1996 Affirmative Action Report Is Released

By Debra Bradley Ruder

Gazette Staff

For the John F. Kennedy School of Government, 1995-96 has been an excellent year for faculty diversity. Over the past few years, the School has been aiming to build strength in such areas as immigration, inequality, urban labor, and race relations, and faculty searches have led to the recent appointment of a Hispanic male, two black males, an Asian male, and four women.

"Our new appointments add greatly to our faculty's intellectual vigor and reinforce our desire to enhance its diversity," said Dean Joseph Nye.

In recent years, the School has developed a series of recruitment policies and strategies designed to expand the scope of subjects covered in research and teaching and to increase the diversity of the faculty and staff.

Established by former Dean (now Provost) Albert Carnesale and supported by Nye, the policies include a statement that one of the School's most important objectives is "to increase faculty diversity, particularly on the dimensions of gender, race, and ethnicity," in ways that advance the School's academic mission.

The Kennedy School's efforts in this area reflect a University-wide commitment that remains strong amid pressures to contain costs and amid the national debate concerning diversity and affirmative action.

"Diversity along many dimensions -- including race, ethnicity, and gender -- strengthens Harvard as both an academic and a human institution," said President Neil L. Rudenstine. "We remain firmly committed to attracting outstanding individuals from all different backgrounds to our faculty and staff, and to sustaining an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of the University community."

The University's continuing efforts in this area are addressed in an annual affirmative action document, prepared by the office of James S. Hoyte, assistant to the president and associate vice president. The 1996 report, whose format follows U.S. Department of Labor guidelines, details the efforts made by Harvard Faculties, Radcliffe College, and the Central Administration over the past five years. It reveals faculty trends such as these:

* From 1990 to 1995, the number of senior women faculty at Harvard (outside the Medical School) grew from 55 to 90, with a percentage increase from 8.5 to 12.1 percent. (Harvard, unlike many other universities, grants tenure only at the rank of full professor.)

During that same period, the number of minority faculty in senior positions (nonmedical) rose from 50 to 70, with a percentage increase from 7.7 to 9.4 percent. "Minority" here refers to Black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, or Native American people.

* At the Harvard Medical School, the number of full women professors grew from 17 to 31 between 1990 and 1995, an increase from 5.1 to 7.1 percent. The number of full minority professors rose from 17 to 21 during that period, although their representation fell slightly, from 5.1 percent to 4.8 percent of the total full professors.

* Last year, women represented 23.5 percent of the total nonmedical faculty, which includes senior and junior professors, research associates, lecturers, and others. Minorities represented 14.6 percent of that group.

The overall medical faculty included 33.1 percent women and 19.8 percent minorities last year.

Mela Martorano, director of equal employment opportunity and compliance, said the percentages tend to change little from one year to the next because Harvard's faculty is so large and because the number of tenured appointments in any given year is relatively small.

"But in the last few years," she said, "we have seen some encouraging changes in policies and procedures. Some Schools are widening their search criteria and applicant pools in faculty searches. Some are encouraging a broader range of individuals, including students, to help identify candidates for academic positions, while others are promoting more faculty from within. These changes are bound to yield lasting and beneficial results."

On the staff side, women made up 61 percent of the University-wide staff in 1995, about the same proportion as in 1990. Minorities represented 17.7 percent last year, up from 16.3 percent in 1990.

Creative Strategies

Several Schools, in addition to the Kennedy School, had encouraging achievements in the faculty ranks last year. Across the University, outside the Medical School, the number of senior women faculty grew by 14 (from 76 to 90), while senior minority faculty grew by 3, following a gain of 10 the previous year.

Last year, the Graduate School of Design and the Law School each granted tenure to two women, and the Graduate School of Business Administration appointed three faculty to tenure, all of them women and one of them African-American. The sole senior faculty appointment at the Divinity School went to a woman, and the number of senior women faculty at the School of Public Health rose from seven to nine.

In the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, women represented 11.2 percent of the senior faculty and 29.4 percent of the junior faculty in 1995. (As noted, Harvard grants tenure only to full professors.) The Faculty would like to see these numbers rise, and "in recent years the Dean [Jeremy Knowles] and the academic departments have focused efforts in this important area with some encouraging results," according to the report.

