Sunday, April 22, 2007
New Approach to Diversity in Faculty Hires
Typically when we seek to hire diverse candidates, a hiring committee adds a name to the short list of someone who might be a minority. This new approach sounds like the best option, instead department should seek to hire any minority they deem of suitable quality, regardless of field. In this way departments might be able to increase the numbers of minority profs (which is important if the student pool is diverse) who have a better chance at tenure.
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3 comments:
Professors should be hired on their knowledge and accomplishments, not what skin color or background they are.
Well, thats the point of that article. That we should seek to hire a minority candidate of suitable quality rather than make it an affirmative action decision.
Minority scholars are important. I just wrote a whole article about how the questions we ask are different and relevant. In addition, who are minority students supposed to look up to and get mentoring help from if there are no minority profs?
I agree. Minority professors are necessary, especially in such a diverse campus as UIC. I would agree that they serve the function of a "mentor" to the minority students.
However, I also agree with Jenny in that their knowledge should come first. When people pay for an education, they want excellence, not diversity.
In my opinion, some of my best classes are those classes that are taught by international professors. They always have a different perspective that they can present. This really helps prepare us for the real world ... the diverse United States of America.
Andy Troup
POLS 184
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