Affirmative Action Plan Details Recent Progress

By Alvin Powell

Contributing Writer

The numbers of women and minorities on Harvard's senior faculty reached new highs last year, according to the University's 1998 Affirmative Action Plan, released last week.

In the five years from 1992 to 1997, the number of women among the University's senior faculty grew from 90 to 147, an increase of 63 percent. In the 12-month reporting period ending October 1997, there was a net gain of 19 women on the senior faculty across Harvard, including an unprecedented net gain of 10 women at the Medical School.

From 1992 to 1997, the number of minorities among the University's senior faculty grew by 34 percent, from 73 to 98. That includes a net gain of three during the reporting period. (The net gains reflect new appointments as well as retirements and other departures.)

In all, in the categories of full professor, associate professor, and assistant professor, there were 100 new appointments to Harvard's nonmedical faculty for the reporting year, according to Mela Martorano, director of equal employment opportunity and compliance in the Office of the Assistant to the President. Women accounted for 30 of those appointments and minorities for 20 of them, she said.

Overall percentages of women and minorities in nonfaculty staff positions held essentially steady over the five years from 1992 to 1997, with women at about 61 percent and minorities between 17 and 18 percent.

Recently, the University initiated a number of actions aimed at seeking to enhance the diversity of its administrative staff. President Neil L. Rudenstine has underscored the significance of these initiatives in a statement that appears in this week's Gazette.

"Our program in student admissions remains remarkably effective in bringing together women and men from a wide range of backgrounds," Rudenstine said in the statement. "Our efforts to build a more diverse faculty of outstanding scholars and teachers continue with considerable momentum.

"It is time to address the issue of staff diversity in an equally determined and effective way," he said, "and I ask everyone's help in accelerating our progress toward this important goal for the benefit of Harvard as a whole."

In a related development, senior administrators and human resources officials from across Harvard gathered last Thursday for a half-day conference to discuss strategies for achieving and sustaining greater diversity in the University's administrative staff (see related story).

"I am encouraged that Harvard's senior management is determined to place priority during 1998 on developing a more diverse workforce," said James Hoyte, assistant to the president and associate vice president.

A wide variety of approaches were discussed, from internships and outreach programs to mentoring and recruiting strategies. The Office of Human Resources will soon publish a guide detailing helpful resources for recruiting prospective employees from diverse communities.

"I hope that this year sets the tone for planning efforts of future years," said Martorano.

Harvard's total nonmedical faculty now includes nearly 25 percent women and nearly 17 percent minorities, according to the report.

For more details, the report is available at all Harvard libraries and Human Resources offices.