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Faculty in Focus: Bridging the Diversity Divide
Dr. Francine Edwards
Delaware State University
Mass Communications Department
Abstract
The diversity landscape may look different depending on the academic area but the
underpinning remains the same; there is a need for diversity at all levels within academic
institutions because the world is growing more culturally and racially different. Diversity
has to be more than a bi-line in the universitys mission statement. Increasing the number
of tenure-track minorities and women benefits the college as a whole. Additionally;
faculty from different backgrounds bring different teaching and research perspectives to
the university environment. To this end, faculty members can serve as agents of changes
in terms of encouraging diversity on campuses across the United States. This paper
highlights current research on faculty diversity, underrepresented minorities (URM),
diversity initiatives that work, and provides insight into how faculty members can indeed
become agents of change.
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Introduction
Faculty positions are extremely competitive. Colleges and universities often
place value on professors with a strong grant acquisition history and the ability to publish
in high impact journals. While there are highly qualified candidates that can fill the
minority and gender gap, tangibles on a resume often outweigh the merit of a candidates
personal experience, culture, and background as contributing factors to students success
and university diversity. As the diversity of students continues to increase, the racial and
ethnic diversity of faculty members continues to lag. According to a report from the
National Center for Education Statistics (nd) white candidates are favored over Black,
Asian and Hispanic faculty. If we dissect these statistics further; nearly thirty percent of
undergraduates are categorized as minorities while just over ten percent of full-time
faculty are minorities. The numbers for women are also worthy of attention as over half
of all undergraduate students are women and one-third of full time professors are female.
The diversity landscape may look different depending on the academic area but the
underpinning remains the same; there is a need for diversity at all levels within academic
institutions because the world is growing more culturally and racially different.
Classrooms have to reflect the variety of our world. This becomes an imperative as
faculty are responsible for helping students open their eyes to diversity and understanding
the world. The climb for minorities in academia is going in the right direction but not
quickly enough. To this end, faculty members can serve as agents of changes in terms of
encouraging diversity on campuses across the United States.
Diversity has to be more than a bi-line in the universitys mission statement. The
university must be able to provide concrete examples of diversity and be prepared to
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clarify institutional goals around diversity. In addition to this, university search
committees must be willing to debunk myths about diversity recruitment, including
myths about the search process in general, institutional competition, qualified candidates,
and faculty availability to engage in the recruitment process. Increasing the number of
tenure-track minorities and women benefits the college as a whole and faculty from
different backgrounds bring different teaching and research perspectives to the university
environment. More importantly, students thrive as a result of diversity among peers and
faculty. Unfortunately, with the growing body of research and data on faculty diversity
and the impact of diversity on the campus community as a whole, it remains difficult to
recruit a diverse faculty.
Current Research on Faculty Diversity
Most of the research related to diversity on college campuses focuses on the
diversity of the student population. Until recently, the body of literature has included
relatively small amounts of research on the connection between diverse faculty and
students. Over the last decade, the impact of employing a racially and ethnically diverse
faculty and ways for achieving that diversity have received greater attention in the
literature. In 2003 the Supreme Court affirmed the importance of racial and ethnic
diversity in higher education with a ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger. In this decision, the
Supreme Court stated that universities (specifically law schools) had a responsibility to
cultivate a set of leaders that in the eyes of citizens were qualified individuals of every
race and ethnicity. As a result of the Grutter decision, the conceptualization of diversity
required educators to investigate whether universities were fulfilling their objective to
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achieve faculty diversity. If one were to consider the educational attainment of Black and
Hispanic students at the PhD level one may say that there is a correlation between the
slow growth in faculty diversity and the low number of terminal degrees conferred to
Black and Hispanic candidates. Weinberg (2008) cites the 2000 National Opinion
Research Council and Census Data report [Table 2-original research document], both
citing the disparities in representation of Black and Hispanic candidates compared to
White recipients of terminal degrees. While the majority of universities included in the
study showed relatively no change in the growth of minority faculty, in 2006 there was a
positive trend with respect to degrees awarded to Blacks as the pattern of growth in the
percentage of Black tenured and tenure-track faculty increased (Weinberg, 2008).
