Faculty Survey Indicates Overall Satisfaction, Room for Improvement - in African American faculty hiring - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Black Issues in Higher Education, Nov 23, 2000 by Cheryl D. Fields

Black faculty showing decline in representation

If you feel like faculty diversity is a low priority at your institution, that your faculty peers lack a commitment to community service or that it is becoming increasingly difficult to strike a balance between your personal and professional responsibilities, you're not alone.

The most recent edition of the Higher Education Research Institute's faculty survey reveals that while most faculty are experiencing greater job satisfaction, all is not sweetness and light.

The survey shows that African American faculty members not only have experienced an overall loss in representation among the nation's faculty pool in the past decade, they also have shown a decline in representation among new faculty hires. Essentially, as senior Black faculty retire, too few Black junior faculty are being hired to replace them. In fact, Black faculty are the only ones among the major identified racial categories showing a decline in representation.

The HERI report is based on survey data collected in 1998-99 from a national sample of 33,785 faculty members at 378 colleges, universities and community colleges. Data have been weighted to approximate the results that would have been obtained if all college faculty in all accredited institutions across the country had responded.

Following are some of the survey highlights:

* Despite an increasingly diverse student population, faculty at American colleges and universities remain predominantly White. The consistently low minority representation among recent faculty hires suggests that institutions are not making significant progress toward diversifying the professoriate.

* Two-thirds of faculty feel that keeping up with information technology is a significant source of stress, a finding that is likely linked to the high level of computer use reported among faculty. The vast majority of respondents regularly use the computer for correspondence, and more than half use computers on a regular basis to conduct scholarly writing and to work from home.

* Regardless of tenure status, faculty of all ranks have become increasingly supportive of tenure in recent years. Not surprisingly, the strongest advocates for the tenure system are the most highly ranked tenured faculty.

* While a growing number of faculty perceive their institutions as being committed to community service and social activism, such gains are not evident with respect to the faculty's own goals and commitments.

* During the past decade, faculty have developed more favorable attitudes toward their jobs, their colleagues and their institutions. However, improvements in the academic climate have been accompanied by increasing pressures faced by faculty in their personal lives, such as managing household responsibilities, caring for elderly parents and faculty members' own physical health.

* Despite gains made by women in terms of position, salary and scholarly productivity, gender disparities persist in each of these areas. Additionally, women's perceptions of the academic climate remains less favorable than men's perceptions, particularly with respect to their experiences with discrimination, the review and promotion process and job security. Women also continue to face significant demands on their personal time, most notably due to household and child care responsibilities.

For a complete copy of the survey results, visit the HERI Institute's Web site <www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/heri.html>.

Racial Ethnic Background of All Faculty and Recent Hires (Percent)

                                               Faculty Hired in the
Race/Ethnicity                 All Faculty        past Two Years
                              1989     1998        1989    1998

White/Caucasian               90.4     91.7       87.2     87.9
African American/Black         4.0      2.6        5.0      3.7
American Indian                0.9      2.0        1.0      2.1
Asian American/Asian           3.2      3.3        3.6      4.0
Mexican American/Chicano       0.8      1.0        8.0      1.3
Puerto Rican American          0.4      0.4        0.8      0.5
Other Latino                   N/A      1.3        N/A      1.3
Other                          2.1      2.0        3.3      2.2

SOURCE: HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE