Readiness for transformation in the academic workplace: A conceptual framework for practice, research, and change

Abstract

Despite legal mandates and historical investment from federal agencies, private funders, and colleges/universities, the representation of U.S.-born Black and African American, Latinx, and Indigenous faculty members remains abysmally low, meaning the academic workforce continues to be overwhelmingly White. Higher education institutions have made several efforts to increase the representation of racially minoritized faculty, but research shows that most colleges and universities are underprepared to transform in ways that genuinely welcome, retain, and support the success of these scholars. As such, campus administrators, funders, faculty, and diversity advocates have a vested interest in understanding how colleges and universities can be better prepared—or ready—to undertake transformation. This conceptual article advances a framework for examining readiness for transformation. Drawing from multiple fields and disciplines, we define readiness for transformation as the degree to which a higher education organization is prepared to undertake deep, cultural and structural changes that promote racial equity in the academic workplace. We argue that readiness for transformation demands attention to the individual/collective, organizational, and external levels—or what we refer to as “nested influences.” We identify conditions that shape readiness within each level, and within each condition, examples of evidence-based barriers and facilitators of readiness. We also make key recommendations for researchers and practitioners about how to use the framework to understand and facilitate transformation efforts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)