GW faculty members must demand changes in minority hiring after a report revealed the University has problems retaining minority and female faculty, said Bernice R. Sandler, senior scholar in residence for the National Association for Women in Education.
Sandler was the keynote speaker Wednesday at “Voicing Your Thoughts to Shape Future Initiatives” at the GW Club. Faculty and administrators were gathered to discuss results of the Faculty Climate Survey Report. The report was initiated to evaluate the collegial climate for full-time faculty, specifically for females and minorities.
According to the report, surveys of faculty members indicate a need for change. Sandler said the noble intentions of the report may remain on a “dusty shelf in someone’s office” if current faculty members do not demand change. She said when faculty members act on their words, great things can happen.
“Women are learning the politics of power and the politics of change,” Sandler said. “This world will never be the same.”
Sandler said the University should be commended for reporting the results of the report, but said this openness is only the first step. She said even when a woman does all she has been taught to do, she still may not survive in a discriminatory world.
According to the Faculty Climate Survey Report, 35 percent of respondents said women faculty members are not represented in appropriate numbers at GW, 29 percent said they are represented in appropriate numbers. The rest were neutral. A majority of respondents, including all black respondents, said faculty of color are not represented in appropriate numbers.
Many audience members said GW does not attract women or minority faculty because of GW’s poor retention rates. Professors said GW will be able to recruit women and minorities when they are able to retain women and minority faculty for lengthy periods of time.
“The problem is not with recruiting,” said Nalini Singh-naz, a professor in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. “They must look at the history of retention first.”
Audience members said little idiosyncrasies of the University make it especially difficult for women to remain happy at work. Singh-naz said lack of child care is one of the reasons why retention is so low for women.
She also said GW should recruit faculty members from students in its graduate schools. With GW’s graduate schools suffering from dropping applicant numbers, some audience members said they are concerned it will become even more difficult to recruit women and minorities.
Many audience members said the tenure process further disables GW’s administration from employing women and minorities. According to the report, women faculty, faculty of color, non-tenured faculty and low-salaried faculty are the least likely to say the tenure process is objective.
“Tenure doesn’t mean anything if you get it,” Singh-naz said. “But, if you don’t get it, it does.”
Vice President for Academic Affairs Donald Lehman said a lack of mentorship further discourages the University from attracting women and minority faculty.
Three-fourths of faculty said mentorship is necessary in the workplace, however, only one in five respondents said they had a mentor at GW, according to the survey.
“Mentorship cannot be mandated,” Lehman said. “It must be fostered by culture.”
Jean Pec, vice chairperson of the University Committee on the Status of Women Faculty and Librarians, said systematic mentorship programs were a focal point for the committee this year. However, no programs have been launched officially yet.
