The Mount’s School of Education Launches New Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Leadership Certificate
This leadership certificate provides professionals from any professional field an opportunity to grow their understanding of foundational issues, and diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as issues of race, and the impact of systematic racism in our communities. Additionally, professionals will learn to assess the climate of DEI in organizations and to facilitate helpful DEI conversations in organizations.
The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Leadership Certificate Program provides an in-depth knowledge base related to the theories and practices in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This certificate is 15 credit hours, broken up into 5 courses, each course is 3 credit hours. The 5 courses are:
1. Foundations in DEI
This diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) course is designed to provide professionals an opportunity to increase their individual aptitude and knowledge in foundational concepts of diversity, equity and inclusion. Students will be challenged to explore and unpack their own biases and identify areas for improvement. Students will begin to recognize blind spots connected to diversity, equity and inclusion and develop an actionable plan for their ongoing growth. Further, this course will introduce students to the reality of human organizations being diverse spaces and examining efforts to make those spaces more equitable. Students will begin to examine unintended consequences of policy/practice that create or perpetuate inequitable environments and opportunities in organizations.
2. Race, Racism, Power, and Privilege
This diversity, equity and inclusion course is designed to support professionals in understanding issues of race and the impact of systemic racism in our communities. Students will identify some of the realities of race and racism including identification of the hidden burden that people of color face at the intersection of race, power, and privilege. Critical race theory (CRT) and its theoretical relevance as a framework to examine and challenge disparate opportunities for people of color will be explored. The course will offer an examination of the policies, procedures, and structures that perpetuate disproportionality and overrepresentation. Students will learn about methods for dismantling systemic racism.
3. Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Organizations
This diversity, equity and inclusion course is designed to support professionals in assessing the climate of diversity, equity and inclusion in an organization. Students will learn to build DEI action plans, implement the plans, and engage in a continuous cycle of improvement in making organizations increasingly diverse, equitable, and inclusive. This course will examine the constructs of racism, sexism, classism, ableism, heterosexism and other forms of oppression.
4. Inclusive Leadership
This diversity, equity and inclusion course is designed to support professionals in facilitating helpful conversations surrounding DEI. Positive, equitable approaches will be developed through evidence-based understanding, founded upon the evidence base. Students will learn to recognize the roles of resistance and conflict in the change process. This course helps students develop leadership skills that foster equity, inclusion.
5.Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Capstone
This course requires students to finalize and deliver a DEI project as the program’s culminating course. This project is required for the certificate. Participants are expected to demonstrate skills and competencies acquired over the course of the program. Projects should serve as an examination of strategies for designing and creating safety in organizations and communities which honor each person’s cultural backgrounds and lived experiences.
By the end of this leadership certificate program, completers will be able to:
- Develop an actionable DEI plan for their ongoing growth
- Learn about methods for dismantling systemic racism
- Learn how to build an organizational DEI action plan and engage in a continuous cycle of improvement
- Develop leadership skills that foster equity and inclusion.
- Demonstrate DEI related skills and competencies
- Examine strategies for designing and creating safe organizational spaces