| The Status
of Minority Faculty in Higher Education The
American Council on Education (ACE)'s most recent Status Report
on Minorities in Higher Education cites gains made in the
academy's efforts to diversify its faculty ranks but also
expresses concerns about this fragile foothold: According
to the report, minorities in higher education have not nearly
achieved equity and face a great fall backwards if the push
to hire minorities is threatened by the abandonment of "race-sensitive
admissions" and hiring practices.
FINDINGS
Faculty of color employment figures
rose from 1997 to 1999; the number of full-time faculty
of color gained 8.3 percent in this period compared with
an increase of 2.5 percent for whites and 3.3 percent overall
for faculty.
At the full-professor level, the
number of faculty of color decreased nearly 1 percent since
1997. Among all groups, including whites, the number of
full professors declined 1.4 percent.
Women of color increased
their number of doctoral degrees earned in 2000 by 5.6 percent,
compared to a 1.3 percent decline for men of color. During
the 90s women of color made greater gains then men of color
at this level. This resulted in women earning a majority of
the doctoral degrees awarded to minorities.
After a period of rapid
increases in the early 1990s women of color lost ground
at the full-professor level from 1997 to 1999. During this
period, women faculty of color decreased 4.5 percent while
white females gained 5.1 percent.
Nationally, there is a discrepancy
in the ratio of students of color (27.3 percent) to faculty
of color (14.4 percent).
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DID
YOU KNOW?
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Students of color have increased
obtaining doctoral degrees during the last decade by 65
percent.
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One-third of full-time undergraduate
faculty were full professors during 1995-96. Nearly 35
percent of white faculty were full professors, but only
23% of faculty of color had attained full professorship
status.
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Faculty feel comfortable teaching
to diverse classrooms, but only one-third raise issues
related to diversity or create diverse work groups.
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