Dive Brief:
- University of Texas Chancellor William H. McRaven has instituted what he’s calling the Rooney rule of higher ed and health care, requiring a person of color and woman to make it to final round interviews.
- Inside Higher Ed reports the rule will apply to positions at the dean level and higher in an attempt to increase diversity in a system in which only 19% of dean, provost, and vice presidential positions are occupied by minorities and 45% are occupied by women.
- Some hailed the decision, but early concern over the new rule focused on the systemic approach to meeting a quota in the interview process, questioning whether the minority or female candidates who make it to the interview round will deserve to be there based on merit.
Dive Insight:
The Rooney rule was named for Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who pushed the idea that minority candidates be interviewed for head coaching positions. Adopting that concept for higher education will expand the number of female and minority candidates who are considered for top positions, probably forcing hiring committees to search beyond their standard networks. The rule will not require any quota in the actual hiring of a diverse staff.
According to institutional data, 46% of the UT student population is black or Latino and 53% is female. At Colby College in Maine, a key element in a new diversity strategy under President David Greene is training staff members to better seek out diversity in hiring decisions.