A new report from the TIAA Institute finds that African Americans have made only slight progress in increasing their percentage of faculty positions in higher education over the past two decades. And the gains that have been made are mostly in non-tenure-track positions.
In 1993, faculty from underrepresented groups made up 8.6 percent of all faculty in American higher education. By 2013, the percentage had risen to 12.7 percent. Among tenured full-time faculty, members of underrepresented groups were 7.1 percent of all tenured faculty in 1993 and 10.2 percent in 2013. The percentage of part-time adjunct faculty from underrepresented groups increased the most during the 20-year period from 9.2 percent to 14.2 percent.
African Americans were 6.2 percent of all women faculty in 1993 and 8.4 percent in 2013. Among tenured faculty, African Americans were 6.3 percent of all tenured women faculty in 1993 and but only 5.8 percent of all tenured women faculty in 2013.
The full report, Taking the Measure of Faculty Diversity, may be downloaded by clicking here.