A large part of the conversation about diversity in the academy centers on the fact
that there are relatively few students of color earning doctorate degrees. If you accept the
pool or limited pipeline theory, as do most college administrators then you buy into the
notion that minority faculty are not available. While the concern for the minority
pipeline of faculty is legitimate, there are experts in the field that believe the pipeline
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rationale can be deceptive (Smith, 2004). Olivas posits that if we look at higher
education as the consumer then we can say that in this case the consumer also becomes
the producer of the product, Olivas goes on to argue that even if graduation rates are
considered low, the number of graduates over time produces a pool more than capable of
altering low numbers of minority candidates (Olivas, 1994).
Smith (2000) also posits that the prevailing ideas about diversifying faculty
involve myths that hinder the search process. Consequently, in order to begin recruiting
from a diverse pool of candidates, the myths have to be addressed. Smith not only
addressed the pipeline theory but several other myths that emerged from the 2000 study:
Myth: The scarcity of faculty of color in the sciences means that those who are
available are in high demand.
Reality: Most of the scientists in the study sample were pursuing postdoctoral studies
and only 16% held faculty positions. None of the participants in the study
had been sought by colleges and universities.
Myth: Faculty of color are leaving academe altogether for more lucrative positions
in government and industry.
Reality: Most of the participants in the sample discussed the need to establish a
career before age 40; they didnt want to continue in multiple postdocs. Others were turned off by inhumane search processes that left the feeling
unappreciated. Lastly, for some the decision to leave reflected the problems
in academia.
Myth: Wealthy and prestigious institutions draw established faculty of color away
from non-elite institutions with fewer resources.
Reality: Outside offers do lure some faculty away from institutions but most of the
participants indicated an unwillingness to move frequently based on
monetary incentives.
Myth: Most scholars with an elite education only consider prestigious institutions
in their job search.
Reality: Most participants in the study based their choices on the environment in
which they wished to live, a desire to teach a diverse student body and an
interest in institutions with missions related to their professional goals.
To dispel the myths about barriers to recruiting minority faculty, educational
leaders must also understand the motivating factors that will attract such individuals to
higher education. Understanding the professional and personal influences that draw
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individuals to academia and a career in higher education in general has to be considered
in order to increase the population of minority faculty. Sharing the common believe that
diversity is important is not enough and efforts must be made to insure that the growth of
a diverse faculty is in congruent with the growth of a diverse student body.
Addressing the Underrepresentation
There is an urgent need to address institutional structural diversity and to continue
to study underrepresented minorities (URM). Historically URM faculty are from the
African American/Black, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, and Native
American/American Indian communitiesand are underrepresented in the academy
relative to their proportion in the general U.S. population (Consortium on Race, Gender
and Ethnicity, nd). The underrepresentation of these populations in academia comes at a
time when the nation is experiencing a demographic shift that will make it more pressing
to have minority representation. A 2011 study completed by the Association of
Collegiate Schools of Planning revealed that there were three racial groups severely
underrepresented among faculty; African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans.
Compared to conditions two decades ago the data from this study suggested some
advancement however these groups remained underrepresented when compared with the
general population (Hibbard, Irazabal, Manning Thomas, Umemoto & Wubneh , 2011).
Universities should focus on recruiting and retaining URM faculty because of the
intellectual and pedagogical diversity they bring to the academy. Further, this diversity is
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important as this is directly related to the recruitment and retention of students and the
potential to encourage the pursuit of graduate degrees.
Studies in other fields also reveal similar disparities however, in academic
medicine increasing minority faculty numbers is further complicated by issues of
harassment, bias, lack of mentorship, and discrimination by their colleagues in academic
settings. Ethnic disparities in promotion in academic medicine have also been
documented nationwide (Price, et al, 2009).
The humanities have also been impacted by minority representation issues. In
2004, the percentage of minority faculty in the humanities was lower than it was in most
other fields and in the postsecondary faculty population as a whole. The only field with a
substantially smaller share of minority faculty than the humanities was fine arts
(Humanities Indicators, 2015).
