The Lack of Diversity In Higher Education

Once I was handed my doctoral degree in social work, I could not wait to get into higher education. I was excited to be a part of this elite community because of the barriers that I had overcome to achieve my goal. I am an African American woman who did not receive her doctoral degree until the age of forty. I was raised by a single mother who worked full-time to support myself and siblings. During my elementary years, I was diagnosed with dyslexia and held back in the first grade. Just those odds alone counted me out. It was by the grace of God and the push of my mother that I succeeded to be a part of higher education.

What I found there stunned me. Despite claims from colleges and universities that they seek to improve diversity and inclusion on campuses, my own experiences do not align with the mission statements many colleges have put forth. I teach a majority Caucasian students. I work with a majority of Caucasian faculty. Most of the administrators at my institution are Caucasian. When I walk down the hallways in buildings on campus, the majority of the pictures of previous faculty and administrators are Caucasian. I find myself wondering: where were the African American men and women, where were the Hispanic/Latino(s)-Latina(s), for good sake where were even the Caucasian women?

It is not just the lack of representation of people of color on college campuses, but how out of place I feel in higher education as an African American woman. I find myself conscious of my tone of voice when speaking to others. I am careful of how I use my hands when I lecture. If I, a faculty member, feel that I must be so vigilant of how others perceive me, how do students of color feel?

Current state of Diversity and Inclusion on College Campuses

I am not the first to identify these issues in higher education. Researchers such as Dr. Emerald Templeton and journalists, such as Rose Courteau of the Atlantic, have pointed out that while colleges and universities in the U.S. write mission statements and goals to be more diverse, they take few tangible steps to address racial inequality on campus. Colleges and universities in the U.S. are failing to address issues of diversity and inclusion. If they do not take the necessary steps to adequately address this problem, they will continue to fail students of color.

Racial Diversity Among Student, Faculty, and Administration

While on the surface, colleges and universities are achieving their goals to have a more racially diverse student population, students of color are not benefiting diversity and inclusion strategies equally. Black students, in particular, are being left behind by college’s attempts at racial diversity. A 2019 report from the American Council on Education indicates that the percentage of students of color on college campuses has grown significantly since 1997. In 1996, students of color only represented approximately 30 percent of the student population. In 2016, students of color represented 45 percent of the student population in the United States. Though this trend is promising, there were still some concerning findings in the report. Compared to other high school graduates, Black high school graduates are less likely to enroll in college. The number of Black high school graduates enrolling in college only increased by one percent from 1997 to 2017, compared to an increase of 13 percent among Hispanic high school graduates. There is also a significant gender gap among Black college students. In 2016, 62 percent of enrolled Black college students were women. The report also found that Black college students graduate college with significantly more debt compared to other students. In 2016, the average student loan debt for all college students was $18,510; for Black college graduates, the average student loan debt is $22,303.

Furthermore, the increased racial diversity on college campuses has not extended to faculty and administration. The National Center for Education Statistics found that in the fall of 2018, 75 percent of faculty at degree-granting postsecondary institutions were White. Asian/Pacific Islander was the largest group of minority faculty members; they made up 13 percent of faculty in 2018. Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig and colleagues published research in the Hispanic Journal of Law and Policy noting a dismal increase in faculty who were not White. From 2013 to 2017, the number of Black faculty members in the United States increased by only one-tenth of one percent. A shockingly low increase when one takes into account the number of colleges and universities in the United States who claim to be prioritizing diversity on their campuses.

Barriers to faculty positions for faculty of color begin before potential faculty graduate with their doctorate degrees. In a study of Black women’s experiences in their Ph.D. programs, Dr. Melissa Zeligman and colleagues found that Black women experienced overt racism, lacked mentors who understood their experiences as women of color, and felt additional pressures to prove themselves in their programs. The work it takes to obtain a Ph.D. is difficult, lacking proper support, being evaluated more stringently, and facing racism do not make the process easier. Sadly, the barriers face by people of color do not stop once they enter the job market. In 2016, Dr. Melissa Gasman wrote an article describing the barriers that faculty of color face when applying to work at institutions of higher education. Dr. Gasman has observed hiring committees make excuses as to why they choose not to hire job candidates who are people of color, including hiring committees complaining there are not enough Ph.D. candidate of color to recruit from, but refusing to recruit from institutions that have a higher percentage of students of color, arguing that these institutions are lower quality. Dr. Gasman witnessed hiring committees go out of their way to bend rules when they wish to hire White candidates but refuse to bend any rules for faculty of color. Dr. Gasman concludes that despite claiming to want a more diverse and inclusive campus, institutions of higher education simply do not wish to take the necessary steps to recruit faculty of color.

Lack of diversity among faculty is not the only staffing issue facing colleges and universities. The 2020 Administrators in Higher Education Annual Report found that people of color hold a small percentage of administrative positions in institutions of higher education. Most of the administrative positions held by people of color are lower-level administrative positions. Fourteen percent of presidents, 13 percent of provosts, and 16 percent of deans are people of color. With such little diversity at the highest levels of institutions of higher education, how can one expect campuses to achieve true diversity and inclusion?

Addressing the Achievement Gap

A goal of diversity and inclusion programs at many institutions is to reduce the achievement gap between White and minority students. The racial achievement gap is the observed differences in GPA and graduation rate between White and minority college students. Little progress had been made in reducing the achievement gap, calling into question the success of the diversity and inclusion policies created by colleges and universities.

