The Underrepresentation of Minority Faculty in Higher Education: Panel Discussion

[Excerpt] The 3 July 2002 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education described the matter we are discussing today in these words: Taken together. African-Americans and persons of Hispanic origin represent only 8 percent of full-time faculty nation-wide, and while 5 percent are African-American, half of them work at historically black institutions. The proportion of black faculty members at white institutions is 2.3 percent, virtually the same as it was 20 years ago. We are privileged to have the opportunity to explore this issue from two different perspectives. The first contends that unless major changes occur, the number of minority students interested in and prepared for faculty positions will remain dreadfully insufficient and that, furthermore, affirmative action has been a culprit in this process and leads many of these students into higher educational environments in which they do not perform well enough to even seriously consider or be considered for careers in academe. The other position says that, although the supply of minority faculty candidates is admittedly small, the relatively low level of commitment from higher educational institutions to recruit, hire, and promote minority candidates and the salary disparity between academe and industry lead to a problem of demand that must be appreciated and addressed. Furthermore, it argues, affirmative action has been beneficial in increasing minority faculty presence

The University as a Pluralistic System: The Case of Minority Faculty Recruitment and Retention

Recently there has been considerable emphasis placed in higher education on the recruitment and retention of minority faculty. There is an expanding literature indicating the problems relating to the inadequate pool of such faculty and strategies and approaches related to effective recruitment and retention.[1] It is apparent that there is considerable interest in this area. Given the predicted demographic patterns and characteristics in the population during the remainder of this century, it is understandable that colleges and universities are pursuing a more diverse faculty. The recruitment and retention of minority faculty, however, is only one component -- though a critically important one -- of the total university environment. The extent of effectiveness in this area will depend upon the totality of the other components in which it is embedded and that characterize the university as a whole

Minority Student Growth and Development in a Rural 4-Year College

At a Mid-Atlantic, 4-year, rural, higher education institution, the minority student population, 25%, is growing compared to the 9% of minority faculty representation. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of minority faculty and students regarding student learning associated with minority students’ relationships to minority faculty. Critical race theory was used as part of the conceptual framework which provides a narrative on the perspectives of race and dispels myths, racial beliefs, and misrepresentations of the truth. Social learning theory was also used as part of the conceptual framework because it explains how social influences impact the beliefs and actions of individuals in society. A basic qualitative study was the research design and semistructured interviews were used to collect data from 5 minority faculty and 8 minority students. The research questions focused on how the participants perceive the effect of having minority faculty at the local study site. Criteria for participant selection included being at the study site for 1 year or more, being from diverse ethnic backgrounds, and being adults. Each transcribed interview was reviewed, then coded into the following categories and themes: experiences with minority faculty, no experiences with minority faculty, relationships with minority faculty, and diverse faculty provide advantages. The data noted that 92% of the minority participants thought there were advantages to having minority faculty compared to 8% who did not. A recommendation paper was the result of the research study. Based on the findings, positive social changes may occur that affect minority students and faculty by improving minority student learning, increasing minority student enrollment, and possibly an increasing minority faculty at higher education institutions

Building Health Equity One Institution at a Time: The Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions Project

Developing a well-trained workforce interested in, and prepared for, conducting health equity research is an important national priority. Scientists from Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) bring unique perspectives and experiences with racial, ethnic and social inequities in health and health status but often lack access to training and mentoring opportunities, which is crucial for increasing the diverse pool of investigators who are adequately prepared to conduct health disparities research and to compete for National Institutes of Health research funding. The focus of the California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions (RIMI) Project was to: (a) enhance CSULB’s infrastructure and research capacity, (b) conduct applied community health research on health conditions disproportionately affecting disadvantaged populations, and (c) support faculty to embark on careers in reducing health disparities. Faculty received training, mentorship, and release time support to participate in research-related activities. Select faculty also received funding to conduct a two-year health disparities research project. Within a relatively short period of time, the RIMI Project made important strides toward strengthening the research infrastructure at CSULB by enhancing faculty capacity, improving research utilization to address health disparities, and strengthening campus and community collaborations. MSIs are encouraged to apply for opportunities to build their institution’s research capacity. The lessons learned from this project may be used as a guide for other teaching institutions that have the goal to develop minority faculty researchers

