Shifting contracts and cultures, from DEI to erasure: the racialised faculty experience of changes in higher education

Higher education institutions across the United States are undergoing profound cultural shifts shaped by the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as political backlash against Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. These intersecting challenges are reshaping academic identity, reconfiguring workplace norms and destabilising psychological contracts between faculty and institutions, especially for Black faculty and other racialised educators. As higher education transitions into a ‘newer normal’, marked by political precarity and hybrid work environments, Black faculty must navigate increasingly contradictory institutional messages: public commitments to inclusion while dismantling DEI structures. A critical qualitative approach was used with reflective faculty narratives to examine how these shifts are altering organisational culture. Drawing from Organisational Culture Theory highlights how Black faculty are experiencing a breakdown of trust, cultural displacement and institutional abandonment. The findings reveal how the erosion of DEI commitments is contributing to increased attrition, reduced morale and a sense of cultural displacement among faculty. This study contributes to a more intersectional understanding of how cultural norms and expectations are evolving across higher education organisations. This work argues for an urgent reinstallation of justice-centred values, redefinition of institutional culture and the restoration of academic freedom and trust as the sector adapts to its post-pandemic future.