By Ken Gewertz

Gazette Staff

The 1997 Affirmative Action Report has been released, reaffirming the University's commitment to expanding opportunities for women and minorities and detailing the progress of the various schools and other units toward achieving their goals.

"Continuing to diversify our faculty and staff remains a high priority for Harvard as a whole, and one that requires concentrated attention on the part of all of us," said President Neil L. Rudenstine. "This year's report shows some encouraging signs of progress, as well as areas of continuing worry. All of us have a common interest in creating broader opportunities within Harvard for women and members of underrepresented minority groups, and in being part of a community where diversity -- of backgrounds, experiences, and points of view -- is one of our defining strengths."

Associate Vice President James S. Hoyte, whose office prepares the annual Affirmative Action Report, stated: "At a time when many organizations and institutions have been retreating from longstanding commitments to equal opportunity, diversity, and inclusion, I am encouraged that Harvard's senior management and governing bodies remain convinced that this community must continue to strive to accomplish such goals."

Across Harvard, five-year trends (1991-96) show a net increase from 85 to 128 in the ranks of senior women faculty, and from 74 to 95 in the ranks of senior minority faculty, for all nine Harvard Faculties including Medicine.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) this year reported particular progress in appointing women to the ranks of assistant and associate professors: of the 26 new "ladder" appointees for 1996-97, 12 are women. The FAS also noted that, from 1991 to 1996, nearly one-third of the junior faculty members promoted to tenured professorships have been women, up from 18 percent for the previous five-year period. During the same period, 20 of 84 (24 percent) of tenure appointments in the FAS have been of women, up from 15 percent during the preceding five-year interval.

The percentage of women among FAS tenured faculty rose only slightly this past year, however, to 11.5 percent. Although the proportion is comparable to that for full professors at many peer institutions, the report acknowledges that progress in this area, while significant, has been "disappointingly slow," in part because of the limited number of annual appointments relative to the size of the faculty as a whole.

Across the University, net increases in the number of senior women professors during the five-year period from 1991 to 1996 have been reported by the Business School (from 5 to 11), the Design School (from 0 to 2), the Divinity School (from 2 to 4), the School of Education (from 6 to 7), the Kennedy School (from 1 to 4), the Law School (from 5 to 7), the Faculty of Medicine (from 22 to 35), and the School of Public Health (from 5 to 9).

The representation of minorities on the FAS ladder faculty (15 percent) continues to exceed the rate of "availability" (13 percent), which is based on the percentage of new minority Ph.D. recipients in the fields in which FAS makes appointments. Appointments of minorities to the FAS senior faculty, however, continue to lag behind the applicable "availability" rate, most notably in the social sciences.

In recent years, Harvard has succeeded in recruiting a number of prominent minority scholars, especially African Americans, to senior faculty positions. According to Hoyte, these appointments hold promise for continued progress in expanding the ranks of minority faculty within FAS and across Harvard.

Beyond the FAS, in the five years from 1991 to 1996, the combined number of minority faculty at the senior and ladder levels rose from 21 to 24 at the Business School; from 3 to 7 at the Design School; from 1 to 4 at the Divinity School; from 6 to 8 at the School of Education; from 4 to 10 at the Kennedy School; from 6 to 7 at the Law School; and from 16 to 22 at the School of Public Health. Meanwhile, the number of minorities holding senior or ladder positions in the Faculty of Medicine, including both Quadrangle-based faculty and faculty based in the affiliated hospitals, rose from 179 to 265.

Women now compose 61 percent of the University's administrative staff, including more than 50 percent at the executive/managerial level. Minorities occupy 18 percent of the University's administrative positions, up from 17 percent in 1991. In the past year, the University has worked closely with organizations such as the Association of Black Faculty, Administrators, and Fellows; the Latino Professional Network; Crimson and Brown; and Career Expo in recruiting minorities. According to Mela Martorano, director of EEO and Compliance, several additional strategies are being explored, with the help of the Office of Human Resources, to broaden opportunities for minorities on Harvard's administrative staff.

Martorano added that, later this month, Harvard will host a three-day conference of affirmative action officers from Ivy League schools to discuss ways in which these institutions can promote greater hiring opportunities for women and minorities as well as provide environments that are welcoming to a diverse work force.

Copies of the Affirmative Action Report are available in the Office of the Assistant to the President (Holyoke Center 935), at the human resources office of each Faculty, and at Harvard University libraries.