Recruiting for Faculty Diversity
- Position Description
- research and/or teaching discipline includes diversity, e.g. women, ethnicity, age, disability
- regional geographic disciplinary focus, e.g. Southwest Borderlands, Africa
- interdisciplinary research emphasis
- experience with diverse student populations is required or desired
- Qualification Criteria, i.e. the determination of whether applicants meet the advertised qualifications is one of the most important issues in achieving diversity
- criteria determined prior to evaluating applications; criteria uniformly applied
- multiple avenues for demonstrating excellence
- traditional – degree school, stature of references, scholarly activity since degree date, external funding received, awards, publications in specific journals
- other – work experience combined with academic pursuits, disciplinary focus adds value to the department, departmental assessment of quality of work rather than relying on quality assessment based on publication source, acceptance of a variety of research methodologies rather than just one methodology
- evaluate criteria to determine hidden discrimination
- evaluate the quality of journals in terms of acceptance rates, types of research published, and diversity of the editorial boards/reviewers to assess whether journal truly offers equal opportunity
- assess whether sending consistent messages to potential applicants, e.g. if want quantitative research focus advertise this rather than eliminate individuals who aren’t publishing/receiving funding from sources that only focus on quantitative research
- Recruiting Strategies
- cluster hiring or critical mass recruitment – recruit for more than one position with similar focus in the department
- institutional initiatives directed toward diversity in multiple departments, e.g., Southwest Borderlands Initiative
- exchange programs between faculty at different universities
- summer research programs for Ph.D. candidates
- degree completion year at the university
- targeted or focused recruitment
- Recruitment Sources
- discipline specific journals, websites, listservs
- Black Issues in Higher Education
- Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education
- women’s and minority caucuses/committees within national associations
- directories of terminal degree candidates
- Women in Higher Education
- Affirmative Action Register
- universities and colleges that both offer appropriate degrees or offer lower degrees but have diverse faculty
- local diversity organizations, churches, sororities/fraternities
- personal contacts
