Diversity in College Faculty:
SREB States Address a Need

What is the problem?

The number of minority faculty members in America is appalling.

One-fourth of college students are people of color, but only one out of every 30 faculty members at predominantly white institutions is a person of color.

The problem is severe. Even if all 1,315 black Ph.D. recipients in 1996 opted for faculty careers, only about one-third of the nation’s 3,800 colleges and universities could add one new black faculty member each year. If field of study were a consideration, the problem would appear even worse, because almost half of the Ph.D.s awarded to black graduates are in the field of education. Only 3 percent of the total 42,415 Ph.D.s are black graduates, and the record is no better for Hispanics or Native Americans.

A recent report on new doctorates awarded shows that 14 Southern states in 1995 did not produce one black Ph.D. in either of the key fields of mathematics or computer science. These shockingly small numbers of mathematics and computer science Ph.D.s are part of a larger picture that is almost as distressing.

In the SREB region, there are 161,000 faculty positions at public and private institutions. Only 8 percent of these positions are held by black faculty. Fewer than half of these black faculty members (about 6,000) are teaching at predominantly white institutions. In other words, there are more black faculty teaching at the region’s 91 historically black institutions than teaching at the 1,000 predominantly white institutions.

Higher education is making progress in increasing minority students and support staff. However, there has been almost no progress in increasing the number of minorities in college and university faculties, neither in the SREB states nor nationwide.
It takes years to become a college faculty member. In any year, the number of students receiving doctorates is much smaller than the number receiving undergraduate degrees. This number is a tiny fraction of the number enrolled in college and an even smaller fraction of the number graduating from high school.

A smaller percentage of minority students than white students graduate from high school and from college, go to graduate school and eventually receive doctorates.

A doctoral degree is the key to becoming a faculty member. The small number of minorities on the path to doctoral degrees and faculty positions is especially serious in the areas of math, science and engineering. Lower enrollment in these fields and the competition from business and industry reduce the number of minorities who seek employment as faculty.

For example, a 1998 Southern Education Foundation study of 19 Southern states found that about half of the 553 doctoral degrees awarded to black students in 1995 were in the field of education. Many of these states, if they produced black Ph.D.s outside of the field of education, typically produced only one per year in the key fields of science and mathematics.

Why is faculty diversity important?

• Because higher education now involves most of America, its faculty and leadership should reflect the nation’s diverse population.
• A diverse faculty with a variety of scholarly perspectives will produce a stronger educational experience for all students.
• Colleges and universities must take into account that they have to serve an increasingly diverse student body and have to prepare students to deal with this diversity. The faculty should reflect this diversity.
• Soon after the beginning of the next century, one in three Americans will be of ethnic minority background, and by 2050, according to projections, one in two Americans will be an ethnic minority. The nation’s economic health will depend upon whether these people are a successful and integral part of society.

What is being done to increase faculty diversity on America’s campuses?

While faculty diversity is a consideration in most SREB states, efforts thus far have not yielded significant results. In addition, the financial incentives for states or institutions to promote diversity have dwindled over the last few years. Foundation support for graduate fellowship programs — particularly minority graduate fellowships — has waned over the last 10 years.

The SREB responded to this situation by helping its member states channel resources into a new, multistate initiative called the SREB Doctoral Scholars Program. The program has two goals: (1) to increase the number of minority students who earn Ph.D.s and become college faculty in fields in which they are most underrepresented; and (2) to create a state-based, self-sustaining program — operating independently, without foundation support — to help produce more Ph.D.s.

In 1992 the SREB began an 18-month study of published reports on the achievement of minority graduate students and conducted site visits to promising programs that supported minority graduate students. The SREB’s study found that minority graduate students listed two primary barriers to their completion of doctoral degrees: a lack of finances and a feeling of isolation within their departments. The SREB identified key features of the graduate education programs in which minorities were successful. These features included undergraduate recruiting and research experience, graduate school orientation and survival tips, mentoring, financial support, supportive environments, and community-building and networking.

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