Diversity in Undergraduate Enrollment and Faculty

Posted on May 10, 2016August 24, 2016 by

According to U.S. Census data, since 1955, the total number of students that attend college had a steady growth. The number of black students who are attending college also steadily increased. The rate of diversity growth spiked around 1993. Hispanic student population growth has a steady increase and slowly caught up to the number of black students due to the rise of hispanic immigration to the U.S. There is a significant increase in minority students from 2005-2014. White students have had a growth very similar to the growth of the total student population. The white student body comprises of more than 70% of the total student population in this study. Some schools that have no minority students in 2005 have incorporated diversity into their enrollment in 9 years. However, comparing these numbers side by side, there is a huge gap between the minority student body compared to the white student body. The data compiled of black and hispanic public and private undergraduate enrollees helps us to have a better understanding of minority faculty ratio to the diversity of undergraduate enrollees. By seeing the decline or the growth of minority students in certain states, universities in states seeing growth can hire a Chief Diversity Officer to ensure relatively good ratios of diversity. Why study diversity? It is important to study the balance of diversity of undergraduate enrollment and diversity in faculty because seeing a fair representation of one’s ethnic minority in university faculty promotes participation because it seems like a college education is more obtainable for minority students who were traditionally “left out” of higher levels of education.