The Role of Mentoring in the Development of Minority Faculty in the Texas State Higher Education System

Research Focus. The purpose of this study was to explore the role that mentoring played in the professional development of minority faculty in the Texas State higher education system. Research Methods. A phenomenological qualitative research design was employed for this study. Data was collected using open ended in-depth interviews with eight minority faculty purposefully selected from across the Texas State institutions of higher learning. Research Results/Findings. Minority faculty in the Texas State higher education system often experienced cultural taxation, marginalization, discrimination, isolation, and lack of mentoring. The study indicated that mentorship boots minority faculty support, retention, promotion, empowerment, trust, accountability, and increases self-esteem. This study revealed that mentoring played crucial roles in the form of helping early minority faculty negotiate barriers, manage time, and commitments, learn and understand the written and unwritten rules of their institutions. The study also found that most minority faculty spent most of their time preparing lecture notes and not enough time for scholarship. Conclusions from Research. There had not been any study on the role of mentoring in the development of minority faculty in the Texas State higher education system. To address this void in scholarly literature, I explored minority faculty experience to understand the role mentoring played in their professional development. My study employed phenomenological methodology to develop descriptive themes. Eight minority faculty who identified as having been mentored were purposefully selected and interviewed to understand the phenomenon. My face-to-face in-depth interviews with the eight participants produced rich data. Finding from my study revealed three themes pertaining to how minority faculty experience and understand mentorship in their individual college and university campuses: role mentoring played, challenges encountered, and advice for prospective and existing minority educators. Participants who have experienced and understood mentorship expressed that minority faculty need mentorship in other to move on to a more professional level in their career. They suggested that mentoring programs be provided to boost minority faculty training, support, retention, promotion, empowerment in all Texas State higher educational institutions

Representation and Equity Gaps in Higher Education: Conceptualizing Minority Representation in Graduate Programs at an MSI

Racially minority students and faculty are disproportionately underrepresented nationally, particularly at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), which are meant to serve minority populations (Hurtado et al., 2008). As the number of minority students grows, the gap for representation grows wider, which has added to the high departure of minority students. Additionally, the lack of faculty representation has minority faculty experiencing racial fatigue and tokenism. This qualitative research used the counter-storytelling tenet of Critical Race Theory as a theoretical framework to explore how students and faculty conceptualize representation in their graduate program at an MSI. By employing co-constructed interviewing in the data collection, the researcher created an intimate, relational, and flexible method of in-depth conversations that focused on telling and listening; the respondents in this study gave their experiences with representation in their current graduate program and built ideal models of representation. Through intimate interaction, follow-up questioning, and shared experiences, faculty and students expressed how perceived behaviors, policies, and procedures were determinants that contribute to the minority population disparities within the institution. The conclusions suggested that institutional leaders embrace and encourage differences by implementing strategies to recruit and retain more minority faculty and intentionally support inclusive policies at MSIs to increase student and faculty belonging and the value of diversity through equitable populations

Development and Psychometric Testing of the EFURMS Scale: An Instrument to Measure Faculty Engagement with Underrepresented Minority Nursing Students: A Dissertation

Background: The Institute of Medicine and numerous other healthcare organizations have identified the severe shortage of underrepresented minority healthcare professionals graduating into the workforce, and have called for a radical transformation of healthcare educational programs to make them more welcoming and supportive of underrepresented minority students. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to develop a reliable and valid measure of faculty response patterns to the needs of underrepresented minority nursing students. Theory: Yoder’s patterns of faculty interaction formed the conceptual basis for the development of this instrument. Methods: A mixed-method approach was used to develop this instrument. The first phase (item development phase) consisted of work with underrepresented minority nurse and faculty focus groups, individual interviews, and content experts to develop items. During the second phase of this study, psychometric evaluation of 134 survey responses from nursing faculty in the Northeast was conducted. Results: A 10-item scale was developed that measured faculty engagement with underrepresented minority nursing students. The Cronbach alpha for the EFURMS scale was .81. Principle component factor analysis with varimax rotation revealed a 3 factor solution that explained 66% of the variance in engagement with underrepresented minority students. The Cronbach alpha for the 3 factors ranged from .72-.78. The EFURM scale did not demonstrate ceiling or floor effects, or social desirability bias. More positive scores (higher EFURMS Scores) were associated with older faculty who had been teaching longer and had more experience teaching underrepresented minority students. Conclusion and Implications: The results of this study provide preliminary evidence for the reliability (internal consistency) and validity (content, criterion-related, and construct validity) of the 10-item EFURMS Scale. Further testing is needed to test the usefulness of this scale with wider samples of nursing faculty. With further development, the EFURMS Scale could be used to evaluate faculty readiness to engage with underrepresented minority students, and with studies to test the efficacy of interventions designed to improve faculty engagement with underrepresented minority students. A major finding of this study was the significance of age, years teaching, and experience teaching underrepresented minority students with EFURMS Scores suggesting that younger or less experienced faculty could benefit from mentoring by more seasoned faculty who have greater experience teaching underrepresented minority students

