Instilling Faculty Recruitment and Retention Tactics in Departmental Practices

Faculty recruitment and retention are central to the long-term success and stability of colleges and universities. The ability to attract highly qualified faculty members, ensure a strong fit between faculty and institutional priorities, and provide ongoing professional development opportunities directly impacts teaching quality, research output, and the overall academic reputation of an institution. Yet the recruitment process is often complex and decentralized, requiring significant time and effort from department leaders who must balance their own academic responsibilities with the need to identify and engage promising candidates.

While central administration can set broad goals and provide resources, the most meaningful decisions about faculty careers often take place at the departmental level. Department chairs, program heads, and faculty leaders play a critical role in shaping the experiences of new hires, guiding their integration into the academic community, and supporting their advancement over time. By focusing on practices within their direct control, department leaders can help institutions not only attract strong candidates but also build a supportive environment where faculty choose to stay and grow.

This study will help academic leaders embed equity and inclusion into recruitment, retention, and promotion practices that they can control at the department level.

Despite decades of centrally-led and externally-funded initiatives designed to increase racial, ethnic, and gender diversity among college and university faculty members, most campuses have made little to no progress. Pressure from students and shifting demographics are driving a new urgency among academic leaders to prioritize both greater numerical representation of underrepresented groups among faculty and a more inclusive environment for faculty, students, and staff. Administrators can no longer simply point to a long-codified written commitment to diversity on campus.

The decisions, processes, and preferences that truly impact diversity and inclusion occur at the departmental level—chairs, program heads, and faculty leaders must identify and remedy sources of bias within traditional recruitment, hiring, onboarding, and promotion practices.