Efforts to diversify university faculties began almost forty years ago. Since then, the number of white women faculty and faculty of color on U.S. campuses has grown slowly but steadily. At the same time, the explanatory framework for this shift--what they call the "terms of inclusion"--has changed profoundly. "Diversity" and "excellence" were…

Do liberal arts colleges act like research universities when they seek to appoint new faculty members? Evidence shows that research universities bid aggressively for talent, using discretionary salary policies to achieve a diverse professoriate, appoint research stars, and fill vacancies in fields where market forces require differential salaries.…

This article discusses the curious mix of good and bad news the American higher education community found in the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last summer, in "Parents Involved v. Seattle School District" and "Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education," about the use of race-based policies by public elementary and secondary…

Explores why numerical equality--or parity among the proportion of whites, blacks, and Hispanics with 4 or more years of college--has not been achieved. Proposes a reexamination and redefinition of the issues in order to set acceptable standards for measuring success, and discusses the terms of engagement that will move each institution toward the…

Argues that preferential treatment of women and minorities in the selection of college faculty elevates a form of corruption to standard administrative practice by including people in academic life on the basis of characteristics irrelevant to teaching and research; and previous unjust treatment is inadequate justification for preferential…

Universities as social institutions are shaped and influenced by people who are socialized to repress genuine feelings, to deny prejudices, yet who reflect in their relationships all the imperfections of a society resistant to change. One area in which respect for cultural heterogeneity is urgently needed is evaluation of scholarship. (MLW)

Suggests that tenure, rather than discriminating against minorities and women, benefits these groups by protecting their academic freedom in the classroom and by encouraging depth in scholarship, and also by adding to a democratic balance of power between faculty and administrators. Urges a more open tenure review process to eliminate elements of…

Latinos make up 12.5 percent of the U.S. population. They are now the largest (and fastest-growing) racial or ethnic minority group in the United States, surpassing blacks, who make up 12.3 percent of the population. In higher education, however, Latino groups are underrepresented. According to the 2002 "Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac",…

Three dimensions of the financial aid delivery system that disproportionately discourage minority students from seeking or achieving admission to colleges and universities are discussed: information inequities, negative consequences of system complexity, and institutional aid practices. (MLW)

The promise of equality in American higher education has gone unfulfilled for too long. The American Council on Education and the Education Commission of the States' report on the status of minorities in higher education, entitled "One-Third of a Nation," is a reminder of the urgency of providing equity. (MSE)

Diversity in academe is a priority, yet it seems increasingly difficult to achieve. The mentoring process can be an effective strategy for remedying this problem. Mentoring is a process that can increase the retention of minority students, with larger numbers graduated, and hired for faculty positions. (MLW)

An academic hierarchy, consisting of schools with various levels of ranking and prestige, represents a complex mechanism influencing the type of higher education available to various groups in American Society. As such, the academic hierarchy maintains long-standing manifestations of educational inequality. (MLW)

American educators persist in thinking of the typical American college student as being under age 22, although statistics do not support this. There are steady increases in the enrollment of nontraditional students, especially women, which will affect curriculum design. (MLW)

Recommended procedures for increasing the number of minority persons and women on college and university faculties are presented. Affirmative action plans are seen as essential to ensure that equal opportunity is realized and to remove vestiges of past discrimination. Suggestions for affirmative action plans are provided. (MLW)

A program at a small liberal arts college to reach a larger number of minority students is described. A climate of high academic expectations was created. By awakening the strengths that students brought with them to the university, these positive qualities motivated them to work on their deficits. (MLW)