Faculty Initiatives

New URM faculty welcome meeting SKMC is committed to the career development of all faculty at Jefferson but recognize that those from a racial or ethnic group that is underrepresented in medicine, a woman in a specialty in which women are underrepresented and/or those who self-identify as lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, or questioning sexual identity may have unique concerns such as reducing isolation or finding a mentor with a similar background. Dr. Karen Novielli, Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professional Development, along with Dr. Bernie Lopez, Associate Dean for Diversity and Community Engagement, meet individually with new faculty from these groups. Support for Minority and Women Faculty Development The SKMC Office of Faculty Affairs and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives provide financial support for faculty underrepresented in medicine (including underrepresented minorities, LGBT and women in certain medical specialties) to attend faculty development conferences

Examining the academic experiences of minorities preparing for the professoriate

The critical need to understand the socialization experiences of prospective minority faculty is apparent today. If higher education can understand more about the experiences of new minority faculty members, perhaps the academy will be able to develop continued supportive strategies that enhance their development into the academic profession. The purpose of this study was to examine the academic experiences of the minority participants in the Preparing Future Faculty program (PFF). As a consequence of participating in the PFF program, the minority participants regarded that they felt ready for a faculty position, regarded that mentoring was effective, indicated that awareness of faculty roles and responsibilities were crucial, identified that cultural dissonance, inclusiveness, and an appreciation of a diverse faculty as issues of concern, and described the concept of duality in the socialization process as it pertains to the professoriate. Based on the data gleaned from this study, networking, mentoring, and research support stand out as major strategies for addressing the problems faced by prospective minority faculty. The respondents in the study suggested themes common to those of the literature, emphasizing an improvement in professional development opportunities for prospective minority faculty. Establishing awareness to the professional culture, understanding roles and responsibilities, and defining a relationship with senior faculty are efforts to improve recruitment, retention, and advancement for prospective faculty of color. From this study, the researcher has derived that faculty development initiatives should provide more emphasis on teaching, render service to departments and develop continued respect for the academic profession (e.g., teaching, research, and service)

The Disparity of Racial Diversity in Counselor Education and Supervision

In general, doctoral programs in counselor education and supervision (CES) have low minority enrollments. Faculty members in clinical mental health counseling (CMHC) master\u27s degree in science (MS) programs primarily come from CES doctoral programs; therefore, faculty members do not generally reflect the diversity of the MS student population. Using the theory of planned behavior and the bioecological model, the purpose of this research was to determine the extent to which age, gender, faculty support, income, level of parents\u27 or primary caregivers\u27 education, and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accreditation status predict White and racial minority MS students\u27 decisions to pursue CES doctoral studies and to see if there were differences between the factors for White and minority students. A demographic questionnaire and the Perceived Faculty Support Scale were used to measure the variables through multiple regression, Spearman rho, t tests, chi square, and the Mann Whitney U analyses. No variables were significantly predictive for either student groups. Because there were no significant differences between White and minority MS students choosing CES programs, an approach to increase the number of minority faculty members in CMCHC MS programs as a way of promoting positive social change might be for program administrators and faculty to recruit more minority students into MS programs in order to expand the pool of potential CES students. An additional recommendation is for current CES faculty to encourage more minority students who do choose CES doctoral programs to pursue faculty positions after graduation