In this article, you will read ten practices you can implement to increase the diversity of your faculty.
Although colleges and universities have experienced growing racial and ethnic diversity among its student population, faculty remain majority white. At nearly 10%, Asian Americans make up the second largest demographic group...
by: Joy Hightower
Although colleges and universities have experienced growing racial and ethnic diversity among its student population, faculty remain majority white. At nearly 10%, Asian Americans make up the second largest demographic group.[1] In 2014, 13% of PhD recipients were Black, Latinx, or Native American. Yet, as full-time faculty only account for 4.9%, 2.8%, and .4%, respectively. The most common explanation is referred to as the “pipeline” problem, which suggests that institutions have low rates of minority faculty because there are so few minority PhD candidates to choose from. For example, in 2010, only 7.4% of doctorate degrees were awarded to Blacks, while 7.1% were awarded to Latinx. However, the pipeline is not the only problem; fewer Black and Latinx PhDs are hired than the percentage who have been conferred doctoral degrees. Hence, the problem of professoriate diversity is also a matter of recruitment, retention, and selection.
Institutions routinely publicize both the need and their commitment to hire diverse faculty, yet each year, the diversity numbers hover around the same dismal percentages. Here are 10 ways that departments can move the needle:
References:
Bilimoria, D. and Kimberly Buch. 2010. “The Search Is On: Engendering Faculty Diversity Through More Effective Search and Recruitment.” Change: Magazine of Higher Learning.
Moody, JoAnn. 2004. Faculty Diversity: Problems and Solutions. New Ed edition. New York, NY: Routledge.
Olson, G.A. 2007. “Don’t Just Search, Recruit.” The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Smith, D. 2000. “How To Diversify the Faculty.” Academe. Washington, D.C.: American Association of University Professors.
Smith, D., Turner, C. Osei-Kofi, O., Richards, S. 2004. “Interrupting the Usual: Successful Strategies For Hiring Diverse Faculty.” The Journal of Higher Education.
Turner, C. 2002. Diversifying the Faculty: A Guidebook For Search Committees, 2nd. Edition. Washington, D.C.: Association of American Colleges & Universities.
Williams, Damon A. and Katrina Wade-Golden. 2013. The Chief Diversity Officer: Strategy, Structure, and Change Management. Steering, Virginia: Stylus Publishing.
[1] All percentages cited in this article were drawn from the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, years 2011-2014.
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