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Road Map for Change: Report on Institutional Diversity and Equity at Tulane
University
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
In consultation with
the University Senate Committee on Equal Opportunity (formerly the Affirmative
Action Committee), President Scott Cowen convened a Special Task Force
on Diversity at Tulane University in August 2001. The Task Force was proposed
by the senate committee to further the stated goal for diversity in the
University’s Ten Year Plan:
“We must cultivate
an environment of diversity, openness and inclusiveness to attract excellent
people to Tulane and to prepare our students for life in our increasingly
multicultural society.” 1
President Cowen appointed
Wendy Brown Scott, professor of law, and Mary Bitner Anderson, professor
of structural and cellular biology, as co-chairs of the Task Force on
Diversity. The Task Force was charged with conducting an empirical study
of gender and racial diversity among the staff and faculty and conducting
a survey addressing the climate for and perceptions of inclusiveness and
diversity among Tulane staff, students and faculty. The Task Force was
asked to:
- Review all relevant
data on the current diversification of the faculty and staff by race,
gender, and rank, as collected by the Associate Vice President for Equal
Opportunity for reporting to the Department of Labor and in comparison
to peer institutions; 2
- Review salary equity
through the assessment of comparable positions in terms of race, gender,
and rank;
- Survey the campus
to assess the institutional perception of the level of diversity and
the inclusiveness of he climate in support of diversity; and
- Develop, with the
administration, a plan to address inequities, including recommending
further areas for study by a diversity task force; the use of current
and new resources to address inequities, and a timeline for the plan’s
completion.
The Task Force report
is based on a survey of the students, faculty and staff concerning campus
climate, with ancillary data from focus groups and interviews, an analysis
of payroll data self-reported by faculty and staff to ascertain diversity
and identify any salary disparities, and an analysis of Integrated Postsecondary
Education Data System (IPEDS) data.
I. DIVERSITY
AND SALARY EQUITY ANALYSIS
The Diversity Task
Force conducted evaluations on diversity (race and gender) and salary
among faculty and staff. The findings of this analysis are reported in
Section Two and presented in Appendix A. Although data for the IPEDS study
were collected in October 2001 and data for the salary analysis were collected
in July 2001, the data are in close agreement. Distribution by gender
and race as self-reported by staff in both studies revealed that females
constitute ~65 percent of staff and minorities ~43 percent, with ~35 percent
self-identifying as black. The IPEDS studies over the past 10 years reveal
that these distributions have changed very little at Tulane.
The Task Force analyzed salaries by regression analyses within like jobs/positions
for 44 percent of staff based on gender and 52 percent based on race.
While the IPEDS data included all university employees regardless of classification,
it did not take into consideration job title, age, and length of employment
as did the Diversity and Salary Equity Analysis. Salary analyses could
not be performed for “executive administrator” and “other
administrators” due to the wide variation in job descriptions. In
comparison to peer universities, Tulane ranks high in its employment of
females and minorities; however, this does not imply that there are no
inequity problems or that the university has achieved its goals relative
to minority employment.
In the top job categories of “executive administrators” and
“other administrators,” minorities are underrepresented in
“executive administrators.” The Task Force strongly endorses
the IPEDS recommendations for more hires of minorities and females in
these categories. Both the IPEDS study and the Task Force’s Diversity
and Salary Equity Analysis revealed that females were underrepresented
in the job categories of “skilled crafts” and “maintenance.”
Both studies revealed that minorities were underrepresented in the job
categories of “other professionals” and “paraprofessional
and technical,” while they tend to form the majority of the employees
in the job categories of “secretarial/clerical” and “maintenance.”
Both studies evaluated salary compensation within job categories. The
Diversity and Salary Equity Analysis revealed no pattern of gender differences
in salaries after controlling for job title, age and years of employment.
This conclusion is made with the omission of job title 170 where differences
in salary were found. After allowing for job title, age and years of employment,
regression analyses found that race was marginally significant (p=.07).
With elimination of job titles 10 and 47, which include 25 employees,
race is no longer statistically significant.
Both the Diversity and Salary Equity Analysis and IPEDS study addressed
gender and race distribution of faculty across academic ranks for the
entire university. Gender and racial diversity as self-reported by the
faculty was essentially the same in both studies, with approximately 30
percent female and 20 percent minority.
