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Essay on Minority Faculty
Minority faculties in psychology are less contented with their experiences in academe than their white peers, new research indicates. Sometimes, you have to review the rules of the game to make sure that you are applying them fairly to everyone. Recent legal attacks on affirmative action have made colleges and universities nervous about their efforts to recruit faculty (as well as students) from underrepresented minority groups. Special initiatives designed to attract minority faculty are of particular concern. The statistics on minority representation among tenure-track faculty in many disciplines remain alarmingly low, however. At several recent conferences on these issues, I have been disappointed to hear deans and affirmative action officers express the belief that their own faculties often create the highest hurdles to minority faculty recruitment and retention.
What can be done to ensure that the rules are fair and fairly applied? Before pursuing new programs that might be legally susceptible, faculty members should first examine how they currently evaluate candidates for appointment and promotion. The search process for new faculty members is a good place to begin. Are your search committees given any training to broaden their perspectives, or any resources to ensure that they are reaching out to the complete pool of potentially qualified applicants? Do they advertise in journals and periodicals that make special efforts to reach minority graduate students and faculty? Do they rely on some sort of ranking of graduate schools in evaluating candidates? If so, what is the basis of those rankings, and how do historically black universities and other minority-serving institutions fare in them? Such questions can yield surprising answers. (Bowen, H. R., and J. H. Schuster. 1986)
What about mentoring new faculty members? Do your senior faculty members reach out to junior colleagues with different racial and ethnic backgrounds? Do you communicate regularly with minority faculty members about the environment in your department, campus, or community?.................
