"Being equity-minded thus involves being conscious of the ways that higher education, through its practices, policies, expectations, and unspoken rules - places responsibility for student success on the very groups that have experiences marginalization, rather than on individuals and institutions whose responsibility it is to remedy that marginalization."
Equity by Design... What is it?
Equity by Design is a methodology to understand and address disparities and move towards meaningful institution (system) wide multifaceted equity-minded practices. The methodology is influenced by the research and literature of Dr. Estela Bensimon at the Center for Urban Education, University of Southern California. This work is:
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Data-informed
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Influences organizational development
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Influences change management strategy
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Prepares institutions to be student-ready
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Prioritizes equity in academic outcomes.
Elements of Equity by Design
Equity 2030
The Equity by Design methodology is a tool to help campuses realize Minnesota State's Equity 2030 goal of academic equity.
EQUITY 2030
Principles of Equity by Design
According to work of Bensimon, Dowd, Witham (2016) and the Center for Urban Education, there are five key principles for building the infrastructure necessary to enact Equity by Design.
- Principle 1: Provide clarity in language, goals, and measures.
- Principle 2: Center the work around equity-mindedness.
- Principle 3: Ensure practices and policies are designed to account for and accommodate contextual differences in student learning among different groups.
- Principle 4: Disaggregate data, monitor patterns, and enact systems for continual learning. Institutional change requires ongoing commitment and the capacity to learn from failure.
- Principle 5: Institutional commitment to equity work must be embedded as a foundational principal for the college or university.
Leadership and Institutional Commitment
Conducting Equity by Design across Minnesota State requires institutional-level commitment. Higher education leaders who wish to engage their campus teams in this methodology are committed to understanding equity and have the ability to lead in intentional, equity-minded ways. More importantly, these leaders support data disaggregation and analysis close to practice. In doing so, institutional leaders support faculty and academic leaders to take an in-depth view of department and course success rates.
Localized Context
The Equity by Design methodology considers the institutional readiness to implement the work on campus. Key campus considerations include:
- Level of maturation (equity and inclusion)
- Campus and community context (socio-historical)
- Campus capacity (data, research, and equity infrastructure)
Institutional Change
Equity by Design requires higher education to make changes at the institutional level as campuses strive to be student-ready spaces. As a result of engaging in an Equity by Design process, campuses apply a magnifying glass to data and practices that illustrate academic equity-gaps.
- Changes occur at the institution level
- Student-ready Colleges vs. College-ready Students
- Apply a magnifying glass to data and practices that illustrate academic equity gaps
Accountability
Equity by Design tools and resources necessitate data-informed analysis of equity gaps at the department or course level and they lead teams to understand disparate impact of policies and practices and move to address such disparity. Lastly, this work ensures that campus leaders take responsibility to determine campus-based solutions that address academic equity gaps.
- Data-informed analysis of equity gaps at the course level.
- Understanding disparate impact of policies and practices and move to address such disparity.
- Responsibility to determine campus-based solutions that address academic equity gaps.
Equity by Design Launch
On June 24th - 25th, 2020, the Office of Equity and Inclusion hosted a virtual launch for campuses interested in participating in Equity by Design. Materials from this training are accessible to Minnesota State employees and students on the Minnesota State Equity by Design Microsoft Teams Collaboration Site.
Equity by Design: IR & Campus Diversity Officer Training
Equity by Design Campus Coalition Training
The Office of Equity & Inclusion is hosting virtual training for campus coalitions throughout the evolution of Equity by Design. Upcoming training dates are listed below, in addition to links for accessing previously facilitated training.
If you would like to attend the training and have not yet received details from your campus team leader, please email OEI@minnstate.edu to obtain the training link and information.
Past Training
October 2020 Training:- Equity by Design Update & Equity 2030 Alignment – Video 1 of 4 (16 min)
- Equity by Design Objectives and Methodology – Video 2 of 4 (27 min)
- Equity by Design Roadmap – Video 3 of 4 (15 min)
- Selecting Focus Areas and Faculty Discussion – Video 4 of 4 (40 min)
November 2020 Training:
- Equity by Design Reflections & Updates – Video 1 of 4 (17 min)
- Equity-Minded Language – Video 2 of 4 (28 min)
- EbD Faculty Considerations: Campus Team Dynamics – Video 3 of 4 (15 min)
- EbD Breakout Reflections and Next Steps – Video 4 of 4 (11 min)
February 2021 Training:
Link to the Training Slides
- EbD Roads to the Goal – Video 1 of 5 (25 min)
- MSU-Mankato Insights and MavPASS – Video 2 of 5 (13 min)
- Minneapolis College Insights on Faculty and Student Engagement – Video 3 of 5 (16 min)
- Century College Insights – Data Wise and Data Coaches – Video 4 of 5 (18 min)
- EbD Panel Q&A and Breakout Reflections – Video 5 of 5 (45 min)
- John Lewis: In His Own Words – Video 1 of 5 (5 mins)
- Opening and Reflection – Video 2 of 5 (25 mins).
