Faculty Diversity

Kyle Scafide, University of New Orleans
Barbara Johnson, University of New Orleans

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Abstract

This article presents a broad view of issues related to faculty diversity. Headings include Demographics, The Growth of Faculty Diversity as an Ideal, and Barriers in the Academic Workplace. Race, ethnicity, and gender are the most common characteristics that institutions observe in order to measure faculty diversity. An even broader approach to faculty diversity involves age, socioeconomic background, national origin, sexual orientation, and diverse learning styles and opinions. Until the latter part of the twentieth century, the professoriate in the western world was composed almost exclusively of privileged, heterosexual males of Caucasian descent. Higher education institutions are generally concerned with structural diversity and improving the campus climate for diversity, including the faculty. Gains have occurred but have been mitigated by the disproportionate representation of women and/or minorities at two-year institutions in non-tenured and part-time positions.