Both studies substantiated that there is an uneven distribution of females
and minorities across the academic ranks. Minorities are not well-represented
at the ranks of both professor and associate professor and female faculty
are not well-represented at the highest rank of professor. At the level
of full professor, minorities represent ~10 percent (three of whom are
black) of the professors and females represent ~13.5 percent of the professors.
Minorities hold ~16 percent of associate professor positions. Within most
schools, the distributions of faculty by gender and race differed substantially
by rank. The Diversity and Salary Equity Analysis found that the ages
of females and minority faculty were significantly lower than for males
and whites and may contribute to the underrepresentation of minorities
and females in the upper academic ranks.
The IPEDS study also analyzed the entire faculty as to rank and track
(tenured, tenure track and nontenure track) without consideration of school.
Of the tenured professors, 10 percent self-identified as minorities and
12.7 percent are females. Tenured associate professors are 13.9 percent
minorities and 31 percent females. Minorities represent 24.6 percent and
females represent 16.7 percent of tenure-track assistant professors. Nontenure-track
positions do not carry job security, and all three ranks in this study
have a higher percentage of females and minorities in comparison to the
tenured and tenure-track positions.
Both studies evaluated the distribution of faculty by gender and race
within each school of the university. Most schools had underrepresentation
of females or minority faculty. Details for each school are included in
the report.
Salary compensation presented by the IPEDS study is difficult to interpret
since it does not account for rank, school/department or length of employment.
It suggests that female and minority faculty tend to receive lower salaries,
which likely reflects their holding lower academic rank or nontenured
positions.
The Diversity and Salary Equity Analysis also evaluated salaries of faculty
within each school. For each school, regression analysis was conducted
to test whether gender or race were significant factors related to median
salaries after accounting for other factors such as rank and department.
With only a few exceptions, no patterns of salary differences were observed;
however, it was found that the Law School has gender-based compensation
disparity at the professor and associate professor ranks. Several schools
had a problem with the distribution of faculty by gender and race concerning
rank and tenured positions as previously noted. There were no patterns
of salary difference due to either race or gender within a position.
Further analyses were conducted in the School of Medicine and the School
of Public Health and Tropical Medicine due to the heavy use of three tracks
(tenure/tenure track, clinical, research). The research- and clinical-track
appointments do not have job security. It was found that neither gender
nor race were significant factors in salary differences within a rank,
but there were substantial differences by gender and race regarding appointment
track. These schools should determine if these patterns indicate a preferred
choice of track on the part of the individual faculty members.
In 2000, the Office of Federal Contracts and Compliance (OFCCP), Department
of Labor, conducted an audit of hiring practices, new hires, promotions,
and terminations at Tulane University to identify any inequality in compensation
levels between like jobs held by females and minorities vs. males and
nonminorities. During the course of the audit, three cases of compensation
disparity were identified (one faculty and two staff) and were addressed
to the satisfaction of OFCCP.
II.
CAMPUS CLIMATE SURVEY
In the fall of 2002,
the Task Force conducted a campus climate survey with the assistance of
Perkins Williamson and Associates (PWA) of Stamford, Conn. The findings
of the survey are summarized in Section Three and presented in Appendix
B.
Survey questions were developed in consultation with the Task Force and
were piloted by representative groups within the Tulane community prior
to conducting the survey. Questions were answered using a scale of 1 to
5 with 5 being the most positive response. A response of 3 indicates neither
a strong positive nor a strong negative response. All values in the final
report are expressed as means. Statistical significance among these means
was determined by SPSS as the primary statistical package for the survey
(quantitative analyses). NU*DIST software was used to conduct the interview
and focus groups’ data (qualitative analyses). The survey response
rate was highest for staff (56 percent). The faculty response rate was
25 percent and the student response rate was 20 percent.
According to the climate survey, there are statistically significant differences
in the way faculty, staff and students in different ethnic groups perceive
the campus environment. Overall, whites, blacks, and “others”
(Asians/Pacific Islanders, Hispanics, American Indians) have different
perceptions of the friendliness, supportiveness, and acceptance of the
Tulane campus. For the most part, black staff members perceived the campus
as less friendly, supportive, and accepting (3.23) than “others”
(3.57) or whites (3.56).
