Byrd’s book offers an important and clear-eyed critique of quantitative data and analyses, revealing how the field’s reliance on ‘the numbers’ exacerbates educational disparities we strive to eliminate. This is a must-read for education researchers, leaders, and policy makers, and a reminder that we must integrate multiple research methods, center narratives, and interrogate our and others’ biases to fight inequity in higher education. — Kimberly A. Griffin, professor and associate dean of Graduate Studies and Faculty Affairs, College of Education, University of Maryland

Byrd offers a deeply nuanced text that critically unpacks how quantitative analyses do not capture the depths of systemic racism, especially in affirmative action cases. In this important book, he challenges quantitative scholars to more thoroughly and meaningfully engage structured inequities in our work, moving from diversity to racism in our analyses. — Nolan L. Cabrera, associate professor, University of Arizona

Byrd rightly calls for a rethinking of how higher education institutions address racism by looking beyond the numbers. In doing this, he reengages foundational research concerning racism in higher education that has been obfuscated by cheap ‘diversity talk’ to offer both new directions for research in higher education and bold recommendations for meaningful organizational and policy change. — Mitchell J. Chang, professor, University of California, Los Angeles

This book reveals how frequently used approaches to examine and understand race-related issues on college campuses can reinforce racism and inequality, rather than combat them. Behind the Diversity Numbers provides a range of suggestions for institutional change, including how to incorporate racial justice and equity as central components of higher education, especially when analyzing and monitoring data that can inform decision-making and policy-making. — Council of Independent Colleges Newsletter