Dive Brief:
- The majority of students at both the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor campus and the University of Wisconsin-Madison feel positive about their campus climates, according to dual surveys on the schools. However, in both surveys underrepresented minorities and women expressed more negative impressions on school climate.
- On the Wisconsin-Madison campus, 11% of students report they suffered from "hostile, harassing or intimidating behavior," but those percentages were significantly higher among students of color (19%), LGBQ students (21%), students with a disabilities (28%) and students who are trans/non-binary (33%).
- In response to the results, both schools affirm the need to address the campus experience for diverse students. The Wisconsin-Madison survey offers seven recommendations, including increasing the number of students, faculty and staff from underrepresented groups, and "promot[ing] our shared value of diversity and inclusion."
Dive Insight:
The lack of representation of underrepresented groups in faculty and higher ed leadership roles continues to be a challenge the industry has yet to overcome. According to 2015 statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics, 77% of full-time faculty at postsecondary degree-granting institutions were white. In 2016, 30% of college president posts were held by women, while minority presidents made up 12.6% of the college president positions, with a large gap between public and private institutions (22.3% to 10.3%, respectively), according to Inside Higher Ed.
Colleges and universities can begin diversifying their leadership by ensuring there are pathways for staff from underrepresented groups to executive positions. A task force analyzing challenges facing college presidents released earlier this year advised that current presidents select exemplary candidates in college staff to introduce them to the responsibilities of the presidency, with an emphasis on female and minority candidates. Colleges and universities must also diversify their administrative staff and faculty to ensure that there are individuals within the school who can undertake such leadership development pipelines.
With fewer colleges and universities meeting their enrollment targets, it is all the more important for leaders at higher ed institutions to instill an atmosphere of making sure diversity and equity is emphasized, as students from underrepresented groups will continue to make up a larger portion of students leaving high school, particularly in certain regions of the United States. Higher ed institutions can also invest in the types of resources that will attract students with varying needs and challenges. In Texas, for example, Amarillo College completely remade its library center in order to offer services more essential to the student population after an extensive self-assessment of student needs. Colleges and universities could follow Amarillo's lead by conducting their own analyses of the gaps in students' needs, and finding out how to fulfill the needs of increasingly diverse campuses.