There are also statistically significant differences in the perceptions
of faculty based on ethnic group regarding Tulane as a supportive place
to work, with opportunities for achieving work/life balance, professional
development and training, and relationships between staff and students.
For example, female faculty worry more than male faculty about losing
their jobs. Male and female faculty differ in perceptions of fair treatment
and the extent to which the university promotes diversity and multiculturalism
on campus. Males tend to be consistently more positive than females. Blacks,
whites and “others” have a statistically significant difference
in their perceptions of the extent to which the university promotes diversity
and multiculturalism and fair treatment regardless of gender, race, age,
sexual orientation, or religion. In most cases, “others” (Hispanics
and American Indians/Alaskan natives) are most positive followed by whites,
Asians, and blacks. There are no statistically significant differences
in the way male and female faculty responded to the survey questions related
to diversity, inclusion, and multiculturalism.
White students are more positive about the supportiveness of the Tulane
environment and their willingness to recommend Tulane to a friend. There
are also statistically significant differences in the perceptions of students
in different ethnic groups regarding diversity and multiculturalism on
campus, fair treatment, and friendliness of the community. Black students
tend to have consistently less favorable perceptions than Asians/Pacific
Islanders, “others” and whites.
III. CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Results of the campus-wide
climate survey show that faculty, staff and students perceive President
Cowen as a positive force for diversity on campus. The survey results
also show that building leadership skills to enhance diversity and inclusion
on campus and developing a critical mass of university leadership demonstrably
committed to diversity will be critical for successfully implementing
the diversity strategy proposed in this report.
A shift in the current paradigm is crucial. In addition to committed leadership,
the approach to handling issues of race and gender in the workplace should
be revisited. Currently, diversity is seen as a legal issue managed by
the Office of the General Counsel. The Task Force believes that diversity
is an educational asset 3, and
as such, the Offices of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
and Provost, Senior Vice President for the Health Sciences, and Human
Resources should take the lead in developing proactive ways to affirm
diversity and improve campus climate in areas identified as problematic
in this report. The Task Force also recommends other means of institutional
transformation, such as the establishment of an Office of Institutional
Research to measure institutional effectiveness, particularly efforts
to increase and sustain diversity.
The Task Force has made numerous recommendations. Of particular note is
the need for more blacks and females at the executive administrative level.
The overwhelming majority of blacks on campus work in the lowest paying
jobs in the maintenance department. In addition, more females should be
hired in “skilled crafts” and “maintenance.”
The Task Force recommends increased hiring and promotion of minority and
female faculty to tenure-track positions and promotion of tenured minorities
and females into the ranks of full professor and associate professor.
The Task Force also recommends a review of the uneven distribution of
females and minorities across the academic ranks to break what appears
to be a logjam occurring at the lower academic ranks. The Task Force also
recommends that the next Diversity Task Force be more diverse in its composition
and address diversity issues concerning the student population at Tulane.
The report concludes that more financial resources should be directed
towards increasing gender and racial diversity and creating an environment
that celebrates diversity as an educational asset, while discouraging
racial and gender discrimination to ensure a productive work environment
for all staff and faculty. (See Section Four: Conclusions and Diversity
Task Force Recommendations.)
SECTION FOUR:
CONCLUSIONS AND DIVERSITY TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS
The report of the
Task Force is a snapshot of racial and gender diversity and compensation
among faculty and staff at Tulane University in the summer and fall of
2001 and fall of 2002. The study of compensation and diversity among faculty
and staff available through self-reported payroll data, review of the
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data regarding
the racial and gender composition of staff and faculty at Tulane and nine
peer institutions for the year 2001, and assessment of perceptions of
inclusiveness and tolerance on campus reveal that there are some positive
aspects regarding equity and diversity at Tulane. However, this does not
imply that the university has achieved its stated goal for cultivating
an “environment of diversity, openness and inclusiveness to attract
excellent people to Tulane and to prepare our students for life in our
increasingly multicultural society.” 4
After analyzing the collected quantitative and qualitative data, the Task
Force has concluded that if the university is to fully institutionalize
its commitment to diversity, it must make a sustained and substantial
commitment toward proactive diversity initiatives, move from legal and
ethically motivated considerations of diversity to full recognition of
the enrichment diversity brings to the academic environment, develop a
systemic approach through rewards and incentives to promote and maintain
diversity at the individual unit level, and develop and implement strategies
to recruit and retain a more diverse student population at the undergraduate,
graduate and professional levels.
