Abstract
This mixed-methods study examines the knowledge that California community college presidents, president/superintendents, and chancellors (CEOs) have about the social justice issues of wealth inequality and segregation impacting the communities they serve, how this knowledge relates to social justice leadership practices, and how other background factors influence those practices. A quantitative survey sampled the CEO population to explore correlations between these variables. Ten in-depth interviews investigated these issues to understand more deeply the social justice leadership practices themselves. Critical Race Theory and Critical Systems Theory both provide overlapping frameworks for influencing the development of critical, self-reflective social justice leadership practices and for challenging the concept of the achievement gap. Findings add to the understanding of social justice issues in relation to community colleges and include medium-high to high positive correlations between accuracy of knowledge of social justice issues impacting students and communities and the valuing of social justice practices. Some CEOs also significantly underestimate the wealth inequality and segregation their students experience. Findings further suggest a deeper understanding of what social justice strategies look like through visibility, earning “citizenship” in communities, and intentionality (including critical consciousness, action, responsibility, empowerment, and the naming of structures of inequality). These strategies culminate in a new model of leadership: Critical Social Justice Leadership. Recommendations include stronger social justice training for leaders in educational leadership programs and Boards of Trustees, the incorporation of social justice understandings into accreditation standards, as well as the collection of broader and deeper data to more fully understand and address student outcomes.