Behind the Diversity Numbers

W. Carson Byrd, Faculty Director of Diversity and Equity Research Initiatives for the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan and associate professor of sociology at the University of Louisville, examines higher education inequality with a particular focus on race and racism. He is the author of Poison in the Ivy: Race Relations and the Reproduction of Inequality on Elite College Campuses (Rutgers University Press, 2017), which explores college students' beliefs about race and racial inequality and how their social interactions during college can shape these beliefs. He is also the coeditor of Intersectionality and Higher Education: Identity and Inequality on College Campuses (Rutgers University Press, 2019), a compilation of scholarship on how students, faculty, and staff navigate unequal campuses and understand the inequality around them as they live, work, and study. His work has also appeared beyond academic journals in forums such as the Washington Post, InsideHigherEd, and the Chronicle of Higher Education, among others.

Behind the Diversity Numbers uncovers how frequently used approaches to examine and understand race-related issues on college campuses can reinforce racism and inequality, rather than combat them. The book argues that educational leaders must look beyond quantitative metrics in order to develop institutional policies and practices that promote racial equality.