The list and discussion about the fields of study impacted by URM faculty, or the
lack there of will continue to be an issue, thus, it should become intrinsic to the mission
of universities to put together a diverse faculty which can have a direct impact on overall
performance. Universities and students benefit from the contribution of all members and
if U.S. colleges and universities are going to be leaders in industries, including but not
limited to energy, the environment, economics, medicine and health care, and global
politics; as well as maintain relevancy as institutions of higher education, administrations
must commit to taking a hard look at the issue of URM faculty and look at the inclusion
of URM faculty as a means of generating meaningful change (Brown, Harris, Liskov,
Nordford, Ortiz, Sive & Thompson, 2010).
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Case Studies and Best Practices: Diversity Initiatives that Work
According to Smith (2004) there may be value in certain interventions that
account for the hiring of diverse faculty. Specifically, as it relates to underrepresented
groups more hiring occurs when one of three designated conditions are met. Table 3
[from the original research] indicates the percentage of positions filled when designations
of these conditions are met:
1. The job description used to recruit faculty members explicitly engages diversity at the department or subfield level:
2. An institutional special hire strategy, such as waiver of a search, target of opportunity hire, or spousal hire, is used;
3. The search is conducted by an ethnically/racially diverse search committee.
An explanation of table 3 is provided here. For the positions where the department
indicated diversity, 82% of those hired were underrepresented faculty. Whites filled the
remaining 18% of positions meeting this description. Only 13% of the positions where a
subfield indicated diversity went to underrepresented faculty. Of the remaining 87% hired
for positions meeting this description, 62% were White and 25% were Asian American.
Special hiring represented an important intervention in securing underrepresented faculty,
as it was utilized in 30% of the cases. A meager 5% of regular hires, that is to say hires
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for positions without a diversity indicator and without the use of a special hire, resulted in
the hiring of an underrepresented faculty member.
Other scholars suggest that way to ensure faculty diversity is to engage in
effective monitoring and measuring of diversity at the campus and national levels.
Moreno (2006) proposed a new analytic approach for monitoring and measuring faculty
diversity. Their approach defined the academic department as the unit of analysis and
evaluated faculty diversity in more granular fashion. The approach had the potential, by
uncovering the way in which racial diversity is practiced in higher education, to enable
institutions to reach a certain standard of diversity.
Without devaluing research and data analysis, examining universities that have
been successful in terms launching effective diversity and inclusion plans may be a more
useful tool in creating a campus community that reflects the verbiage in many strategic
plans and mission statements.
Brooklyn College
In 2008, Brooklyn College implemented a five-year plan with four goals
delineated to achieve diversity by implementing the cultural, environmental, and
structural changes that would increase faculty diversity, create an inclusive environment,
and incorporate the principles of diversity and inclusion into the classroom and
curriculum (Brooklyn College, 2008).
University of Florida
The University of Florida utilizes a Faculty Recruitment Toolkit. The Toolkit
provides guidance for good searches in support of the priorities of the university and its
mission and is compiled, excerpted or adapted from external sources including the
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University of Wisconsin-Madison Search Handbook, the University of Washington-
Seattle Presidential Summit Faculty Recruitment Toolkit, and the University of Michigan
Faculty Recruitment Handbook. Chapter Three of the handbook addresses the need to
create a broadly diverse pool of qualified candidates. According to the handbook, the
pool of minorities, women or members of other underserved groups in a specific
discipline may be meager or even nonexistent. The University also uses targeted
advertising to address the pipeline problem and deploys formal and structured mentoring
programs for new hires. Additionally, the University of Florida encourages direct contact
with academic departments, professional organizations and colleagues to expand
searches. The Toolkit also gives attention to retaining faculty, including minority and
women stating that minorities need to be informed of the issues they will confront at the
university and in the development of their professional life (University of Florida, 2013).
The University of Ohio
The University of Ohios five year plan included the creation of a special center
and programs including the creation of a Multicultural Center and for the continuation of
The Womans Place, a unit within the Office of Academic Affairs. Additionally, from
2001 to 2006 the University saw an increase in appointments of women and minority
administrators, including several deans, the provost and the first woman president of
Ohio State. Achievements of the diversity plan included recruitment of women and
minority faculty at senior levels. The objectives were to increase the number of women
and minority faculty in five years by the following:
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Female 25% N=197
African-American 30% N=28
Asian-American 10% N=21
Hispanic American 30% N=13
Native-American 100% N=3
At the beginning of the 2006-07 academic year, the figures for these groups were as
follows:
Female up 22.6%; increase of N=196
African-American up 25.7%; increase of N=27
Asian-American up 57.9%; increase of N=140
Hispanic American up 70.6%; increase of N=36
Native-American down 25%; decrease of N=1
Although the recruitment goals in all categories were not met during that period some
exceed the goals or were very close to projections. Ohio State University also included
the establishment of incentives and rewards for individuals who made progress toward
achieving diversity goals (Ohio State, 2015).
