Program
Education Doctorate
Year Approved
2018
First Advisor
Dahlvig, Jolyn
Abstract
As American demographics shift, it is necessary for institutions of higher education to adapt to the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. Christian colleges and universities have often been criticized for their lack of diversity efforts, and much of the existing research focuses on this deficiency. Some Christian institutions, however, work diligently to increase diversity on their campuses and to support the needs of a diverse student body. In the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), for example, several institutions with high commitment to diversity have received the Racial Harmony Award (RHA). Focusing specifically on racial/ethnic diversity in CCCU campuses with high commitment to diversity, this study used discourse analysis and Bennett’s (2004) DSIM to study the applications for this award with the aim of answering the questions: How did the winning CCCU schools represent their successes in racial diversity? What ideologies are revealed in the applications? What common themes and ideological representations exist between the winning CCCU schools? This study found several key ideological themes present within the data, as well as implications from these themes, primarily in the areas of leadership, local community engagement, recruitment and retention, resources, institutional change, and institutional identity.
Degree Name
Education Doctorate
Document Type
Doctoral dissertation
Recommended Citation
Libengood, D. (2018). Diversity Ideology in the CCCU: A Critical Discourse Analysis [Doctoral dissertation, Bethel University]. Spark Repository. https://spark.bethel.edu/etd/398
Terms of Use and License Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.