Friday, May 31, 2013

Stanford University Releases First of Two Faculty Diversity Studies - Higher Education

Stanford University Releases First of Two Faculty Diversity Studies - Higher Education: From 2008 to 2013, Stanford University saw the share of underrepresented minorities in the school’s faculty cohort increase by 43 percent while the entire cohort jumped 9 percent. Underrepresented minorities (URM), which include African-Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans, make up 7.3 percent of the university’s faculty, according to the university.

In an effort to ensure that Stanford retains those URM faculty members while continuing to make new hires, university officials are considering recommendations from a just-released report that aim to improve the campus climate such that URM faculty members feel more appreciated and valued at Stanford.

The recommendations, contained in “Quality of Life Survey Follow-Up Study of Underrepresented Minority Faculty at Stanford University: Report #1 – Recognition and Collegiality,” are presented “as a series of goals and suggested actions to be undertaken by the university, schools, departments and/or the faculty at large.” On Wednesday, the university released the report by the Panel on Faculty Equity and Quality of Life and convened a town hall meeting at which the report was discussed.