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Adalberto Aguirre, Jr., and Ruben O. Martinez. Diversity Leadership in Higher Education. ASHE Higher Education Report, Vol. 32, No. 3. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007. 136 pp. Paper: $28.00. ISBN: 978-0-7879-9578-2.
Diversity Leadership in Higher Education explores the roles and practices of diversity leadership in academia. Aguirre and Martinez define diversity leadership as leadership focused on issues and concerns of diversity in higher education. They present two contrasting leadership/organizational practices as options for responding to diversity-cooptation and transformational strategies. Co-optation is used to manage diversity in institutions, while transformation is used to embrace diversity and make it an integral component of an institution's culture and environment. University leaders who employ transformational strategies view diversity as a positive social force in higher education.
The monograph is comprised of four chapters with each chapter designed to "serve as a window for observing how diversity is shaped and promoted in different contexts in higher education" (p. 3). The authors introduce theoretical and applied approaches from a number of disciplines as organizational strategies for linking leadership and diversity initiatives. Each chapter begins with discussion questions that guide the "conversation" on diversity leadership. It is a useful device, and the authors use it well, presenting compelling reasons for implementing transformational and diversity leadership strategies in the academy.
In Chapter 1, Aguirre and Martinez present an overview of the challenges facing diversity leadership. The discussion in this chapter is guided by "What is the public's perception of diversity initiatives in higher education?" and "How are diversity initiatives perceived by...