Opinion: UNC should expand its efforts to hire a diverse faculty

Take a moment and think about your past professors, advisers and mentors. Were they mostly white and male?

The answer to this question is probably yes; according to some measures as reported by the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs’ Diversity Plan, 9.4 percent of the faculty in fall 2013 were underrepresented minorities, e.g., African-American, Hispanic or American Indian. Of the faculty, 79.7 percent were white. Moreover, of 67 total campus leaders (associate deans and higher), 59 of them were white.

Despite the presence of some underrepresented faculty and leaders on campus and commendable efforts to increase diversity, there needs to be more.

Both UNC and individual academic departments should expand their efforts to make the faculty of the University better reflect the student body.

Having diverse faculty encourages students from underrepresented backgrounds to consider what they can become without being hindered by the burdens of prejudice.

UNC began efforts to diversify faculty back in 1983 when the Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity was established. The program aims to facilitate tenure-track appointments of underrepresented groups. Similarly, the UNC School of Medicine’s Simmons Scholar Program, established in 1994, seeks to diversify faculty within the School of Medicine.

Additionally, the Provost’s Target of Opportunity Diversity Initiative of 2001 has further contributed to the increase of faculty diversity.

Recently, Patricia Parker, the new communication department chair, raised an excellent question about the kind of culture created when leaders look like some of their students, but not all.

The aforementioned programs and initiatives have facilitated a significant increase of underrepresented minority faculty. Between 2003 and 2012, the percentage of underrepresented assistant professors was on the rise at UNC. Asian faculty increased to 14.8 percent from 12.1 percent, African-American faculty to 7.3 percent from 5.3 percent, Hispanic faculty to 6.4 percent from 2.6 percent and Native American faculty to 1.4 percent from 0.5 percent.

These increases are heartening, and the University is making positive steps, but the school hasn’t solidified a diverse faculty whose racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation and religious background reflects the diverse student body — which itself is not reflective enough of North Carolina’s young people.

No student should feel alienated by the lack of representation in an aspired career field, nor should a student feel burdened by the need to be a trailblazer. UNC has a real opportunity to provide inspiration to students by providing a more diverse field of professors that students can relate to.