Institutionalizing Diversity: The Diffusion and Legitimation of Chief Diversity Officers in US Higher Education, 1992–2023

Over the past several decades, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have become central yet contested concerns in US higher education, with recent years marked by intensifying political backlash and policy efforts to dismantle DEI infrastructures. Despite this contestation, the widespread adoption of formal diversity structures raises questions about how and why contested organizational practices diffuse. In particular, it remains unclear why some institutions are more responsive than others to different external cues. This study examines the diffusion of chief diversity officer (CDO) positions across US colleges and universities from 1992 to 2023. Drawing on an original longitudinal dataset of more than 1000 institutions and employing event history analysis, I examine how institutional resources, political context, peer influence, media salience, and organizational status were associated with CDO adoption. Findings show that higher‐status institutions were more likely to establish CDO positions yet were less responsive to peer adoption and media salience than lower‐status institutions. Prior to 2020, peer influence, institutional status, and state political context structured diffusion; following the racial reckoning sparked by George Floyd's murder, media salience became a more prominent correlate of adoption. These findings demonstrate that the diffusion of contested organizational practices depends not only on external cues but also on organizations' positions within status hierarchies. The study contributes to theories of institutional diffusion by showing how organizational status conditions responsiveness to changing social and political environments.