Why the Slow Progress in Increasing Racial Diversity in Faculty Positions?
Traditionally, the academic world has attributed the poor departmental performance in hiring blacks to a perceived “pipeline” problem in the United States. The perception is that there is a small number of black students who pursue graduate studies and stay on to earn a Ph.D. First of all, the perceived trickle of black Ph.D.s is a myth. Over the past 20 years, more than 20,000 African Americans have earned a Ph.D. Yet during this period the percentage of black faculty at American colleges and universities has risen only insignificantly. Another flaw in the pipeline defense is the assumption that there is only one pipeline — the specific United States pipeline that carries newly minted Ph.D.s into tenure-track appointments. The argument ignores the common institutional practice of lateral hiring of faculty from other colleges and universities. In fact, there are at least 20,000 African Americans currently teaching at American colleges and universities in a part-time capacity. Many of t
