The Proportion and Importance of Minority Faculty in Higher Education
In 2009, when minorities are present in virtually every workplace, and where even the nation’s president is half-African-American, one might expect minorities to be represented in higher education as faculty members in proportion to their numbers in the larger society. However, that is not the case. According to the American Council of Education, as of 2007, only 17.04 percent of full-time faculty members were African-American, Native American/Alaskan, Asian-American/Pacific Islander, or Hispanic, while 76.83 percent were white . Although male-female ratios are about even, much improvement remains to be made in the diversification of faculty at the nation’s higher education institutions in terms of race/ethnicity. Diversity is important for several reasons: students of color can relate to and be inspired by mentors of their same race/ethnicity; minority faculty may research important but neglected areas of interest to minority populations; and diversity would bring simple fairness and equity to the higher education workplace, where bias and discrimination subtly remain.
The numbers, and efforts to do something about them
Some studies and articles have revealed gross underrepresentation of minority faculty in certain subject areas. For example, Peoples (2009) found that few minorities are professors of economics, compared with the share of minorities receiving PhDs in economics. Wilson (2007) reported that minority students are earning degrees in science and engineering at top research institutions at a greater rate than the proportion of minority faculty in these areas.
Many institutions have attempted to alleviate the problem of underrepresented minorities among their faculty. For example, Virginia Tech in 1999 instituted new hiring practices that aim to increase minority hires (Wilson, 2002). Hiring decisions are now made by the dean rather than by faculty members, for fear that the predominantly white male faculty would hire more of “their own.” Search committees at the institution must be seen as sufficiently diverse, and all minority applicants’ CVs must be reviewed; all minority applicants must also be interviewed, unless the committee provides an explanation to the dean. Some faculty at Virginia Tech wonder whether the hiring practices are legal under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which mandates color-blind hiring), and some question the hiring of certain minority faculty members who may not have been hired if they had been white. However, other members of the Virginia Tech community argue that as a southern, conservative, traditionally white-male school, the university desperately needs more diversity and should be aggressive in recruiting minorities. As of 2002, only 10.76 percent of the Virginia Tech tenure-track faculty were non-white, compared with 89.24 percent whites. This is up from 7.73 percent and 92.27 percent, respectively, in 1999.
The University of Oregon also has a program in place to promote minority hiring. It offers $30,000 per year for three years to departments to reimburse them for the cost of efforts specifically targeted at recruiting minority faculty (Huckabee, 2007). Like at Virginia Tech, some say the program violates the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, the University of Oregon general counsel maintains the program is legal because the money does not impact hiring decisions and does not go to the hired professor.
At a conference of more than 1,000 minority PhD students in 2007, the best way to promote diversity among faculty members was described as simply producing more PhD graduates of color (Minority PhD students convene…, 2007). Therefore, minority doctoral students would need more assistance in getting through the degree process (choosing an adviser, finishing a dissertation, etc.) and in going through job interviews upon graduation.
Wilson (2002) cited data from three institutions that found that diversity initiatives (or affirmative action, in the eyes of critics) accounted for 86 percent of African-American faculty hires and all Native American hires. Clearly, a concerted effort is being made to increase diversity among faculty in higher education. As one participant in the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers joint conference in March 2008 put it, diversity is “inevitable” (June, 2008a). It all depends on how institutions put it into place.
Problems persist
Even though the effort is largely there to recruit more faculty of color (though Jackson, 2008, argues that biases and discrimination still exist in faculty hiring decisions), a major problem remains: retention. Gadsden (2008) declares that even institutions that offer employment incentives to attract minority faculty members don’t understand, or don’t put in place, ways to retain them. Few institutions offer assistance in finding housing, and minority faculty might encounter resistance from their white neighbors upon moving in. Some minority faculty face hostility from students: they may verbally assault or threaten the faculty member, or complain to the department chair that the faculty member is racist or lacks competence. In such situations, the faculty member has no recourse and is left to his or her own devices. Few support groups exist on campuses for minority faculty, and white colleagues often meet minority faculty concerns with sympathy but also a belief that the minority individual is being “too sensitive” or is a complainer.
Another problem is minority faculty members’ perceptions regarding achieving tenure. In a study (June, 2008b), Native American junior faculty felt the tenure process was less clear, compared with whites, and were less satisfied with how fairly they felt non-tenured faculty were treated (Hispanics and African-Americans were also less satisfied, though Asian-Americans were slightly more satisfied than whites). African-American faculty felt their performance was not always fairly considered in tenure decisions, and were less pleased with the amount of collegiality they experienced on the job (though Hispanics were as pleased as whites with collegiality). The bright spot is that minorities and whites experienced overall satisfaction with their jobs at a comparable rate, with the exception of Native Americans, who expressed slightly less overall satisfaction.
Jackson (2008) wrote that another problem minority researchers face is that their publications may be seen as less important if they appear in non-traditional journals (i.e., journals with more of an ethnic/racial focus). This affects their reputation and tenure decisions. As the hiring of minority faculty increases, therefore, it is important that institutions begin to think more “outside the box” when it comes to evaluating what is considered a “worthy” publication.
