Christine C. Iijima Hall

Learning from Number Two: Diversity in Community College Leadership
By Christine C. Iijima Hall, district director of Equal Employment Opportunity Compliance and Recruitment, Maricopa Community College District

I remember the interview for my first senior leadership position with the Maricopa County Community College District. The interview committee asked me, “What is the mission of community colleges?” I immediately responded, “To offer a quality and affordable education for all people.” I think the committee was surprised that I recited the mission so easily. The reason was simple—I was a community college graduate who realized that community colleges were the best deal in town.

When I attended community college in the early 1970s, community colleges offered an excellent education, were less expensive than universities (my education was free), and had smaller classes, resulting in more faculty–student interaction. Now, community colleges offer an even greater selection of courses, at even more accessible times and in a broader range of formats—in the evenings, on weekends, and online.

I am not alone in recognizing the benefits of a community college education. Community colleges attract many nontraditional students, including first-generation college attendees, women, minorities, lower-income students, older students, and part-time students. Community colleges thus remain important gateways to affordable, high-quality higher education for all people, a fact that is not unrelated to the diversity of their students, faculty, and staff.

Being Number Two

Community colleges’ missions and student demographics attract many female and minority educators to faculty and administrative positions. It is important for these leaders to be truly committed to the students and mission, because community colleges generally “get no respect.” Despite the excellent educations they offer, community colleges are often viewed as higher education’s illegitimate children rather than as the premier institutions they are.

But not being perceived as number one may work to community colleges’ advantage. In 1962, Avis Rent-A-Car began an advertising campaign with the slogan “We’re number two. We try harder.” Avis was competing against Hertz, a large conglomerate with an extensive fleet of cars across the country. Avis’s cars were not inferior to Hertz’s. Avis was simply a smaller company. Instead of trying to compete with Hertz’s size, Avis chose to compete with its customer service.

Perhaps community colleges feel like the Avis of higher education. Although they offer high-quality undergraduate educations, they are judged against larger conglomerates (universities) by a barometer (measuring volume of research output, for example) that is not important or relevant to many undergraduate students. Like Avis, community colleges measure their efforts by an alternative barometer, focusing on their version of customer service—teaching, student learning, and student success.

Innovators in Hiring

Being number two allows community colleges to be innovative and creative. It allows them to take risks, such as hiring a critical mass of women and people of color in faculty and senior administrative positions. Data show that community colleges hire more women and people of color in leadership positions than universities.

In 2006, women represented 23 percent of all college and university presidents (Touchton 2008). Nineteen percent of these women were of color (8 percent African American, 7 percent Hispanic, 1 percent Asian American, 2 percent Native American, and less than 2 percent mixed race). Of these female presidents, 29 percent were housed in community colleges, while only 14 percent were at doctoral-granting universities.

The disparity in female leadership between doctoral-granting institutions and community colleges is even more evident in senior leadership positions (vice presidents, deans). Women represent 52 percent of senior leaders at community colleges, but only 34 percent in doctorate-granting institutions. Women of color represent 7 percent of all higher education senior administrators (Touchton 2008). This percentage is probably higher in community colleges.

Benefits of Diverse Leadership

The large percentage of white women and women of color leaders in community colleges has had major effects on education, programs, and leadership. Indeed, diverse leadership has many benefits for faculty, staff, and students:

• Diverse leadership leads to diverse hiring. Minority and female faculty’s success depends on their feeling accepted and included, on a professional and personal level, in the department and the institution. One way to create a supportive culture is to hire “Noah style”—that is, to hire more than one person of racial, ethnic, or gender minority status at a time. This approach does not guarantee camaraderie, but it increases its probability. In fact, women may be attracted to a college that has a critical mass of white women and women of color in power, perceiving it as a place where they are more likely to receive support and acceptance. This is especially true when colleges and universities are known to treat diverse faculty with respect. Word travels fast, and institutions that treat white women and women of color well are more likely to attract, hire, and retain more white women and women of color (Hall 1990).
• Diverse leadership styles lead to diverse student programs. Years ago, a study reported that psychology programs that employed faculty of color had a higher probability of offering at least one multicultural psychology course (Bernal and Padilla 1982). A college whose faculty, staff, and leaders think diversity is important—as diverse faculty and staff often do—will be more likely to implement the courses and programs that are essential to preparing students for life and work in a diverse world.
• Diverse leadership provides role models for staff and students. Women of color and white women working at colleges with diverse leadership are apt to realize that they, too, might attain senior leadership positions. Likewise, students see future leadership possibilities in their faculty and staff role models.
• Diverse leadership styles support inclusive environments. For example, feminist leadership styles promote cooperation and inclusivity as pathways to better decision-making. Cooperative and inclusive leadership creates and maintains an environment that nourishes women and people of color—students, faculty, and staff.

Expanding the Successes

I conclude these thoughts on diverse leadership with an example of an institution that has been successful in attracting and retaining white women and women of color to leadership positions. My home institution, the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), is one of the largest community college districts in the United States. The district consists of ten colleges located throughout the greater Phoenix area, each with a president who reports directly to the chancellor. Our chancellor is an African American male. The ten presidents currently consist of five women (two of color) and five men (three of color). As predicted by the benefits I outlined above, this leadership diversity has lead to diverse hiring in areas traditionally dominated by white men, such as college safety. In fact, two of MCCCD’s ten directors of college safety (chiefs of police) are women—one white and one African American—and one is an African American male. These three individuals represent 30 percent of our safety directors. 

Most higher education leaders know that a critical mass of women and minorities is needed to recruit and retain women and minority employees. Still, community colleges have accomplished their goals of diversifying faculty and staff—and thus improving climates for all their constituents—better than universities. To the universities, may I suggest taking a tip from Avis (and from your community college peers): try harder!

References

Bernal, M., and A. Padilla. 1982. Status of minority curricula and training in clinical psychology. American Psychologist 37: 780-87.

Hall, C. C. I. 1990. “Qualified” minorities are encourage to apply: The recruitment of ethnic minority and female psychologists. In Toward diversification in psychology education and training, eds. G. Stricker et al., 105-111. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Touchton, J. 2008. A measure of equity: Women’s progress in higher education. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.