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When Information is Not Enough: Evidence from a Centralized School Choice System

Although modest gains are observed in the number of African American, Mexican American, and Puerto Rican faculty in higher education institutions, systemic issues of underrepresentation and retention remain problematic. This article describes how historically underrepresented minority (URM) faculty in Predominantly White Institutions perceive discrimination and illustrates the ways in which discriminatory institutional practices—such as microaggressions—manifest and contribute to unwelcoming institutional climates and workplace stress. Using a mixed methods approach, including survey data and individual and group interviews, findings show that respondents ( n  = 543) encounter racial discrimination from colleagues and administrators; experience discrimination differently based on their race/ethnicity and gender; and report difficulties in describing racist encounters. Qualitative data reveal three themes that inform the survey results on perceived discrimination: (1) blatant, outright, subtle, and insidious racism; (2) devaluation of scholarly contributions, merit, and skillset by colleagues and administrators; and (3) the burden of “representing minorities,” or a “racial/ethnic tax.” Propositions for how to change unwelcoming environments and create safe spaces for professional development to reduce the adverse effects of discrimination among URM faculty are discussed.

This article contrasts perceptions among 58 under-represented minority (URM) faculty employed at U.S. research-extensive universities who reported an absence of mentoring or experienced informal or formal mentoring modalities. Key findings reveal a mentoring glass ceiling that affects URM faculty career paths: an absence of mentoring can lead to significant career miscalculations; well-intentioned mentors can devalue faculty scholarship; lack of senior faculty accountability for observed disengagement from faculty career development; and inadequate mentorship often limits access to social networks and collaborative research opportunities. Recommendations are offered for developing effective formal mentoring initiatives that reflect an institutional investment in early-career URM faculty.

Support for families makes economic as well as social sense

Report from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University

How Place-Based Jobs Policies Help Distressed Communities

Wall Street Journal

The Design of University Entrance Exams and its Implications for Gender Gaps

Millennials and Gen Z workers are changing positions a bit more frequently

New National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities grant