The Task Force, therefore, urges the university to continue pursuit of
its stated goal for diversity with the hope that it can become a leader
and a model in this endeavor and recommends implementation of the following
strategies immediately.
LEADERSHIP
- Develop a strategic
plan for diversity in consultation with the University Senate, Staff
Advisory Council, Offices of Multicultural Affairs, Equal Opportunity,
Human Resources, and the senior administration with goals that go beyond
external standards (i.e., Department of Labor).
- As part of the
strategic plan for diversity, create a fully funded and staffed senior-level
position operating through the Offices of the Senior Vice President
for Academic Affairs and Provost and the Senior Vice President for the
Health Sciences to oversee implementation of the plan, and monitor the
university’s progress in this area.
- Mandate and provide
for all administrators, unit heads, and supervisors training that promotes
respect and support for the university’s existing cultural, ethnic,
racial, gender, age, religious, sexual orientation, and disabled diversity.
INSTITUTIONAL
TRANSFORMATION
- Develop and implement
uniform university-wide procedures to ensure consistent and fair administration
of policies and practices for recruiting, hiring, training, promoting
and resolving grievance disputes.
- Develop and implement
uniform criteria for hiring, promotion, and the regulation of tenure-track
policies for faculty within all academic units.
- Determine if there
are mitigating circumstances affecting the number of females and minorities
in nontenured-track positions.
- Solicit and apply
feedback from the Tulane community in the development and implementation
of policies and procedures aimed at institutional and cultural transformation.
- Increase the number
of staff in the Office of Human Resources to support and expand the
university’s capacity to proactively recruit, employ, retain,
and promote all individuals equally, and actively remove any barriers
that artificially limit the professional and personal development of
females and minorities.
- Increase the automated
capability of the Office of Human Resources and the Office of Equal
Opportunity to process and handle employment data.
- Establish an Office
of Institutional Research to measure institutional effectiveness, particularly
efforts to increase and sustain diversity among students and faculty.
- Train volunteer
ombudsmen at the individual unit level to assist the Office of Equal
Opportunity with “promoting access, opportunity, and diversity
among faculty, staff, and students.”
- Develop and implement
recruiting efforts aimed at attracting more qualified minority undergraduate,
graduate, and professional students to the university.
HIRING
- Make a concerted
effort to achieve racial and gender diversity among faculty and staff
by promoting and mentoring qualified individuals from within and through
recruiting and retaining:
a. minority professors and associate professors, blacks in particular,
to achieve equitable
distribution across ranks;
b. female professors to achieve more equitable distribution across ranks;
c. black and female senior-level administrators;
d. blacks in “other administrative” as well as “paraprofessional
and technical” positions;
e. females in “skilled crafts” and “maintenance”
positions.
- Encourage development
of potential faculty from within the student population by creating
new pipeline programs and continuing existing programs.
- Examine the small
number of possible inequities that surfaced in the analyses of staff
and faculty salaries to determine their cause and whether corrective
action is needed.
- Conduct a review
of top level administrative faculty and staff positions for salary inequities.
(Due to confidentiality, the Task Force did not have access to this
data as part of its evaluation.
To help maintain forward
momentum on the university’s diversity initiatives, the Task Force
also recommends that the administration:
- Appoint a new
Task Force to assist with implementation of these proposals, expanding
its diversity with new members, including students, gays/lesbians, individuals
with disabilities, etc.
- Create outreach
efforts to minority alumni.
- Undertake a more
detailed analysis of the Task Force findings regarding tenure-track
appointments.
- Seek external funding
(e.g., National Science Foundation, Ford Foundation, etc.) and other
resources (e.g., ACE Fellows) to support the development and implementation
of the strategic plan for diversity and related initiatives.
- Expand the capacity
of the Office of Multicultural Affairs to better serve the needs of
a diverse student population and enable it to support recruiting and
retention activities, particularly those focused on female, minority
and nontraditional students at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional
levels.
- Enhance the Newcomb
College Center for Research on Women’s mission to “ensure
that the lives, experiences, and perspectives of all women are fully
represented and valued in every facet of society,” with a focus
on females in the Tulane community.
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