Several questions for consideration emerge as we begin the new millennium.
affirmative action really necessary? Is it important to have and why hasn't more progress been made in hiring minority (predominately African-American and Hispanic) faculty inside schools? What should be done to increase employment opportunities for faculty made up of people of color? Ensuring that there is a significant amount of minority faculty inside schools and accredited universities is important because these group of individuals can help prepare our nation's students to deal with diversity in many ways: by providing students with role models, by preparing minority youth to assume positions of leadership, and by supporting minority-related scholarship. This paper will prove that through affirmative action, the minority staff that would increase would contribute to negative stereotypes beginning to break down when people of color assume influential roles. I am strongly in favor of an increase in minority representation in higher education in general, and think it is crucial to ensure the participation of underrepresented populations in high-level positions. I will explore the benefits of having a diverse faculty, what can be done to increase minority staff representation, why hasn't it been done before, and strategies for recruiting and retaining these individuals in my paper. .
A diverse faculty benefits the ever increasing diversity of students. Valora Washington (1992) eloquently writes, "Numerous studies and longstanding research shows that a diverse faculty and student body lead to great benefits in education. Not only does the law require that colleges and universities have no individual or systemic discrimination, but sound educational practice requires it." I agree with Washington and believe a homogenous faculty not only fails to represent the diversity of views and experiences crucial to a broad education, but it leaves an institution vulnerable to damaging discrimination lawsuits.