One of the challenges institutions face in achieving their goals of diversity and inclusion is that students of color experience inequalities in education before entering college. In a 2017 article in the Journal of Research on Higher Education, Dr. Nathan Martin and colleagues examined predictors of the achievement gap between Black and White and Latino and White college students. The researchers found that almost half of the observed achievement gap between minority and White college students was attributed to experiences before entering college. Experiencing poverty, having parents who did not attend college, and receiving a poorer high school education were all associated with lower college GPA. The researchers noted that addressing inequalities in early educational setting would go a long way to addressing the achievement gap among college students. This sentiment is shared by college administrators. Dr. Christine Clark, Founding Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, noted in 2015 that funding inequalities in the Nevada public school system making the transition to college harder for minority students, who predominately live in a county where public schools are underfunded. Dr. Clark noted that universities were not receiving enough funding per student to provide the additional educational recourses students from underfunded public schools need to be successful in college. As colleges do not have the resources to address issues stemming from inequalities in education before entering college, colleges are not able to reduce the racial achievement gap.

According to a 2020 report by The Education Trust, the racial achievement gap is still significant. When just examining average GPA, the achievement gap appears to be closing. The average GPA for White college students was 3.29 and 3.02 for Black college students. Both groups hoover around a B average. Graduation rates are where racial differences become more pronounced. The six-year graduation rate for White students is 70% but drops to 52% for Black and Latino students. This significant difference in graduation rates suggests that there are barriers facing Black and Latino students that needs to be removed for them to be successful. When looking at 12-year federal student loan default rates, there is a 23 percent gap between Black and White students. Five percent of White students default on their federal student loans after 12 years but 28% of Black students default after 12 years. Why is it that students of color are unable to pay back their student loans while their White counter parts do not?

A 2018 report from the Center for American Progress found that students of color were underrepresented in higher paying fields, such as engineering and computer and information sciences. Students of color are overrepresented in lower paying fields, such as public administration and social sciences. Students of color are failed by multiple institutions and these failures to provide equal, high quality education or address inequalities has lasting impacts on the lives of students of color. Colleges and universities must do more to end structural inequalities in education.

Steps to End Structural Inequalities in Higher Education

Empower offices of diversity and inclusion.

Offices of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are often given little power to make significant changes or face barriers to implementing the policies to address inequalities. In her piece mention previously, Dr. Clark noted that a lack of understanding as to what powers DEI held and when made it difficult for the University of Nevada to create policies that addressed racial inequalities. Dr. Tatiana McInnis, a former leader in DEI at an undisclosed university, left her position due to her frustrations that she was powerless to make changes or address specific issues in her position. She wrote about her experience in Inside Higher Ed, stating

Like most diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and programs created within large, well-resourced institutions, these roles are additive rather than transformative. … They don’t and can’t interrogate institutional investments. They don’t and can’t put faculty or staff members on probation for failing to uphold a stated commitment to a welcoming environment for all.

If administrators truly wish for DEIs to meet the promises given in mission statements, then they must give DEI the powers to make necessary changes and support the implementation of those changes.

Change Culture, Not Racial Makeup.

A simple Google search will show you that the focus on conversations regarding diversity and inclusion on college campuses centers around the racial makeup of a campus. Yet, as shown by evidence discussed previously, having a more racially diverse student body has done little to address racial inequalities on college campuses. Why, you may ask, is actively seeking more students of color not enough to reduce the racial achievement gap? The answer is simple. You cannot place students of color in an environment where they will experience racism and expect them to thrive.

In their study examining factors associated with the racial achievement gap, Dr. Martin and colleagues found that 60% of Black students reported experiencing discrimination from faculty or staff. Many reported experiencing a hostile classroom environment and receiving stereotypical treatment from faculty. In her article, Dr. McInnis recounts how a Black student cried in her office because a faculty member continuously called them by another Black student’s name. If college classrooms are a place where students of color experience racism, how could we expect them to leave in those same classrooms?

Seeking to make a student body more diverse without taking proactive steps to address racism student will experience on campus does not make a college or university more diverse and inclusive. Colleges and universities need to stop writing mission or value statements and start implementing actual policies that reduce the experiences of racism students of color experience on campus.

Examples of High-Quality Diversity and Inclusion Practices

We have a long way to go before institutions of higher education truly become diverse and inclusive. However, there are colleges and universities who are implementing programs that are effective in making their campus more inclusive and research is identifying steps that can be taken to reduce the racial achievement gap.

A 2016 report from the U.S. Department of Education suggests that mentoring programs can help reduce the racial achievement gap. The report notes that evaluations of mentoring programs show promising results. Take, for example, the Fitchburg State University TRIO Student Support Services. The program matches first-generation, low-income, and/or students with disabilities with mentors during their first year. The program helps students adjust to college, maintain their GPA, foster self-esteem, and increase class attendance. The TRIO program goes beyond academic success to ensure that students feel like they are an important part of campus.

Even something as small as writing a more direct mission statement may assist in helping students of color to feel more accepted on campus. Dr. Hannah Birnbaum and colleagues found that having a mission statement that directly acknowledges racial inequalities and the need to address them is associated with higher GPA among students of color. Findings small ways to acknowledge the experiences of students of color may increase their trust in administration and their sense of belongness on campus.

Finally, taking more indirect steps, such as improving faculty’s teaching skills may reduce some of the racial bias students of color experience on campus. Dr. Elizabeth Canning and colleagues found that the racial achievement gap, measured by GPA, was smaller when students where taught by STEM faculty with growth mindsets compared to faculty with fixed mindsets. Creating a more diverse and inclusive campus entails addressing all types of systematic inequalities, including teaching style.

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