How Faculty Members Can Become Agents of Change
Faculty can become agents of change in a number of ways. First and foremost,
faculty need to be informed by understanding the growing body of research on racial and
ethnic diversity in the academy. Supporting and implementing best practices in hiring
that have been demonstrated by peer institutions is also another ways that faculty can
begin the commitment to changing the face of universities. The area that may require the
most redress and commitment is that of the search committees. Often times job
descriptions mirror the current faculty which becomes problematic because when
departments are absent of colleagues of color so too is the thought that there is the need
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to diversity or consider inclusion that matches the student population. The search
committee should take steps before, during and after the search process to ensure that a
representative pool of applications are invited to participate in the interview process.
The composition of the search committee also has to be considered. For example,
search committee members must be comprised of faculty from various departments, with
a range of perspectives used to judge candidates and their fit within the university.
Committee members must be willing to step outside of their comfort zone and recruit
people that do not look or think like them and should work to broaden the pool of
applications.
In May 2015, Duke University made the commitment to address the issue of
faculty diversity and inclusion after the completion of a 14 month study. As a result, the
recommendation to create an office to oversee faculty diversity and harassment issues
was presented to the university. What is noteworthy about this recommendation is that
there has been an acknowledgment that this must be a partnership between faculty and
administration to focus on searching for and retaining a diverse group of faculty
members. The proposed plan also includes the creation of diversity goals for departments
with the understanding that departments which are unable to meet these goals risk losing
a faculty hiring line. In the 53 page report to the Academic Council at Duke, Jokerst and
Jones (2015) posit that in an inclusive community, members of underrepresented groups
are treated as essential members whose presence will transform and reshape the
Universitys core identity in positive ways and present eight recommendations that all
universities can use to create a more inclusive and diverse academic environment.
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Those recommendations are as follows:
Recommendation One Vision and Leadership
o Responsibility for advancing diversity and inclusion lies with all members of the university community: Trustees, President, Provost,
Chancellor, Deans, Chairs, and faculty play a critical leadership role.
University leaders must not only articulate a vision for diversity and
inclusion, they must be vocal, engaged, and consistent advocates for it.
Recommendation Two - Structural and Functional Changes
o Improvements in vertical and horizontal communication between and among schools/departments and various administrative entities and do
necessary restructuring that will establish clear and transparent
accountability mechanisms for faculty and administrators
Recommendation Three School/Department/Division Diversity Plans
o Each School, Department, or Division develop its own Diversity Plan. These plans should be produced through a collaborative partnership
between the Department/Division Chairs and Deans, their
corresponding Faculty Diversity Standing Committee (if one exists)
and in accordance with accrediting bodies and university guidelines
for diversity
Recommendation Four - General Training in Diversity and Inclusion
o The creation and oversight of appropriate training modules to be used. While all faculty would likely benefit from appropriate training, there
would be a concerted effort to make sure search committee members
and leaders of these teams are trained extensively.
Recommendation Five - Hiring Programs
o Create or reassess any special programs in place already designed to target special pools of candidates.
Recommendation Six Faculty Searches
o Utilize proven Faculty Search Toolkits or work internally to create a kit of best practices in faculty searches specifically for your university.
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Recommendation Seven Retention
o Focus on (1) mentoring; (2) community building with affinity groups; (3) data collection and analysis; and (4) issues related to non-tenure
track regular rank faculty.
Recommendation Eight Data and Transparency
o Collect, analyze, and share data to identify patterns of strong
recruitment of URM, retention and other demographics.
While many universities probably already address some or all of these
recommendations, the challenge becomes securing a long-term commitment to revisiting
and implementing best practices as related to faculty diversity. The university
community is strengthened when hiring, promoting, and retaining faculty that mirror the
student population is done in tandem with the recruitment of a diverse student population.
