Vision for Success: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force Report, 2020
The California Community Colleges serve 2.2 million students among 115 colleges, and are a key driver in ensuring educational opportunity and success for all Californians. About 29% of University of California graduates and 51% of California State University graduates start their higher education at a community college. The system is also the largest provider of workforce training in the nation, positioning it at the center of economic and social mobility opportunities in the state. As an open-access institution, the system serves a diverse student population in terms of race and ethnicity, age, and levels of educational attainment. However, student success remains a challenge.
Achievement gaps persists among the colleges where only 48% of students who enter a community college complete
a degree, certificate, or transfer to a four-year university after six years. These achievement
gaps disproportionately impact underrepresented minority students in the college system. Though half of California community college students identify as underrepresented minorities, faculty and staff racial and ethnic diversity remain relatively homogenous. This raises questions about the role of faculty and staff diversity in student achievement. If faculty and staff are a main lever in student achievement, how then is achievement impacted when faculty and staff are unlike the students they serve? What does it take to create an inclusive environment where all students are equitably served? This report documents the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office’s efforts to implement a framework for cultural change to increase faculty and staff diversity in the largest system of public higher education and as an integral component to the large-scale system reforms called the Vision for Success.
