The Limits of Diversity: How Secular and Evangelical Campuses Reproduce Inequality

Shows that universities’ diversity efforts may inadvertently reproduce inequality

Across universities and colleges, diversity is a purported value, often accompanied with commitments to equity and inclusion. But how do universities’ approaches to diversity affect their efforts to make equitable and inclusive environments?

The Limits of Diversity compares perspectives of diversity and inclusion among diversity student leaders, Asian Americans, and LGBTQ+ students at two college campuses, one secular and one evangelical. It argues that secular and religious universities reproduce inequality along multiple lines of social difference through the language and practices of diversity. Though their promotion of diversity may be well-intentioned, in practice their approaches reproduce social inequality. The volume offers empirical research on key flash points around diversity to illuminate how our current understandings of diversity are failing, and how we can improve and help universities to embrace more equitable approaches.

In a post-affirmative action world, scholars and activists are beset with the difficult task of re-imagining diversity and creating alternatives to diversity that can lead to social equity in college settings. Chan shows that approaches to diversity that do not center equity fall short. The student narratives presented in The Limits of Diversity challenge us to think about what diverse, equitable, and inclusive universities can look like.

Esther Chan is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.