Symbols Contested: An Analysis of How Symbols Advance and Hinder Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

The role that symbols play in facilitating or hindering institutional transformation efforts on campuses is underexplored. Through this embedded, multiple case study, we examine interview data from 52 participants at four private postsecondary institutions to investigate how power dynamics influence symbols to advance or hinder these institutional agents' work in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The findings highlight the contested nature of symbols and symbolic acts, which include (a) a disproportionate emphasis on positional leaders as symbols of opportunity, (b) complicating the idea of diversity centers as symbols of commitment, and (c) struggles to engage frameworks and strategic plans as symbols of shared vision and ownership. Specifically, we attend to how power dynamics may play a role in who/what becomes a symbol, and how symbols are interpreted in contradictory ways by different campus constituents, which have implications for how institutions can unite campus efforts toward DEI. Together, these findings present the tensions that universities must contend with as they use symbols to encourage a collective effort to advance DEI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]