Susan Tinsley Gooden is a professor of public administration and public policy in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs and executive director of the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and has published widely in the areas of social equity and social policy. A native of Martinsville, Virginia, she received an AS in natural science from Patrick Henry Community College, a BA in English from Virginia Tech, and an MA in political science from Virginia Tech. She received her PhD from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

"[A] must read for all public servants, public administration professors, and graduate students... Race and Social Equity is destine to become a classic..." –American Review of Public Administration"[W]ell-thought-out and expertly developed. For such a slim volume, the book has breadth and depth beyond its size...Gooden’s scholarship and exposition rivals the classics in the field of public administration. All students, as well as practitioners and professors, should read and discuss this book in detail." –Public Administration Review"Gooden’s book is a major resource and a welcome addition to the literature on social equity. It is an original and a thought-provoking pioneering endeavor." –Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice"Race and Social Equity will convince many readers that all public administration scholars and practitioners should be more conscious of how [issues of race] may affect their daily work." –Administration & Society"This book is especially useful for readers who are familiar with issues of race and diversity from media coverage or from workplace training, but lack deeper background knowledge of the conditions associated with race-related tensions in society. Whether or not people in every public affairs class and every public organization need to deal with the issue of race, Race and Social Equity will convince many readers that all public administration scholars and practitioners should be more conscious of how it may affect their daily work." –Richard C. Box, University of Nebraska

• 1. Nervousness, Social Equity, and Public Administration 2. The Saturation of Racial Inequities in the United States 3. Nervousness Within Individual Public Administrators 4. Nervousness in Public Sector Organizations, 5. Seattle’s Race and Social Justice Initiative 6. Assessing Agency Performance: The Wisconsin Experience 7. Making Racial Equity Work Visible: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 8. Assessing Racial Equity in Government 9. Beyond the Diversity Plan: Overcoming Racial Nervousness Within MPA Programs 10. Nervousness in a Comparative Context 11. Principles for Conquering Nervousness in Government