Case Study: Applying Communities of Practice in Graduate Enrollment Management for a Cultural Interpretation of Workplace Learning

This paper undertakes a cultural interpretation of the roles professional expertise and context play in workplace learning through human resource interventions with a community of postsecondary administrators at one institution. To better understand and evaluate Wenger’s (1998) concept of communities of practice, this case study explores boundaries, intersections, and learning communities in communities of practice in graduate enrollment management (GEM). The paper examines the value communities of practice contribute to African American administrators’ professional learning in an understudied context, Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Case study data define interventions as indicators of a community of practice in graduate enrollment management: a) boundaries of position; (b) constellations of communities; and (c) learning communities. The paper also considers implications for the study of workplace learning in context as well as implications for professional and organizational