Study Finds Lack of Women Tenured Faculty at Doctoral Level Institutions

According to a new study led by an incoming dean at the University of Kentucky, colleges and universities in the United States lack the diversity needed among faculty to deliver a well-rounded education.

“While reports have shown modest gains in faculty diversity through the years, most have been in untenured positions,” said Julian Vasquez Heilig, incoming dean of the University of Kentucky College of Education. “We wanted to take a closer look at the data and provide a more thorough description of faculty diversity. Across the board, we found the composition of faculty across the country is not keeping pace with the diversity of the U.S. population.”

For the study, the research team examined gender and ethnoracial faculty data from the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. The analysis broke institutions down by the highest level of degree granted and filtered the faculty data by tenure status. The results found that only 32.6 percent of tenured faculty at doctoral level institutions are women. On the plus side, the overall number of women in faculty positions is nearing that of men.

In addition to this numerical data, the research team also included an analysis of research focused on the benefits of faculty diversity in their study. “We found nearly all research indicates diversity is associated with positive student outcomes,” Vasquez Heilig said. “While higher education has advanced programming and discourse around race, ethnicity, and gender, we must remove hidden barriers and take note of those who remain at the borders of academia. Our students are entering a professional world that is increasingly interconnected and diverse, and it is important they prepare for their futures in a similar environment. Our academic leaders and scholarly communities need to make more progress in diversifying our nation’s faculty.”

The full study, “Considering the Ethnoracial and Gender Diversity of Faculty in the United States College and University Intellectual Communities,” was published in the Hispanic Journal of Law and Policy. It may be accessed here.