Defending Equity with Evidence: Research Use Under Racial Backlash in Higher Education

With this grant, McCambly and colleagues will use in-depth qualitative methods to examine how a national coalition of higher education intermediaries and advocacy organizations builds collaborative tools to promote the use of racial equity research in higher education and how participation shapes decision-makers’ use of this research evidence in this moment of backlash. The team will analyze coalition- and partner-hosted events, coalition- and partner-produced documents, and two rounds of interviews with 10-12 coalition staff and partners to 1) examine how collaborative infrastructure is built, 2) identify the boundary-spanning practices used to promote the uptake of research evidence, 3) understand partners’ needs related to racial equity research use, and 4) measure changes in research mobilization over time. The team’s critical approach will also examine whose research is used and in what forms.