Inclusive Professional Framework for Faculty
The Inclusive Professional Framework for Faculty (IPF: Faculty) identifies three core domains - Identity, Intercultural, and Relational - which underlie inclusive practices in higher education. The IPF: Faculty promotes student success by providing a set of skills in the three domains that can be applied to inclusive practices across faculty roles such as teaching, research mentoring, advising, leadership, and colleagueship. These skills also contribute to health and well-being and inclusive climates within the institution.
WHY care about the Inclusive Professional Framework for Faculty?
Inclusive environments in faculty careers:
Foster underrepresented group (URG) student success
Close the achievement gap in URG STEM participation
Domain-Based Skill Sets
Identity
Developing an awareness of self and student social and cultural identities, the intersectionality of those identities, and examining the role that identity plays in creating effective learning environments.
How might identity impact inclusive faculty practices?
Teaching: How do I introduce myself on the first day of class?
Advising: How does my position and power impact how my advisees hear what I am saying?
Research Mentoring: Do I understand the impacts identity has on notions of professional success for my mentees, particularly if we don’t share social identities?
Colleagueship: How might intersectionality impact my colleagues’ experiences?
Leadership: How might my privilege operate in my interactions with others?
Intercultural
Developing an understanding of cultural differences in ways that enable effective interactions with others from different racial, ethnic, or social identity groups in both domestic and international contexts.
How might intercultural awareness and humility impact inclusive faculty practices?
Teaching: Do my course examples, case studies and problem sets assume a cultural understanding (such as financial, linguistic, political, social) that may not be part of some students’ cultures?
Advising: Do I have advising appointments available at times and modalities (online, phone, in person) to accommodate students who have a variety of personal and familial responsibilities?
Research Mentoring: Do I understand and respect that expectations around graduate school can differ based on students’ cultural or family backgrounds?
Colleagueship: Do I readily and quickly recognize microaggressions in professional situations and speak up to interrupt them?
Leadership: Do I consider reward structures that incorporate different approaches to collaboration?
Relational
Building one-on-one connection, trust and relationship through effective communication and relational skills, which support effective interpersonal interaction.
How might relational and communication skills impact inclusive faculty practices?
Teaching: What conflict resolution skills do I use to address a “hot moment” during class?
Advising: Have I created a physical space that reinforces the diversity of individuals who are scholars in my discipline?
Research Mentoring: Do I listen actively and provide opportunities for all students to talk about their experiences?
Colleagueship: Do I know how to build collaborations with colleagues whose backgrounds or identities are different from my own?
Leadership: Do I know how to ensure that all team members have opportunities to speak and be heard?
Benefits of Applying the IPF to Faculty Roles
Advising
Develop your skills to advising students, formally or informally -- a key role that many faculty play in addition to engaging students in classroom or research settings.
Teaching
Build your confidence using strategies to make your content, activities, language, and classroom logistics inclusive for all students.
Research Mentoring
Deepen your understanding of how to communicate effectively across difference to set you and your mentee(s) up for a mutually beneficial and productive mentoring relationship.
Collegiality & Leadership
Learn how to derail systems of privilege and interrupt bias, act as an ally, and advocate for excellence and diversity in professional settings as both colleague and leader.