Academic Challenges: Diversity

From the student level to tenured faculty, academia poses a vast set of challenges. Every two weeks, Al-Diwan brings you a collection of articles and perspectives that touch upon one problem within academia. This week's focus is on diversity.

Yale Gives Update on $50M Faculty Diversity Initiative
By Colleen Flaherty (Inside Higher Ed) 

Yale University looks back on how the recently developed fund for diversity has impacted hiring, funding opportunities for graduate programs, and graduate student recruitment. 2017 is the third year for this fund, which now reaches all the schools across Yale’s campus.
 

How the Academic Elite Reproduces Itself
By Andrew Piper and Chad Wellmon (The Chronicle of Higher Education) 

Through the lens of publishing practices, Andrew Piper and Chad Wellmon trace a brief history of the university system. They continue on to describe the parallel trends that exist between which academics get published and which ones get hired into tenure-track positions.
 

Admissions has changed. Will colleges change too?
By Brian C. Mitchell (Academe Blog) 

Brian C. Mitchell summarizes Scott Jaschik’s earlier analysis of the 2017 Survey of Admission Directors. Numbers regarding concern over the diversity of entering classes continues to rise; however, the concern has not necessarily translated into schools meeting their enrollment targets. Additionally, questions are raised as to how to go about developing a protocol to change admission demographics.
 

The Problem with How Higher Education Treats Diversity
By Rose Courteau (The Atlantic) 

As students craft their narratives in a way to appeal to admission officers, Rose Courteau debates the greater implications of how the admission process has framed diversity for incoming and prospective students. Different institutions frame the question differently, but the gist remains the same: how can you as a student fulfill our need for diversity.
 

Diversity in Higher Education: The Issues Most People Don’t Think About
By Matthew Lynch (The Edvocate)

Diversity needs to be addressed at all levels of university hierarchies, from students to faculty to administrators. Matthew Lynch looks at how colleges have been able to increase diversity levels in certain areas while also falling short in others.

Diversity for All: The Importance of Racial and Socioeconomic Diversity in Higher Education
By Kristin Tsuo (The Century Foundation) 

During the Fischer vs. University of Texas case, fears around campus diversity were renewed. While the case was concluded in June of 2016, Kristin Tsuo’s points about the impact and need for diversity in higher education remain relevant today as discussions around diversity have not ended.

Professors Talk Diversity in Higher Education
By Jennifer T. Soong (The Harvard Crimson) 

Nearly seven years ago, four faculty members at Harvard University participated in a panel on diversity. Though time has passed, the comments made by the professors – ranging from mentorship needs, feelings of isolation, and the importance of a strong network – are still common refrains in today’s conversations on diversity.
 

Where are the Minority Professors?
By Ben Myers (The Chronicle of Higher Education) 

This interactive data set allows users to see the racial demographics of over 400,000 faculty members from 1,500 higher education institutions. The data can be filtered by rank, gender, and tenure-track.

Diversity crisis in higher education: universities must make change a priority
By Geoff Thompson (Times Higher Education) 

Geoff Thompson looks at the diversity in the administrative ranks of UK universities and the impact the lack of diversity has had on student recruitment. He posits that the same discussions on diversity and plans to increase diversity at the student level need to be applied at the faculty and administrative level as well.