DEI Makes All the Difference in Higher Education

Here’s a look at how DEI can impact your university or college in a positive way, why your LMS isn’t helping DEI, and what you can do about it.

(First things first: If you’ve been living under a cluster of homogeneous rocks and aren’t sure what DEI stands for, take this quiz.)

DEI is a major priority for many higher educational institutions, and it should be for all of them. Here’s a look at how DEI can impact your university or college in a positive way, how your LMS can actually hinder DEI, and what you can do about it.

Why DEI Matters in Higher Education

Simply put, diversity matters. Corporate America has realized that a diverse workforce and a myriad of perspectives positively influence not only culture, but also the bottom line. If ideas come from the same point of view over and over, those ideas become myopic and stagnant—the literal death of innovation. The same ethos applies to higher education. 

In a recent article from People Admin, Nancy Aebersold, the founder and executive director of the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC), had this to say about DEI in higher education:

“Students benefit from seeing themselves mirrored in the front of the classroom. Diverse representation and inclusive learning environments provide inspiration and aspiration and help students believe, ‘I can be there, or I can achieve thought leadership in the profession I choose.’”

Diverse representation helps students of all backgrounds see that they can succeed in their chosen fields of study. Conversely, if students aren’t represented in the classroom or in their fields, they can feel like these spaces aren’t for them. This is why DEI councils and efforts have come to the forefront of so many businesses and educational institutions.

Still not convinced that DEI improves learning outcomes? According to ACE (The American Council on Education) DEI plays a critical role in higher education.

“Diversity enriches the educational experience. We learn from those whose experiences, beliefs, and perspectives are different from our own, and these lessons can be taught best in a richly diverse intellectual and social environment. It promotes personal growth, and a healthy society. Diversity challenges stereotyped preconceptions; it encourages critical thinking; and it helps students learn to communicate effectively with people of varied backgrounds.”

Does Your LMS Facilitate Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Engagement?

So, you have an LMS. It’s most likely useful for a number of things, but odds are community building and social connectedness aren’t among them (the integrated discussion functionality tends to be especially disappointing in this regard).

Today’s students were raised on social media, where communicating with one another is straightforward, intuitive, and inviting. Your LMS doesn’t facilitate inclusive communication. In fact, it typically creates the opposite scenario—communication with fellow students and instructors is confusing, superficial, and disconnected from the learning experience. And when your students can’t communicate organically or amplify diverse voices, how will they hear diverse opinions or viewpoints related to their courses or fields of study? How will they create personal connections and inclusive communities, especially in the age of online and hybrid learning? They won’t, and it’s a barrier to the DEI efforts at your institution.

ActiveClass is an Inclusive Tool for Communication

ActiveClass is an intuitive tool to help facilitate the organic, inclusive discussion that today’s students need—right within your LMS.

ActiveClass incorporates DEI-friendly features such as anonymous discussion grading, anonymous posting, and SayMyName, an in-your-own-voice name-pronunciation tool. These features help students feel empowered to be themselves, speak their minds, and be more comfortable about education in general.

ActiveClass is also built to bring in diverse voices from the outside world—scientists, theorists, writers, speakers, and other educators who are creating quality, relevant online content on social media and elsewhere. It’s a great step toward providing diverse representation for your students.

Schools and instructors using ActiveClass are seeing students spend an average of 2+ hours a day inside of the tool. And this is right where you want students to be—interacting with classmates and course materials, receiving resources they need to succeed, and feeling the social connections they crave from their education. 

ActiveClass is LMS native and will plug right into your current system without issue, providing the DEI-minded community and connection that your students and staff want and deserve.

Ready to learn how you can promote DEI efforts and create a more inclusive environment for students at your institution? Good. We thought you’d be on board. 

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