The Influence of Institutional Context and Culture

This chapter explores how institutional culture and context are shaped by campus climate and the presence or absence of cross-cultural dialogue. As educators, deciphering institutional culture through the various lenses of institutional mission, institutional type, and culture alone is shortsighted without also examining the campus climate for underrepresented and often underserved students, staff, and faculty representing numerous others. The perceptions, expectations, and attitudes of students, faculty, and staff of differing races and ethnicities regarding the campus climate toward racial and ethnic diversity must be taken into account when assessing institutional culture. Therefore, the unavoidable intersection of the institutional context with individual and collective university cultures is why the presence or absence of cross-cultural dialogue is a critical element for making sense of institutional culture. It emphasizes the interplay among institutional mission, climate, culture, structural diversity, and other factors that simultaneously influence students and educators when trying to engage in cross-cultural dialogue.