Princeton University has made strides over the years in becoming more diversified – but more needs to be done, says a report just issued by a university committee.
The report focused on the university's graduate student body, faculty and staff. It said that unlike the school's undergraduate population, people of color and women in these groups are extremely under-represented.
"At Princeton today, as at other selective colleges and universities, people of color are generally more strongly represented among undergraduates than among graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty and senior administrators," the report states. "Ours is an increasingly pluralistic society and, simply put, Princeton and its peers do not come close to looking like America today."
The report said that in 1980, a whopping 94% of Princeton's associate and full professors were white. By 2010 that figure had dropped to 85% - a slight decline. In 2010 less than 25% of its associate and full professors were women. Still, that was better than several decades ago, when that figure stood at just a paltry 3%.
According to the report, some minority populations were slower to change than others.
"Progress has been uneven and, in the case of black and Hispanic individuals, disturbingly slow."
The report offers a series of recommendations to increase diversity. These include giving departments more freedom to create diversity in their ranks and then monitoring the progress of such steps to assess their effectiveness.
The report was endorsed by the president of the university, Christopher Eisgruber, as well as Princeton's board of trustees.
"Princetonians have powerful reasons to care deeply about the diversity of the university community, President Eisgruber said. "Only by drawing the best talent from every sector of society can we achieve the scholarly and educational excellence to which we aspire."
How would you assess the level of diversity and inclusiveness at your college or university?
Are you aware of efforts to make things better?
Comments
Race doesnt count
Although I believe it is important for universities to be diverse, I don't think it should be a major concern of the university. Especially with prestigious universities, it is important to allow the best students into the school to develop well educated professionals for the future. If a school I still doing well and accepting the best of the best, such as Princeton does, then it shouldn't matter what race they are. If there is a limit on how many, and what type of students should be admitted then diversity should not be a major concern.
I agree, but yet...
I agree that universities and employers, for that matter, should only accept the most qualified candidates. However, it is comments like these that are used by those with other agendas (like those who would wish to keep Princeton Caucasian). For example, much before the civil rights movement in a time when it was more widely believed that non-Caucasians were inherently less intelligent and less capable than whites, the argument that universities and employers were only taking whites because their race is naturally smarter and better was valid. It is for reasons such as this that I believe affirmative action is necessary for the sake of giving opportunities to those who deserve it and were not born into privilege (such as the stereotypical upper/middle class white male).
Diversity in Educational Institutions
America is a melting pot filled with so many unique individuals and in order to decrease racial discrimination and stereotypes still present today, educational institutions need an array of students from various backgrounds. It is very important for students to be exposed to people of different ethnicities and cultures because they need to be able to know how to work with different people for their entire lives.
At my university, there are numerous ethnic clubs that host events representing various aspects about their culture. For instance, a club called ASIA host a show where different types of indian dances are performed by the members of the club. This not only allows students to learn more about the culture but also form relationships with different people.
Without diversity at my school, I believe a very important part of the college experience would be missing.
Racial Diversity at Universities
Many years ago, it was impossible for people of certain races to get any type of education in America, particularly at a highly regarded University, such as Princeton. As time has moved forward, schools have become more and more racially diverse; however, it is noted that the majority of Princeton's student population is white. I don't view this as a problem that anyone needs to solve, as I believe that over time it will be solved on it's own. If we have come this far and are able to accept people regardless of their skin color, I think that eventually the numbers will come closer to evening out. I don't think that it is necessary for race to play any role in the admissions process at schools, as academic achievements should be the major concern. Though I agree that it is important to be aware and have knowledge of other races and cultures, I agree with the below comment that diversity should not be a major concern.
Race At Colleges
Though I agree that representing a diverse group of students at schools is an important aspect of exposure and tolerance, I also firmly believe that quality of the applicant should take precedence rather than the nationality or race of the individual because frankly, I feel as though that's an insult to the person's intelligence. Also, I believe at my college there is a strong and great representation of races and cultures of all kind and I would say that my school has a great deal of inclusiveness. In our school, I would say there are indeed efforts to make things better and to foster and nurture a sense of tolerance for the student body.
Reasons for Diversity
My university is also very diverse. Though we are a very good university that has many applicants, I believe one reason for our diversity would be our location. We are in Long Beach in Southern California, which is a melting pot in itself, so I feel that naturally more than a few schools in the area would be diverse. However, there could be other reasons for this. Any ideas?
Campus Diversity
My university does not have much racial diversity. As a campus we wish there was more diversity but compared to others we are lacking. I think we are aware that we are lacking but it is difficult as students to change the mind of admissions. We dont have a say in who they let in the school even tho i am sure they want more diversity as well. With the diversity that we do have we make a concerted effort to let it prosper. There are clubs and groups that promote diversity and bring greater awareness to the majority race of campus. These clubs are looked highly upon and are an important asset to our school.
Racially Oriented Clubs
We have those organizations on my campus, too. It is great that they bring diversity but I wonder if with diversity, they bring another form of segregation? For example, at my high school there was a club called Young Black Scholars. You didn't need to be black to join but 99% of the members were, just as it is with PAC (for Filipinos) at my university. Many are intimidated to join such an organization if it doesn't match their racial background, which makes me wonder how far we have really come since the 1960s and before.
Diversity
Diversity is a good thing, but I do not feel that it should be a forced thing. Just as Police Officers do not have a quota for how many citations they must issue in a month, I do not feel that universities should have a set number of black, white, Asian, female, male quota for students. So what will happen if universities don't have a quota to fill? Well, there are many court cases devoted to that subject that have passed through the Supreme Court already. Even if universities do have quotas to fill on diversity, what is the major good that it accomplishes? Will people feel better if there are 50 Asians rather than 49 who used their test scores to gain entry? I think that entrance into a university should be based on the content of your transcript and character, not on the color of your skin. Martin Luther King Jr. said the same thing about being judged on the content of character rather than the color of the skin.
I agree
I think it is obvious that universities should be looking for students who have the best educational background and intelligence, they should look at applications and ignore skin color because what are they going to do; accept a student from a certain ethnicity just to meet the quota when there is a more deserving student of a different race next in line? That would not be fair. Diversity is important to an extent, but people getting what they worked so hard for in high school should come first.
I agree
I think it is obvious that universities should be looking for students who have the best educational background and intelligence, they should look at applications and ignore skin color because what are they going to do; accept a student from a certain ethnicity just to meet the quota when there is a more deserving student of a different race next in line? That would not be fair. Diversity is important to an extent, but people getting what they worked so hard for in high school should come first.
It's so stupid that racism is
It's so stupid that racism is everywhere, it even effects the next generations future.