Walking the DEIB Talk in Higher Education

One would be hard-pressed to find a Higher Education Institution (HEI) without Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB; AACSB International, 2021) among its educational objectives. But "talking the talk" is different from "walking the walk." In this research project, we offer a model to audit or document the ways in which both "the talk" (e.g., mission, vision, and strategy statements) and "the walk" (structure of the faculty, students, staff, courses, etc.) are enacted in a sample of schools from different backgrounds and contexts. A literature review is guiding the development of the model that will serve as a framework to document (or "audit") how different schools "walk the DEIB talk." Based upon the concept of a management audit (Brender, Yzeiraj & Fragniere, 2015) our framework can be used at different levels of organizational analysis (e.g., program, school, university, etc.) to assess the extent to which DEIB is vocally supported as well as factually maintained. This study offers one starting point to develop a DEIB audit that has the potential to improve the integrity and the impact with which HEIs, schools of business, or other focal units support diversity, equality, inclusion, and belonging goals. The research project provides an original, evidence-based framework that may be used to assess the thoroughness and the effectiveness with which diversity, equality, inclusion, and belonging goals are pursued by higher education institutions that include (but are not limited to) schools of business. In addition, this framework can be used in descriptive, normative, and even prescriptive ways.