Breakthrough Advances in Faculty Diversity

Helps administrators identify and implement the most effective strategies for increasing faculty diversity on their campuses.

Read this study to target limited resources to the initiatives most likely to increase the diversity of the institution’s faculty.

Executive Summary

As progress on faculty diversity remains disappointing, university administrators face a sea of recommendations spanning every section of the pipeline—from faculty retention and hiring to the stages leading up to PhD attainment.

Few institutions, however, have the resources to implement every suggestion, leaving provosts, deans, and chairs wondering where they should focus their efforts to achieve the greatest impact on the diversity of the institution’s faculty.

The Council’s best practice report Breakthrough Advances in Faculty Diversity helps administrators identify and implement the most effective strategies for increasing faculty diversity on their campuses.

More on this topic

This resource is part of the Increase Faculty Diversity and Inclusivity on Campus Roadmap. Access the Roadmap for stepwise guidance with additional tools and research.

Based on extensive analysis of data on the faculty pipeline, examination of approaches and results at hundreds of universities, and over 150 hour-long interviews with provosts, deans, chief diversity officers, department chairs, and faculty, the report profiles replicable strategies from institutions that have achieved faculty diversity rates far greater than those of their peers, often after starting with rates well below average.

Set course and compass

Across the last two decades, efforts to increase faculty diversity have intensified, with a growing number of institutions launching initiatives to recruit and retain underrepresented faculty and increase the diversity of doctoral recipients. Despite these efforts, faculty diversification continues to proceed slowly.

Currently, the percentage of underrepresented minorities (URMs) among…