ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the differential context for the department chair role in diversity progress based on a range of factors such as institutional type, mission, affiliation, geographic location, size, unionization, and disciplinary focus. Across the higher education spectrum, certain commonalities pertain to the chair role, regardless of institutional and departmental typology. Dramatic changes in the external environment are reshaping the higher education landscape, with significant impact on the chair’s leadership role in diversity. A constellation of factors such as the college’s or university’s mission, affiliation, or geographic location and other variables provide the campus-wide backdrop for the chair’s role in facilitating diversity progress. Moving forward with the exploration of the chair’s role in diversity, the chapter also examines the structural design of the academic organization in terms of how this design can facilitate or hinder the process of diversity transformation.
