Leadership for Broadening Participation

How do we know if change is happening? In this episode, we explore the concept of leading indicators as the best guide for recognizing and making change. Lagging indicators (e.g., has participation broadened?) are the product of complex formulas; leading indicators help us derive those formulas - a different and more robust way of achieving success.

Leadership for broadening participation at its best is rooted in a commitment to one’s own learning, growth, and humanity - and from that place we are able to help other people and our institutions become their better selves, making real change. In this episode, Kelly sets this as the standard and Jason roots this commitment in the foundational assumptions of education.

Code switching is typically thought of as the capacity to make strategic use of one’s identity by alternating use of two or more languages, appearances, or behaviors in a single interaction, often with an emphasis on surviving in a dominant culture. But for leaders of broadening participation efforts, code switching is also something more: a strategy for making change.

How is one’s identity relevant to leadership in broadening participation? In this episode, Mary, Darrin, Wendy, Grady, and Eric talk about the contexts for identity, the ways we navigate the internal and external experiences of our identities, the topic of cultural competence as a moderator of identity, the ways that identity changes over time, and the strategic considerations associated with identity.

The previous episodes have focused a lot on the act and skill of listening - to others and to oneself. This episode and the ones to follow explore what leaders do with what they have gained from listening. In this episode, we focus on how we build bridges between ourselves and others, between communities, and between what is true today, and what is possible tomorrow.