Constructing Outsiders: The Discursive Framing of Access in University Diversity Policies

This article investigates how discourses circulating in diversity policies reflect and produce perceptions about diversity in higher education. This study, utilizing the method of policy discourse analysis, examines 21 diversity action plans issued at 20 U.S. land-grant universities to understand how these policy documents frame diversity. Analysis revealed dominant discourses of access that construct images of the diverse person as an outsider. Findings suggest that well-intentioned attempts to create a more inclusive campus climate may unwittingly reinforce practices that support exclusion and inequality.