About
As of May 2020, Corinne Castro is the senior director for faculty diversity and inclusion at Rutgers University. Previously, Corinne was an associate professor of sociology at Texas Lutheran University (TLU), a private liberal arts university in Seguin, TX. She earned her PhD in sociology and a graduate certificate in women's studies at Temple University in 2012. Throughout her academic career, Corinne has advocated for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Corinne's professional priorities stem directly from her own experiences as a first generation, Chicanx academic, navigating universities that were not historically created for her to walk the halls, and being hostile to her very presence standing at the front of classrooms or having institutional power. Her research, teaching, and professional service reflect her calling to transform higher education to be more equitable and inclusive, allowing people from marginalized communities to thrive in these spaces.
Current Work
At TLU, starting in 2013, Corinne helped to transform the university with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Some highlights include serving on the first institutional climate survey committee and chairing the recently established diversity committee in her last three years. In 2019-2020, as chair, Corinne led the 10-person team in completing an institutional needs assessment on diversity, equity, and inclusion, a DEI strategic plan, and facilitated a daylong training for all faculty and staff entitled “Challenging Implicit Bias”.In her current position as the senior director for faculty diversity and inclusion within the Division of Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement (DICE) at Rutgers University, Corinne is responsible for strategically advancing an inclusive academic climate, connecting emerging initiatives to national best practices in promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in the faculty ranks. She supports widespread delivery of training to implement best practices in faculty recruitment and works collaboratively with deans and departments to recruit outstanding underrepresented candidates to Rutgers University. Corinne crea,EST manages, and drives faculty-centric diversity and inclusion initiatives to promote inclusive academic climates to support the retention of a diverse faculty. She is also responsible for co-leading strategic planning to support academic equity and inclusion and utilizes institutional data to develop, maintain, and report on metrics of accountability towards established goals.
Research Area Keyword(s)
class, diversity, Equity, gender, inclusion in higher education, mixed-methodology, occupations and work, race, U.S. racial and ethnic relations