Staffing Trends In Public Colleges And Universities

Author : Jenny Soojean Kwon
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781369665291
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (652 download)

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Download or read book Assessing Staff Diversity at Public Universities written by Jenny Soojean Kwon and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The student bodies of colleges and universities, particularly those in large metropolitan areas, have been diversifying steadily, and that has prompted attention to ensure that faculties and staff are similarly diverse. Especially important groups of staff to consider are student affairs professionals as well as those in the most visible leadership and senior management positions. This study focuses on the non-academic staff at a sample of large public universities in racially diverse metropolitan areas who manage and facilitate all the extracurricular and administrative activities of university life, including admissions, registration, academic advising, student government and clubs, healthcare, residential life, financial aid advising, senior leadership, etc. This study compares the human resources data of staff with student enrollment at a sample of large, racially diverse public universities drawn from across the nation. Data on management level staff and student affairs professionals are also analyzed. In addition, the study analyzes more granular data at UC Berkeley. It reveals the total staff of color representation percentages at UC Berkeley when divided up by various job classification levels, from front line service and support positions to senior managerial and administrative positions. Those numbers are then compared over a six-year period to assess for any changes in representation over time by the major job classification levels. This is important because aggregate staff demographics may mask differences in the staff mix across the hierarchy of positions. This study reveals particular differences in trends in the representation of staff of color over time, particularly the areas in which they are underrepresented in comparison to the student body, local workforce, or in certain job classifications. Results show that staff of color are overrepresented at the lowest job classifications and increasingly underrepresented in progressively higher job classifications. Data on the ten public universities reviewed reveals underrepresentation of staff of color in comparison to students of color. Additional attention is given to the representation of student affairs professionals in comparison to student enrollment and local college educated populations by race. Without additional attention to university staff of color representation data, universities run the risk of losing out on valuable opportunities for a more diverse and creative workforce that can serve an increasingly more racially and ethnically diverse student body. Analysis of the staff of color representation proportions offered in this study draws attention to staff of color representation data and tangible evidence of areas of inequity that can serve as a catalyst towards addressing found inequities. It encourages the support for staff of color leadership development programs on diverse university campuses. This study also serves as a foundation for further qualitative research that can better understand the reasons, motivations, and sources of the numbers and encourage much needed attention on the non-academic staff at our diverse public universities.