This chapter introduces the perceived disconnectedness between universities’ organisational commitments to inclusion (OCIs), i.e., the ‘talk’, and inclusion at the structural level, with regards to the demographic composition of universities’ students and staff, i.e., the ‘walk’. The meanings of ‘inclusion’, ‘equality’, and ‘diversity’ are outlined in historical context, and a broader conceptualisation of ‘inclusion’ in the context of ‘inclusion organisation’ is proposed. It is argued that to understand whether and how OCIs work, one must consider the demographic and societal pressures to include people in universities as well as universities’ own legitimacy needs. With regards to the latter, universities are adaptive institutions which strive to be included into the cultural and institutional environment in which they operate, and OCIs may play a key role in this process.

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Introduction: Universities Committing to Inclusion

  • Roxana D. Baltaru

摘要

This chapter introduces the perceived disconnectedness between universities’ organisational commitments to inclusion (OCIs), i.e., the ‘talk’, and inclusion at the structural level, with regards to the demographic composition of universities’ students and staff, i.e., the ‘walk’. The meanings of ‘inclusion’, ‘equality’, and ‘diversity’ are outlined in historical context, and a broader conceptualisation of ‘inclusion’ in the context of ‘inclusion organisation’ is proposed. It is argued that to understand whether and how OCIs work, one must consider the demographic and societal pressures to include people in universities as well as universities’ own legitimacy needs. With regards to the latter, universities are adaptive institutions which strive to be included into the cultural and institutional environment in which they operate, and OCIs may play a key role in this process.