Despite pledges from campus leaders to diversify all facets of their institutions, faculty have remained stubbornly white, according to a new report from the Education Trust, a non-profit that works to close opportunity and achievement gaps.
“It reflects something that we’ve long known,” said Dr. Kimberly A. Griffin, professor and dean of the College of Education at the University of Maryland. “That the student body is diversifying much faster than the faculty is.”
The report, based on 2020 data from 543 public four-year institutions, graded schools by comparing the percentage of minoritized students to the percentage of minoritized faculty. The more similar the percentages, the higher the grade. A school with a 10% Black student body that had a 9% Black faculty would have received an A. A school with a 10% Black student body but under 6% Black faculty would have received an F. The results, for many colleges, were not pretty.
57% of schools had failing grades for Black faculty diversity, and 79% had failing grades for Latinx diversity. Only 13% of colleges received the highest possible grade when it came to African Americans, and only 7% received top marks for Latinx diversity.
Dr. Kimberly A. Griffin, professor and dean of the College of Education at the University of Maryland
The lack of diversity has far-reaching consequences. More diverse faculties have been linked to higher retention, persistence, and graduation rates for minoritized students, as well as an improved sense of belonging. And the benefits aren’t limited to those from under-represented backgrounds. White students taught by diverse faculty have shown better cross-cultural and critical thinking skills and have a stronger sense of empathy.
The report also examined new hiring decisions, with similarly dismal results: Black and Latinx faculty were disproportionately hired for non-tenure track positions. At 35 schools, all new Black faculty were hired for non-tenure track positions, and 50 schools did not hire any Black faculty at all. 48 institutions hired no Latinx faculty on the tenure track, and 76 hired no Latinx faculty at all.