Last year, for example, the FAS made 18 new tenure appointments, 6 of whom are women. Four of those women were promoted from within, a record for women promoted from the ladder ranks in any one year.

"The continuing scrutiny of our searches at both junior and senior levels by the academic dean, and most especially by Professor Marjorie Garber (associate dean for affirmative action), encourages departments to cast their nets wide," said Knowles. "I do perceive a changing pattern, and I am particularly pleased when departments appoint stellar junior colleagues whose promotion to tenure is, later, a natural consequence."

At the Graduate School of Education (GSE), Dean Jerome Murphy appointed a committee in 1992 to help identify minority scholars as visiting faculty candidates. The committee sent an announcement to all GSE faculty and students, which generated a host of nominations. The effort resulted in the appointment of one black woman as a visiting professor in 1993-94, and a Hispanic man in 1994 who was has since been promoted to tenure.

Last year, minorities represented 14.2 percent of the total Faculty of Education -- up from 12 percent in 1994 -- and women represented 44.3 percent of the faculty.

Murphy said the School has been working to create a positive and supportive atmosphere for its minority students and faculty. "We're trying to do that by promoting respect for various perspectives. To be a successful educator, you need to work in an environment where people from different backgrounds talk with one another."

Meanwhile, the School of Public Health has used a number of creative strategies to recruit and train minority staff members from the surrounding communities, the report notes.

For example, its Human Resources office is heavily involved with the Neighborhood Jobs Trust Program, which aims to create employment opportunities annually for women and minorities in administrative/office positions.

The School also sponsors two internship programs for high school students, including a six-week Minority Research Apprenticeship Program that prepares high school students to pursue professional careers in the biomedical sciences or in social science research. The 1996 program will sponsor seven students from area high schools.

The School maintains special relationships with Madison Park/Humphrey Occupational Resources High School, La Alianza Hispana, La Sociedad Latina, Project Life, and other organizations "to continue to encourage candidates from the Mission Hill/Roxbury Black and Hispanic community to apply." Several employees, including the secretary and office manager in Human Resources, were hired through the internship program with Madison Park High School.

The representation of minorities on the staff has risen steadily over the past six years, from 16.5 percent in 1990 to 26.3 percent in 1995.

Said Dean Harvey Fineberg, "In the Faculty of Public Health, we have benefited enormously from the many abilities and dedication of local community members in our School."

Other Efforts

A glance at the report underscores the range of efforts under way to increase diversity. Many units, for instance, include women and minorities on search committees for faculty and staff, and they consult with other universities about potential minority and female professors. Some recruit staff members from local colleges and vocational schools.

Harvard Medical School (HMS) established an Office for Faculty Development and Diversity in January 1995. Led by William Silen, a distinguished professor of surgery, the office will work to expand recruitment efforts and to help "overcome barriers to promotion that exist for minorities and women."

In addition, a new Gender Equity Award, created by the American Medical Women's Association, recognizes HMS faculty who promote a gender-fair environment for educating and training physicians and [who] assure equal opportunities for women and men to study and practice medicine," according to the report. Nominations were made by medical students.

Promoting communication about diversity is also important, according to the document. The Graduate School of Education, for one, set up a committee of faculty, students, and administrators to provide a forum for the minority community to present concerns to the Dean.

Last year, the Kennedy School of Government held a two-day event that generated recommendations on creating a culture of diversity in the areas of research, pedagogy, curriculum, and faculty recruitment. Several academics who have been particularly successful in diversifying their institutions were invited to the School to meet with faculty and staff involved with appointments.

As far as James Hoyte is concerned, these kinds of dialogues can be extremely valuable.

"At Harvard, as well as throughout the larger community, thoughtful people with widely varying views have been actively engaged in conversations and debate about the desirability of programs and policies aimed at enhancing diversity," he said. "These discussions must be viewed as healthy and appropriate, not only because they provide an opportunity for correcting misimpressions and misunderstandings, but also because review and debate can encourage us to find new and better ways to pursue common goals."

Copies of the Affirmative Action Summary are available in the Office of the Assistant to the President (Holyoke Center 935), at the human resources office of each Faculty, and at any Harvard University library. The summary can also be found on the Internet at "gopher://gopher.harvard.edu:70/11/.vine/provider/human_ resources/Affirmative_Action_Plan".