‘We’re talking about race!:’ communicative practices of chief diversity officers

ABSTRACT This research focused on the framing of race, diversity, equity, and inclusion through the communicative practices of chief diversity officers (CDOs) working in U.S. institutions of higher education. Grounded in applied communication scholarship and co-cultural theory (Orbe, 1996), this project investigated how CDOs frame their campus work, and employ communicative practices in formal and informal settings to design institutional policies and build campus support for their efforts. To explore how CDOs accomplish their institutional work, in-depth interviews (N = 25) were conducted with higher education CDOs. CDOs employed communicative practices that confirmed the practices identified by Orbe (1998a), and engaged in a nuanced practice of reflexive questioning. Communicative practices were all strategically employed by CDOs to advance conversations about race, diversity, equity, and inclusion in order to move campus constituents to action in support of institutional changes to language, policies, and practices.