Doing the Right Thing: How Colleges and Universities Can Undo Systemic Racism in Faculty Hiring

by Marybeth Gasman

Overview

An honest confrontation of systemic racism in faculty hiring—and what to do about it

While colleges and universities have been lauded for increasing student diversity, these same institutions have failed to achieve any comparable diversity among their faculty. In 2017, of the nation’s full-time, tenure-track and tenured faculty, only 3 percent each were Black men, Black women, Hispanic men, and Hispanic women. Only 6 percent were Asian/Pacific Islander men, 5 percent were Asian/Pacific Islander women, and 1 percent were American Indian/Alaska Native. Why are the numbers so abysmal? In Doing the Right Thing, Marybeth Gasman takes a hard, insightful look at the issues surrounding the recruitment and hiring of faculty of color. Relying on national data and interviews with provosts, deans, and department chairs from sixty major universities, Gasman documents the institutional forces stymieing faculty diversification, and she makes the case for how such deficiencies can and should be rectified.

Even as institutions publicly champion inclusive excellence and the number of doctoral students of color increases, Gasman reveals the entrenched constraints contributing to the faculty status quo. Impediments to progress include the alleged trade-off between quality and diversity, the power of pedigree, the rigidity of academic pipelines, failures of administrative leadership, lack of accountability among administration and faculty, and the opacity and arbitrariness of the recruitment and hiring process. Gasman contends that leaders must acknowledge institutional failures of inclusion, pervasive systemic racism, and biases that restrict people of color from pursuing faculty careers.

Recognizing that individuals from all backgrounds are essential to the creation and teaching of knowledge, Doing the Right Thing puts forth a concrete call for colleges and universities to take action and do better.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691229454
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	08/20/2024
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Marybeth Gasman is the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education and a Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University. Her books include Making Black Scientists and Educating a Diverse Nation. She lives in Philadelphia. Twitter @marybethgasman Instagram @marybethgasman

Table of Contents

List of Tables xi

Preface xiii

1 Let's Lay the Cards on the Table 1

2 What Does Faculty Diversity Look Like? 15

3 "We Care about Diversity, but What about Quality?" 59

4 What about the Pipeline? 93

5 Where Are the Leaders? 132

6 Do Search Committees Know What They Are Doing? 150

7 Should We Require a Diversity Statement? 185

8 Exceptions? No! Excuses? Yes! 194

9 Dismantling and Reforming the System: A Call to Action 210

Appendix A Approach to the Study 231

Appendix B A Deeper Look at Law Schools 235

Acknowledgments 241

References 245

Supplementary Bibliography 257

Index 265

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This important book addresses one of the most critical issues in faculty hiring at colleges and universities: systemic racism. Even while institutions increasingly talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion, they often overlook the processes where implicit and overt bias, marginalizing practices, and outdated understandings of academic work derail efforts to bring on those who offer new perspectives, research agendas, and instructional expertise. Gasman provides compelling arguments to counter existing hiring myths and uncovers a host of compelling perspectives.”—Marilyn J. Amey, Michigan State University

“Doing the Right Thing is incredibly relevant to this moment, as more colleges and universities are being challenged to reflect on the hard questions about the realities of faculty diversity at their institutions. Gasman demonstrates that credible and intentional practices are absolutely necessary for diversifying the professorial ranks. Without such a commitment, all the rhetoric of inclusive excellence becomes meaningless, and may in fact reproduce structures of power and exclusion.”—Mari Castañeda, University of Massachusetts Amherst

“For decades, American universities have discussed the need for diversity, transparency, and excellence in faculty hiring. So why do some of the best universities continue to miss the mark, if not altogether fail, to meet these expectations? Examining some of America’s most elite institutions, Doing the Right Thing provides insight about how institutional bias and hiring procedures influence discriminatory practices within faculty hiring.”—DaMaris B. Hill, University of Kentucky

“Doing the Right Thing could not be a more timely book. Looking at how progress toward diversifying faculty at colleges and universities has been on pause for many years, Gasman explains why ‘limited supply’ is not a credible reason for the underrepresentation of faculty of color, and she uncovers the exclusionary practices, closed networks, and lack of sincere interest that impede hiring and retention. This is a must-read for higher education leaders and public policymakers.”—Michael T. Nettles, senior vice president of Educational Testing Service

“Doing the Right Thing delivers an accessible, necessary toolkit for advancing racial diversity and equity among higher education faculty. Guiding readers beyond the myth that to pursue diversity is to surrender quality, Gasman provides a blueprint that institutions can follow for equitable, habitable, and thriving academic communities. Simply put, this book is a vital resource that deans, provosts, presidents, and search committees need in an era of racial reckoning."—Richard J. Reddick, University of Texas at Austin

“In Doing the Right Thing, Gasman offers a cogent analysis of how, despite the increase in supportive rhetoric and recent adoption of anti-racism statements, real changes in diversifying faculty have not yet become a strategic imperative for some of the most elite institutions in higher education. Through interviews, national data, and case examples, she powerfully demonstrates the deeply embedded barriers to change and what will be required to interrupt the status quo.”—Daryl G. Smith, Claremont Graduate University

Editorial Reviews

Winner of the PROSE Award in Education Theory and Practice, Association of American Publishers

From the Publisher