- Bandwidth Recovery: Dr. Cia Verschelden – Video 3 of 5 (63 mins)
- Bandwidth Recovery – Part 2: Putting Equity-Mindedness into Practice – Video 4 of 5 (55 mins)
- Faculty Panel – Being an Equity-Minded Practitioner – Video 5 of 5 (40 mins)
September 2021 Training:
- EbD Fall Kickoff – Opening & Reflection – Video 1 of 5 (7 min)
- Building Common Language – Video 2 of 5 (8 min).
- EbD “101”: Methodology & Overview – Video 3 of 5 (15 min)
- Lessons Learned & Yr 2 Outline – Video 4 of 5 (12 min)
- NED Overview & Upcoming Opportunities – Video 5 of 5 (12 min)
November 2021 Training:
- EbD Updates and Recap of Data Literacy Webinar – Video 1 of 4 – (21 min)
- Working with Data – Video 2 of 4 – (28 min)
- Practices for Using Data and Orienting Audiences to Data– Video 3 of 4 – (37 min)
- Data & Equity Related Observations & Tools – Video 4 of 4 – (27 min)
Other Training Opportunities
The Office of Equity and Inclusion hosts regular training sessions on a variety of topics, including Equity by Design. You can find recordings of professional development and training opportunities posted on our MediaSpace Page as well as on our website under the Professional Development Page. Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our MediaSpace channel to find the latest recorded webinars and training opportunities!
Equity by Design Timeline
2017-2019: Equity by Design Pilot conducted across 13 Minnesota State Institutions
January 2020: Convened System-wide Equity by Design Workgroup
June 2020: Equity by Design Launch & Toolkit Publication
August 2020: Equity by Design Training for CDOs and IR Professionals
Fall 2020: Campuses begin implementing Equity by Design analysis at their institution
Spring 2021: Campuses prepared to conduct equity-minded analysis
Fall 2021: Equity-minded learning forming across Minnesota State colleges and universities.
Spring 2022: Equity by Design expands focus to larger institutional inequities.
This toolkit is a guide for Equity by Design Campus Teams to work and approach the content of addressing inequities in academic outcomes in a manner that is efficient, equity-minded, and moves the efforts forward. Campus leads (Campus Diversity Officers and Senior Academic Affairs Officers) should familiarize themselves with the toolkit, its contents, recommended activities, and supplemental readings as they guide the rest of the campus team in implementing the Equity by Design methodology on their campus.
In addition to the toolkit, the Office of Equity and Inclusion will make available additional trainings to build capacity in the areas of equity-minded data analysis, inquiry-based practices for faculty and staff, and developing equity-minded language. Recorded webinars and professional development training opportunities are available online at https://minnstate.edu/system/equity/prodev.html.
Additional Tools:
Every month the Office of Equity & Inclusion hosts virtual open office hours twice a month for Campus Team Leads. These meetings are entirely voluntary and are a space for teams to ask questions, get assistance, and receive support as campuses move through conducting Equity by Design. While the office hours are geared toward campus team leaders, they are open to anyone who wishes to join.
Email tarrence.robertson@minnstate.edu to obtain the virtual meeting link.
The following are recommended readings as pertinent content for the work of implementing the Equity by Design Methodology at your college or university.
AAC&U (Association of American Colleges and Universities) (2015b). Step Up and Lead for Equity: What Higher Education Can Do to Reverse Our Deepening Divides. Washington D.CL Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Bensimon, E. M. (2016). The Misbegotten URM as a Data Point. Los Angeles, CA: Center for Urban Education, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California.
Bensimon, E. M. (2018). Reclaiming Racial Justice in Equity. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 50:3-4, 95-98, DOI: 10.1080/00091383.2018.1509623
Brown McNair, T., Bensimon, E. & Malcom-Piqueux, L. (2020). From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education. Jossey-Bass A Wiley Brand.
