2017-03-30 by The Michigan Daily

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Ann Arbor, Michigan

michigandaily.com

DESIGN BY OLIVIA STILLMAN

Examining the ties between race and tenure: underrepresented minority faculty count remains stagnant

DEI strategic plan proposes change in hiring and recruiting practices, as candidates of color still encounter implicit bias MATT HARMON Daily Staff Reporter

Along with efforts to increase student diversity on campus, the 42-page Diversity, Equity and Inclusion plan outlines the need to increase diversity among faculty. As of the plan’s launch last October, the percentage of underrepresentedminority tenured faculty at the University of Michigan has not changed from 2011 to 2016, according to records compiled by University Public Affairs. In a headcount of total tenured

and tenure-track faculty between 2011 and 2016, the total percentage of all minorities increased by 2 percent—from 24 percent in 2011 to 26 percent in 2016, according to the Faculty Headcount report from the Office of Budget and Planning. The percentage of female tenured faculty also increased: from 30 percent in 2011 to 34 percent in 2016. While these numbers appear to show a gradual increase in faculty diversification that the DEI plan can improve upon, Alec Gallimore, the dean of the College of Engineering, said Asian populations account for a large

percentage of University faculty and can warp diversity statistics. “I knew that we could not have 20-something percent underrepresented minorities on the faculty at the University of Michigan,” he said. “That didn’t make sense. Asian-Americans, in any field like engineering … are often overrepresented in terms of percentage of students and faculty versus underrepresented minorities, which are obviously underrepresented.” The underrepresented minorities included in the data — composing categories of Black,

Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander, and two or more races — show a more flatlined percentage between the years the data covers. From 2011 to 2016, the proportion of such faculty stayed at 10 percent. In an interview, Chief Diversity Officer Robert Sellers, vice provost for equity and inclusion, said the data shows more work has to be done to increase diversity among faculty, but also noted figures from individual colleges may look different. “I think it’s very complex,” Sellers said. “I think we have a ways to go to diversifying our faculty to

look broader and look like the larger society and larger community. That’s one of the reasons why we’re doing our DEI work. At the same point in time, those numbers themselves, while important, don’t tell the whole story. They look different in different contexts and different spaces.” According to an excerpt from the College of Engineering’s annual Office of the Provost report provided by Gallimore, women make up 20 percent of engineering tenure and tenure-track faculty and underrepresented minorities make up 6 percent. Advance gathered

eMerge considers campus involvement Gender pronouns following low CSG election turn out

data from 2016 on LSA and the Medical School, which reported an LSA tenure and tenure-track underrepresented-minority percentage of 6 percent and a Medical School (Basic Sciences) percentage of 5 percent. Tabbye Chavous, the director of the National Center for Institutional Diversity and Education and a professor of education and psychology, said the larger data for all minorities and women should not give a false sense of security in the University’s efforts to improve diversity. The See TENURE, Page 2

CAMPUS LIFE

RESEARCH

examined at dialogue

Recent Central Student Government election had lower voter participation than 2016

Conference on climate highlights legal action

Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center to host a series of events

This year’s Central Student Government elections saw significantly lower numbers of voter participation in comparison to recent years. According to an email interview from Public Policy senior Jacob Pearlman, the CSG election director, a total of 7,989 students, or 17.9 percent of the student body, voted in this year’s presidential and vice-presidential election. In 2016, voter turnout came in at 19.1 percent of the student body, while in 2015, 20.1 percent of students voted. Engaging with the student body has been a priority for CSG in recent years, especially considering the fact that many students attribute their decision not to vote to a lack of knowledge of what CSG is and what specific actions the body takes throughout the year. For LSA sophomore Chang Yang, this year’s CSG elections were not something she felt was very prevalent around campus. “I just felt very disconnected, to be honest, from the CSG campaigns to begin with,” Yang said. “They were just some things that kind of happened in the background. I would have to see more of how much CSG plays in the roles or the effects it has on the actual student body, or how effective it is in doing things for me, to care more about voting

For the Daily

The University is home to about 45,000 students of different genders, races and religions, but these differences are not discussed on a daily basis. With the intention of addressing this issue and creating a campus fostering the inclusion specifically of people of all genders, the Sexual Assault Prevention Awareness Center has partnered with the LSA Student Government to create a dialogue series. By fostering a safe and “brave” discussion space, the first of this series, held Wednesday night, hoped to normalize the use of gender-neutral pronouns and the explain stigma that surrounds them. Led by two coordinators — LSA sophomore Eve Hillman, a SAPAC peer educator, and LSA junior Elaina Rahrig, an LSA SG member — the discussion group reflected the diverse campus environment.