Introducing Boards to the Equity Conversation: State-Level Governing Boards and Discourses of Social Justice

Abstract

State-level governing boards (SLGBs) play integral roles in the leadership and governance of higher education. Oftentimes, though, their role and influence are understated or ignored in scholarship. In this article, the authors recenter the integral impact of these boards and push for a better understanding of their impact on higher education. Specifically, through an examination of 33 strategic plans, the authors consider how SLGBs can better manage the equity challenges within colleges and universities. Recognizing that higher education governance is complex and involves many moving parts, the authors present an argument for how SLGBs can influence postsecondary equity work. This article helps elucidate how SLGBs intersect with prevailing equity discourses and support higher education leaders to better recognize and understand the surreptitious ways equity is absent from pivotal discourses despite the best intentions and measured efforts of entities such as state-level governing boards.