Camaron Miyamoto, a 2024 graduate of the EdD in Educational and Professional Practice, published his dissertation titled Daring to Lead with Humility: Merging Connective Leadership Theory and Critical Race Theory for Social Justice Advocacy in Higher Education.
Through research using both Likert Scale surveys as well as follow-up interviews, Miyamoto’s study is grounded in leadership development, and addresses university leadership and the need to affirm diversity, equity, and inclusion in order to institute organizational change for social justice. Using the key research question, “What are effective ways for leaders to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion with the goal of achieving social justice?” Miyamoto found the majority of the research to center around racial equity, Critical Race Theory, and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies, but the connection to leadership development models is new terrain.
Miyamoto’s study will add a Connective Leadership Theory framework to the lens of Critical Race Theory to analyze the potential of university leaders to enhance organizational change for diversity, equity, and inclusion metrics. The implication of this research is to create a template for university administrators and employees on how to use diversity, equity, and inclusion measures to work toward organizational change and social justice.
Miyamoto is a tenured faculty in the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Success, where he is the Director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Queer+ (LGBTQ+) Center at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Miyamoto continues to learn from his students and is fueled by the belief that we will create a better future through compassion, education, and a steadfast commitment to social justice. A founding board member of the Hawai‘i LGBT Legacy Foundation, Miyamoto, helped establish the LGBT Center Waikiki and plan the Honolulu Pride Parade and Festival for several years. He served as a board member of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), Honolulu Chapter, and advocated for marriage equality in Hawai‘i. Miyamoto has been published by the Princeton Review, Peter Lang Publishing, and the University of Hawaiʻi Press and has materials reprinted by Duke University Press relating to queer people of color.
