’s multiple identities and sociopolitical perspectives and how they impact one’s lived experiences.

    • Understand how one is affected by and participates in maintaining systems of oppression, privilege, and power.

    • Engage in critical reflection in order to identify one’s own prejudices and biases.

    • Participate in activities that assess and complicate one’s understanding of inclusion, oppression, privilege, and power

    • Integrate knowledge of social justice, inclusion, oppression, privilege, and power into one’s practice.

    • Connect and build meaningful relationships with others while recognizing the multiple, intersecting identities, perspectives, and developmental differences people hold.

    • Articulate a foundational understanding of social justice and inclusion within the context of higher education.

  • Intermediate:

    • Design programs and events that are inclusive, promote social consciousness and challenge current institutional, national, global, and sociopolitical systems of oppression.

    •  Effectively facilitate dialogue about issues of social justice, inclusion, power, privilege, and oppression in one’s practice.

    • Identify systemic barriers to social justice and inclusion and assess one’s own department’s role in addressing such barriers.

    • Provide opportunities to reflect and evaluate on one’s participation in systems of oppression, privilege, and power without shaming others.

bottom of page