Use the MCOD model, Multicultural Organizational Development
Question: Are there metrics to assess whether institutions are committed to equity?
I don’t have or use a quantitative assessment, but I do use the Jackson, Hardiman, Holvino model, Multicultural Organizational Development (MCOD) to help people reflect on the current state of the organization and where they want it to be. The model uses 6 stages from exclusionary to more inclusive to help people talk honestly about organizational dynamics.
In Stage 1, Exclusionary, there is blatant oppression and discrimination that goes unchecked. In Stage 2, The Club, the same mono-cultural culture is maintained though with less blatant oppression. Privileged group benefit from an unexamined dominant culture and climate that is just “business as usual”.
In Stage 3, Compliance, leaders want to do only do as much as is needed to not sued & to pass accreditation. The website portrays a more “diverse” employee base and the written policies sound good, but just under the surface is an organizational context that is extremely difficult for people in marginalized identities. In Stage Four, Affirming, there is more training people occurring and some attention to hiring from a more diverse pool of candidates, but the focus is on preparing members of privileged group members to help people in their marginalized identities without any attention to having people in our various privileged groups look at how we create & perpetuate oppressive dynamics both interpersonally and systemically, much less holding everyone responsible for creating truly inclusive organizations.
I not only teach the mode in workshops, but I use it as a conceptual frame as I am conducting needs assessments and designing trainings.