Recruiting And Retaining A Diverse Faculty

Abstract

It is not news that American universities are not well diversified (e.g., Trower 2002, Antonio 2003). A quick look at your own faculty list will probably corroborate the literature. Much has been written not only on the need for a diverse faculty, but also the beneficial relationship between a diverse student body and a diverse faculty. For example, Antonio (2003) suggests that having a diverse student body:

• Reduces isolation experienced by faculty of color;
• broadens the range of what is taught and how, and develops collaboration opportunities and sharing of ideas and pedagogies;
• reduces the possibility of denial of promotion and tenure because of race or ethnicity as the students may become activists; and
• reduces expectation placed on faculty to handle minority affairs as the university will more likely have formal programs and administration in place.

Student diversity and faculty diversity are mutually supportive, and both should be included in your diversity plan. With that said, the focus will now be on the seemingly more difficult task of recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty. While a diverse faculty should include females as well as people of color, the focus will be on faculty of color and specifically African-Americans, as that is where universities, in my opinion, tend to do the poorest job.