In any educational setting, faculty diversity is extremely important in order to relate to all students. There are many reasons why educational institutions want to ensure that they have a diverse staff in place working throughout their institution.
This is especially true in higher education where there is a lack of diversity in hiring and negatively impacting the way students learn. Here is why higher education institutions should be paying attention to diversity, and how to ensure their hiring policies are more diverse.
Current University And College Demographics
When looking at average faculty numbers, there’s evidence to suggest that 75% are white across the board, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. That does not match with the demographics of students that are attending colleges and universities, as the numbers of black and Latino students are growing.
Currently, there is a mismatch between faculty and student numbers when it comes to diversity. This affects the student experience in several ways, and it’s something that you’ll want to address in your own institution.
Why Is Diversity So Important?
So why should you be looking to be more diverse in hiring faculty staff? There are several reasons why it offers benefits to both you and your students. This includes:
- Bringing new ideas to the college: “If you’re only hiring from the same background, then you’re going to hear the same ideas time and time again” according to Andrea Johnson, a professor at Boomessays and State Of Writing. “If you’re actively being more diverse in your hiring policies, you’ll bring more people in who have fresh ideas who can move you forward.”
- Students have mentors who understand them: Having mentors who understand their perspective is so important to your students. If you have faculty from a range of different backgrounds, they’re more likely to find a mentor who understands them and their needs.
- Help with student recruitment: When you’re recruiting students, you want them to see that there are staff from similar backgrounds at your school. When you have a diverse staff, it shows that they could find a good place for themselves at your institution.
- Prevent stereotypes: The more diverse people you have on your faculty, the more you’ll be able to fight against stereotypes and educate about inclusivity.
How To Improve Diversity In Your Hiring
So, how do you go about improving the diversity of your faculty? You’ll need to make some changes to your hiring process, but you’ll see the changes aren’t too difficult to do. Here are some ways you can start making those changes:
- Improve your job description wording: When creating a job description, the way you write it can unintentionally exclude those from a diverse background. As such, look to create more broad descriptions that will encompass more people who could fit the role.
- Examine the equity in your compensation: Even in this day and age, women are still seeing that they make less than men in the same roles. “It’s vital that you are offering the same compensation, no matter the gender of the applicant” said Dean Rowes, an educational blogger from Paper Fellows and PhD Writing Service. “As such, you’ll want to have a policy in place when hiring, and be open about compensation from the outset.”
- Offer anti discrimination training: Your hiring team will need to be open to hiring those from diverse backgrounds, and so you’ll need to provide the right training for them. Offering implicit bias and anti discrimination training will go a long way towards helping them do that.
Supporting Your Diverse Faculty
Once you have started making your faculty more diverse, you’ll want to ensure that you’re supporting them. There are lots of ways that you can do this, such as developing peer support programs, offering family friendly policies such as family leave and on-site day care, or offering adequate administrative support. This helps your faculty do their job to the best of their ability, and ensures that you keep them on board.
Jenny Han is a writer for Research paper writing service and Do my coursework, where she covers higher education. She is a blogger for Ox Essays.