Harvard Gets Low Marks for Diversity

A recent report on faculty diversity (or the lack thereof) at Harvard University suggests that there’s still a lot of room for improvement on that front. According to an article in The Harvard Crimson, gains made from 2005 to 2007 were minimal.

The proportion of female ladder faculty members did not rise by more than 3 percent in any faculty over the two-year period measured in the report, and overall minority representation for ladder faculty increased by less than 2 percent during the period.

The disparities in diversity were particularly evident for hiring and retention of tenured faculty. The report says women make up less than a quarter of tenured faculty members in 10 of 13 faculty populations assessed by the study, and minorities claim fewer than 15 percent of tenured professors in 11 of 13 faculties.