Assessing universities practices on student diversity and inclusion in higher education: The INSTADINE rubric

TL;DR

This paper introduces a rubric to help universities evaluate and improve their diversity and inclusion practices.

Contribution

The novel contribution is the development of the INSTADINE rubric for assessing diversity and inclusion in higher education.

Findings

The INSTADINE rubric evaluates universities across five dimensions of diversity and inclusion.

The rubric helps institutions identify strengths and areas needing improvement.

The rubric is publicly accessible for use by higher education institutions.

Abstract

In an effort to assist higher education institutions in becoming more inclusive of all student populations, universities are continuously reviewing their practices and policies on student diversity and inclusion. The INSTADINE rubric was developed to assist universities in assessing their practices on student diversity and inclusion in the areas of philosophy and mission, strategies, teaching, research and support services, and leadership. Each of these dimensions has a scale ranging from 1 (
institutionalisation to some extent) to 3 (
full institutionalisation) with descriptors for each score. The INSTADINE rubric has been incorporated to help universities identify their current level of attention to student diversity and inclusion in higher education, as well as to highlight areas needing further attention. The INSTADINE rubric can be accessed from the University of Salamanca website (
https://www.usal.es/).