Strategies to Expand the Diversity in Tenured-Track Faculty Applicant Pools In Higher Education

Higher education institutions are challenged with ensuring their faculty are diverse in areas of scholarship, teaching pedagogy, and cultural experiences. Engineering fields, like other STEM fields, see a lack of diversity in tenured-track positions. This research evaluates strategies to expand the faculty hiring pool in medium-size institutions. Through evaluation of hiring practices, retention policies, and job advertisement, we can shape new methods focused on diversifying the faculty applicant pool and creating opportunities for members from underrepresented communities in STEM fields. The research presents methods to diversify the applicant pool with initiatives, such as consortiums, cluster hires, collaboration with other institutions that share common interests to mentor groups of graduate students and provide teaching and research opportunities that can result in future employment. Furthermore, this research looks at search committee methods that ensure their hiring criteria includes a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion and proposes methods to guide hiring committees through methods and rubrics that prevent unconscious biases throughout the hiring process. Lastly, this research looks at faculty retention processes that play critical roles in recruitment efforts.