MAPPING ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT AND COLLECTIVE ACTION - Towards a Model for Advancing Racial Equity in Community College

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rhys

This paper presents the Advancing Racial Equity in Community College Model, mapping organizational conditions that shape institutional transformation. Using two dimensions—organizational support and shared responsibility to enact equity—the study defines four quadrants with distinct conditions that affect how equity advocates design, build, and sustain equity work. Confronted with documented inequities and renewed calls for racial justice, the model highlights barriers to implementation, gauges campus readiness for racialized change, and supports action through institutional capacity-building.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Organizational conditions and enacting equity

The Advancing Racial Equity (ARE) model

UC Berkeley Research and Occasional Papers Series Title MAPPING ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT AND COLLECTIVE ACTION: Towards a Model for Advancing Racial Equity in Community College Permalink [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5909q373](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5909q373) Authors Felix, Eric R González, Ángel de Jesus Felix, Elijah J Publication Date 2024-06-07 Peer reviewed [eScholarship.org](eScholarship.org) Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.6.2024 MAPPING ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT AND COLLECTIVE ACTION: Towards a Model for Advancing Racial Equity in Community College June 2024 Eric R. Felix* San Diego State University Ángel de Jesus González California State University, Fresno Elijah J. Felix Independent Scholar Copyright 2024, Eric R. Felix, Ángel de Jesus González, and Elijah J. Felix, all rights reserved. ABSTRACT In this paper we present the Advancing Racial Equity in Community College Model which maps out the organizational conditions shaping institutional transformation. Focused on two dimensions, the level of organizational support and shared responsibility to enact equity, we describe four quadrants with distinct organizational conditions that shape how equity advocates design, build, and sustain equity efforts. With well-documented racial inequities and renewed calls for racial justice across higher education, it demands new ways of exploring and understanding how institutional actors leading equity efforts are nested within differing organizational contexts that can enable as well as restrict the enactment and success of racial equity efforts. Our model helps equity advocates gain an awareness of known barriers to implementation in higher education, assess the readiness of their campus for racialized change, and take action to build the necessary institutional support and capacity to move the work forward. Keywords: Community College, Racial Equity, Racialized Organizational Change, Policy Implementation INTRODUCTION Over the last decade, researchers have increasingly explored how community college leaders in California understand racial equity, identify mechanisms of inequity embedded within the institution, the types of strategies proposed to disrupt these harmful mechanisms, and ultimately the process of enacting change strategies into actions that influence institutional transformation and improve student outcomes (Bensimon, 2018; Ching et al., 2020; Dowd & Bensimon, 2015; Felix & Castro, 2018; Gonzalez et al., 2021) . This undertaking by equity advocates is part of an unapologetic commitment to improving racial equity in conditions, experiences, and outcomes faced by minoritized students, especially in the community college context. *Corresponding author: Eric R. Felix, Ph.D., Associate Professor, College of Education, San Diego State University, [efelix@sdsu.edu. Acknowledgments: We share a deep appreciation for Drs. April](efelix@sdsu.edu. Acknowledgments: We share a deep appreciation for Drs. April) Yee, Carlos A. Galan, and Tammeil Y Gilkerson for helping to advance our ideas in this publication. We also thank all the equity advocates in the Student Equity Planning Institute (SEPI) we have learned from as they advance racial equity on their respective campuses. Lastly, we recognize the College Futures Foundation for their generous support that provided the CCHALES Research Collective the capacity to do this work over the years. One of the critical elements our research identifies is acknowledging and mapping the organizational terrain (levels of support, areas of resistance) that equity advocates (leaders charged with equity efforts) must navigate through or around to enact change strategies seeking more just and equitable policies, structures, and practices (Bensimon & Neumann, 1992; Felix, 2021; Garcia, 2017; Kezar, 2018; McCamblyet al., 2023) . While there have been ample p

FAQs

What are the two key dimensions used in the Advancing Racial Equity in Community College Model?

The model focuses on the level of organizational support and shared responsibility to enact equity.

How does the paper describe the four quadrants in the model?

It describes four organizational archetypes with distinct organizational conditions that shape how equity advocates design, build, and sustain racial equity efforts.

What does the model help equity advocates do on their campuses?

It helps advocates identify known barriers to implementing racial equity, assess campus readiness for racialized change, and take action to build needed institutional support and capacity.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rhys