Further, the concept of diversity must be understood from a point of view that reaches
beyond women and black faculty to include ethnicity, race, gender, and sexual
orientation; all of which enrich the academic environment by allow for the incorporation
of various viewpoints and experiences at all institutional levels.
Conclusion
The Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity (nd) has been a longtime
proponent of strengthening the campus climate to make it more inclusive for URM
faculty. Further, creating a departmental culture that is responsive to the diverse cultures
of URMs is key. This requires some attention to how universities currently do business
and attention to more inclusive ways to function. The changes institutions make to
address the isolation and alienation of any marginalized populations mean a more
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accountable, more equitable, more ethical, and more dynamic institution, and
communicates to students the value of various life experiences. Providing a systematic
approach to addressing the issue of underrepresented faulty has to be coordinated at both
the departmental and administrative levels on campuses.
Brown University recently announced plans to double the percentage of
underrepresented minority faculty by 2025. Is this a lofty goal or a tangible task in which
the university can not only increase the numbers but lay the foundation for a program that
can be duplicated at universities across the United States? Other universities have set
forth bold initiatives (Duke and the University of Pennsylvania as mentioned in Inside
Higher Education) but what becomes the barometer for success is designing a course of
action that focuses on the layers (mentoring, research, increasing the pool of scholars,
dispelling recruitment and retention myths, etc.) that have contributed to the deficiencies.
Universities have found it challenging to coordinate the efforts to recruit a diverse pool of
faculty at the departmental and administrative levels.
According to Price, et al (2009), more studies in this area are needed to facilitate
nationwide comparisons of the diversity climate across various academic institutions and
to determine whether standard policies and procedures will enhance recruitment,
promotion, retention, and professional development of ethnically diverse faculty.
Research of this nature should spark a more informed dialogue about the still low
numbers of URM and the disproportionate difference in overall hiring of new faculty at
universities nationwide. Trends, including a growing population of faculty eligible for
retirement and the growth of student enrollment make the case for addressing the needs
of URM faculty. Salient changes must be made and progress should be documented in
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order for there to be a shift in the landscape. The goal should be to create pathways to
share successful programs and identify gaps in current programs so that the statistical
data coming out of future research shows significant growth. If colleges and universities
do not make the investment in URM faculty this could further contribute to the
perception that universities do not understand the connection between creating culture of
inclusion and they risk missing out on a generation of qualified, worldly, academicians
that can add to the strength of the university.
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Works Cited
Brooklyn College (2008). Brooklyn College diversity and inclusion plan.
http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/abo_initiatives/080101_Plans_DiversityPlan.
pdf
Brown, E.N., Harris, W.L., Liskov, B.H, Nordford, L.K.; Ortiz, C., Sive, H.L. &
Thompson, M.A. (2010). Report on the initiative for faculty race and diversity.
http://web.mit.edu/provost/raceinitiative/report.pdf
Hibbard, M.., Irazabal, C., Manning Thomas, J., Umemoto, K., & Wubneh, M., (2011).
Recruitment and retention of underrepresented faculty of color in acsp member
programs: Status and recommendations. Association of Collegiate Schools of
Planning.
http://www.acsp.org/sites/default/files/ACSP%20Diversity%20Task%20Force%2
0Report%20final.pdf
Humanities Indicators. (2015). Racial/ethnic composition of humanities faculty.
American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
http://www.humanitiesindicators.org/content/indicatordoc.aspx?i=315
Moreno, J. F., Smith, D. G., Clayton-Pedersen, S. P., Parker, S., & Teraguchi, D. H.
(2006). The revolving door for underrepresented minority faculty in higher
education: An analysis from the Campus Diversity Initiative. Washington, DC:
Association of American Colleges and Universities.
National Center for Education Statistics. (nd). Race/ethnicity of college faculty.
https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=61
Ohio State University. (2015). Diversity action plan.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:CkbD3mtov8wJ:www.os
u.edu/diversityplan/index.php+&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Olivas, M.A. (1994). The education of Latino lawyers: An essay on crop cultivation.
Chicano-Latino Law Review, 14,117138.
Price, E.G., Powe, N.R., Kern, D.E., Hill Golden, S., Wand, G.S. & Cooper, L.A. (2009).
improving the diversity climate in academic medicine: Faculty perceptions as a
catalyst for institutional change. Academic Medicine, 84(1), 95-105.