Benefits of hiring minority faculty
Wilson (2007) stated that if minority students lack nonwhite role models to look up to in a given area, e.g., science and engineering, this may lead to fewer minority students enrolling in those fields. Wilson therefore recommended that top research universities hire more minority faculty members in these disciplines. Similarly, Wilson (2002) stated in the Virginia Tech piece that minority faculty members can serve as mentors for minority students. June (2008b) noted that colleges and universities might better retain minority students if they see and interact with more minority faculty and staff on campus.
Peoples (2009) brought up another important reason to recruit more minority faculty to, e.g., economics: professors of color may pursue research interests that their white counterparts have largely neglected, but which are of key concern for minority groups. One example is the issue of poverty. However, Jackson (2008) cautioned that minorities should not feel pressured to research “ethnic/minority” issues if their interests lie elsewhere, because otherwise they become typecast, and the belief emerges that minorities can only produce “minority scholarship.” (And the related belief that “minority scholarship” can only be done by minority professors.) This devalues issues of concern to minorities and marginalizes minority faculty members.
Finally, hiring minority faculty in proportion to minority groups’ representation in society is just plain fair, and it is the right thing to do. Faculty positions are a means of social mobility, just like any other professional job, and a way to heighten reputation and advance important research. Minorities deserve access to these benefits just as much as whites, perhaps even more so since they are still woefully underrepresented in America’s colleges and universities.
Appendix: Discussion of minority faculty issues
In our class discussion on minority faculty issues, students made a number of excellent points. For example, on the topic of affirmative action in hiring of minority faculty, Rebeca Siegel stated the following:
Being a minority myself, and having been faculty at the University of North Florida and ASU, I feel that affirmative action in hiring practices can be problematic, although in theory, it's practiced. In fact, the pool of candidates for any position (in state universities, I don't know about private ones) has to be certified by the affirmative action office to ascertain that the pool and the choices of a hiring committee are diverse (gender and ethnic-wise). But even when bright minorities are coveted precisely because of issues of representation, and attraction of minority students into a program, I still feel that there is the issue, as Jennifer stated in her outline, of tokenism, either circumscribing the minority professor to a specific area of studies (I am a professor of Mexican Studies, for example), or transforming her into the symbolic spokesperson of her group of origin.
A problem of establishing quotas or any kind of aggressive minority recruiting policy into a department is the fact that faculty can resent the minority member from the get-go, and not consider them up-to-par with the standards of the other faculty. This could hamper the tenure process from the beginning. I ultimately think it's better to compete under one's own merit hoping that the selection process will be fair to one based on a fit with one's qualifications and strengths and the hiring department's profile.
Rebeca also stated that even though she finds affirmative action problematic as a means for achieving diversity, it is important for minority students to have minority faculty members to look up to as a “mirror,” for inspiration. A diverse faculty makeup also exposes students to a diverse range of viewpoints as they move through higher education, she noted.
Meanwhile, Sarah Sadar expressed the view that there is a sort of catch-22: in order to hire more minority faculty members, institutions need to retain more minority students; but in order to retain more minority students, it helps to hire more minority faculty members.
Krystal Gomez, responding to my questions in the discussion forum, estimated that the percentage of minority faculty is 22 percent, but she seemed to misinterpret my question as being about academic library staff, based on the rest off her response, which is below:
n hiring faculty. I do think we need to make greater efforts to hire minorit
References
American Council on Education. (2007). ACE fact sheet on higher education: Full-time instructional faculty, by gender, race/ethnicity, and academic rank. Accessed Sept. 14, 2009, at: http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Homem
Gadsden, G.Y. (2008, Oct. 24). Minority report. Chronicle of Higher Education. Accessed Sept. 14, 2009, at: http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5
Huckabee, C. (2007, June 3). University of Oregon defends its minority-faculty recruitment plan. Chronicle of Higher Education. Accessed Sept. 14, 2009, at: http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5
Jackson, J.F.L. (2008). Race segregation across the academic workforce. American Behavioral Scientist, 51(7): 1004-1029.
June, A.W. (2008a, April 11). Faculty groups’ joint conference focuses on pay and diversity. Chronicle of Higher Education. Accessed Sept. 14, 2009, at: http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5
June, A.W. (2008b, Dec. 5). On the road to tenure, minority professors report frustrations. Chronicle of Higher Education. Accessed Sept. 14, 2009, at: http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5
Minority PhD students convene to further diversity in faculty ranks. (2007, Oct. 27). Chronicle of Higher Education. Accessed Sept. 14, 2009, at: http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5
Peoples, J. (2009). Minorities’ fields of expertise in economics and employment demand in these fields. Review of Black Political Economy 36: 1-6.
Wilson, R. (2002, July 12). Stacking the deck for minority candidates? Chronicle of Higher Education. Accessed Sept. 14, 2009, at: http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5
Wilson, R. (2007, Nov. 16). Minority professors are missing from top science programs. Chronicle of Higher Education. Accessed Sept. 14, 2009, at: http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5