Smith D. G. (2000). How to Diversity the faculty. Academe Online.
http://diversity.illinois.edu/SupportingDocs/HowToDiversifyTheFaculty.pdf
Smith, D. G., Turner, C. S., Osei-Kofi, N., & Richards, S. (2004). Interrupting the Usual:
Successful Strategies for Hiring Diverse Faculty. Journal of Higher
Education, 75(2), 133-160.
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University of Florida Office of Faculty Development (2013). Faculty recruitment toolkit.
http://www.aa.ufl.edu/Data/Sites/18/media/documents/faculty_toolkit.pdf
Weinberg, S. L. (2008). Monitoring faculty diversity: The need for a more granular
approach. Journal of Higher Education, 79(4), 365-387.
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Faculty in Focus: Bridging the Diversity DivideDR. FRANCINE EDWARDSDELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITYMASS COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
2015 AAUP CONFERENCE
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OVERVIEW
Introduction
Current Research on Faculty Diversity
Addressing the Underrepresentation [Underrepresented Minorities (URM)]
Case Studies and Best Practices: Diversity Initiatives that Work
Faculty as Agents of Change
Final Thoughts
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INTRODUCTION
Increasing the diversity of faculty so that professors more closely reflect the student population remains a goal of the university.
A diverse faculty provides opportunity for diverse points of view.
The university is also committed to hiring faculty members with the ability to work with a diverse student population.
While the principle of valuing diversity is embraced by the university and reflected in public documents, processes are not fully in place for a coordinated, systematic, or strategic implementation of this principle at the college or departmental levels.
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WHO ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?Under Represented Minority (URM) faculty include African American/Blacks, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Native Americans who are part of the domestic talent pool and considered underrepresented due to their historical and contemporary underrepresentation in the academy relative to their proportion in the general U.S. population (Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity, nd).
Image Courtesy: UMASS Medical School
The Emerging Professionals Summer Internship Program (EPSIP) is a ten-week, paid internship experience for talented underrepresented minority college
students. This pipeline program is designed to provide students with the opportunity to explore potential administrative careers in an academic health
science center.
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CURRENT RESEARCH ON FACULTY DIVERSITYThe Focus
Most research focuses on the diverse student population.
Over the last decade, the impact of employing a racially and ethnically diverse faculty and ways for achieving that diversity have received greater attention in the literature.
2003 the Supreme Court affirmed the importance of racial and ethnic diversity in higher education with a ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger. In this decision, the Supreme Court stated that universities (specifically law schools).
Correlation between slow growth in faculty diversity and low numbers of terminal degree candidates that are minorities.
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CURRENT RESEARCH ON FACULTY DIVERSITY Pipeline Theory and Myths
PIPELINE THEORY few students of color earning doctorate degrees = a limited pool or limited pipeline
Smith (2000) posits that the prevailing ideas about diversifying faculty involve myths that hinder the search process.
Image Courtesy: PHD Pipeline Opportunity Program
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MYTHS
The scarcity of faculty of color in the sciences means that those who are available are in high demand.
Faculty of color are leaving academe altogether for more lucrative positions in government and industry.
Wealthy and prestigious institutions draw established faculty of color away from non-elite institutions with fewer resources.
Most scholars with an elite education only consider prestigious institutions in their job search.
REALITY
Most of the scientists in the study sample were pursuing postdoctoral studies and only 16% held faculty positions. None of the participants in the study had been sought by colleges and universities.
Most of the participants in the sample discussed the need to establish a career before age 40; they didnt want to continue in multiple postdocs. Others were turned off by inhumane search processes that left the feeling unappreciated. Lastly, for some the decision to leave reflected the problems in academia.
Outside offers do lure some faculty away from institutions but most of the participants indicated an unwillingness to move frequently based on monetary incentives.
Most participants in the study based their choices on the environment in which they wished to live, a desire to teach a diverse student body and an interest in institutions with missions related to their professional goals.
MYTH BUSTINGThe truth about recruiting URM
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ADDRESSING THE UNDERREPRESENTATION [Underrepresented Minorities (URM)]
A 2011 study completed by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning revealed that there were three racial groups severely underrepresented among faculty; African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans.
Disparities in academic medicine increasing minority faculty numbers is further complicated by issues of harassment, bias, lack of mentorship, and discrimination by their colleagues in academic settings.
Minority faculty numbers in the humanities lower than in most other fields and in the postsecondary faculty population as a whole.
Image courtesy: Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity
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ADDRESSING THE UNDERREPRESENTATION [Underrepresented Minorities (URM)] (cont.)
As it relates to underrepresented groups more hiring occurs when one of three designated conditions are met:
1. The job description used to recruit faculty members explicitly engages diversity at the department or subfield level:
2. An institutional special hire strategy, such as waiver of a search, target of opportunity hire, or spousal hire, is used;
3. The search is conducted by an ethnically/racially diverse search committee.
SOURCE: Smith D. G. (2000). How to Diversity the Faculty. Academe Online. http://diversity.illinois.edu/SupportingDocs/HowToDiversifyTheFaculty.pdf
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CASE STUDIES AND BEST PRACTICES: DIVERSITY INITIATIVES THAT WORK
University of Ohio University of Florida Brooklyn College
5 year planCreation of a special center and programs including the creation of a Multicultural Center
The continuation of The Womans Place (a unit within academic affairs designed to support women in academia)
Note: between 2001 2006 the university saw increased appointments of women and minorities
Utilized the Faculty Recruitment Toolkit.
Toolkit provides guidance for good search support aligned with the university's mission
Targeted advertising to address the pipeline problem and deployed formal and structural mentoring programs to new hires.
5 year plan with four goals delineated to achieve diversity by implementing cultural, environmental and structural changes
The creating on a more inclusive environment
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FACULTY AS AGENTS OF CHANGE
Faculty need to be informed by understanding the growing body of research on racial and ethnic diversity in the academy
Supporting and implementing best practices in hiring that have been demonstrated by peer institutions
Being honest about your search committees
Looking at how job descriptions are crafted (most mirror the current faculty which becomes problematic if there is an absent of diversity)
Before, during, and after the search process ensure that a representative pool of applications are invited to participate in the interview process
Use faculty from various departments, with a range of perspectives for search committees
Be willing to recruit people that do not look or think like you
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DUKE UNIVERSITY
Recommendation One Vision and Leadership
Recommendation Two - Structural and Functional Changes
Recommendation Three School/Department/Division Diversity Plans
Recommendation Four - General Training in Diversity and Inclusion
Recommendation Five - Hiring Programs
Recommendation Six Faculty Searches
Recommendation Seven Retention
Recommendation Eight Data and Transparency
About the Duke Report: The Academic Council of Duke University was charged with articulating a vision for a diverse and inclusive Duke, assessing Dukes current position relative to this vision, and recommending actions designed to achieve this vision. Although the Council did not limit the Task Force in terms of coverage, the Task Force focused on faculty diversity in the 2014-2015 academic year.
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R8: Data and Transparency
Collect, analyze, and share data
R7: Retention
Focus on (1) mentoring; (2) community building with affinity groups; (3)
data collection and analysis
R6: Faculty Searches
Utilize proven Faculty Search Toolkits or work
internally to create a kit of best practices in faculty searches specifically for
your university
R5: Hiring Programs
Create or reassess any special programs in
place already designed to target special pools
of candidates
R4: Training
The creation and oversight of
appropriate training modules
R3: Diversity Plans
Each School, Department, or
Division develop its own Diversity Plan
R2: Structural/Functional Changes
Improvements in vertical and horizontal communication
between and among schools/departments and
various administrative
R1: Vision & Leadership
Responsibility for advancing diversity and
inclusion lies with all members of the
university community
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FINAL THOUGHTS
The changes institutions make to address the isolation and alienation of any marginalized populations mean a more accountable, more equitable, more ethical, and more dynamic institution and communicates to students
Universities have set forth bold initiatives but have found it challenging to coordinate the efforts to recruit a diverse pool of faculty at the departmental and administrative levels.
The goal should be to create pathways to share successful programs and identify gaps in current programs so that the statistical data coming out of future research shows significant growth.
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THANK YOUFrancine Edwards
Delaware State University
fedwards@desu.edu
Academia.com/Francineedwards
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