Minority Faculty Retention

Minority Faculty Retention September 22, 2013 Khanh Ho, a former professor of English at Grinnell College, asserts that its important for minority applicants to highly selective colleges to check out the minority faculty retention data. Ever consider checking out minority faculty retention rates? If not, you might want to do so. Theres an article on The Huffington Post by Khanh Ho entitled College Admissions: The One Statistic That Counts that we wanted to share with the readers of our college admissions blog. Khanh Ho is a former professor of English at Grinnell College and his article in The Huffington Post chronicles the struggles of minority students at colleges and universities throughout the country at which there are few minority faculty members. It is the position of Khanh Ho that the single most important factor for a minority applicant to look at is the retention rate for minority faculty. Khanh Ho asserts in his piece, If there is one statistic that these parents should figure out, it is the retention rate of faculty of color. How many faculty of color are recruited? How many stay? How many are promoted? These are crucial questions if you want your minority child to not only survive, but thrive in an academic environment. Studies have shown that there exists a direct correlation between a healthy, diverse faculty and the well-being of minority student populations. We couldnt agree more. He later writes an anecdotal story about a friend of his who has achieved great success in life after graduating from a prestigious university. But when she wanted to get other minority graduates of her university together for a reunion, those students were reluctant to do so. While they may have received a great education at their university, asserts Ho, it was at a psychological cost. The lack of minority faculty to help these students acclimate to the university and indeed live at the university for four years of their lives didnt exactly inspire them to want to reunite years later. Do you think that this is an important statistic to check out if youre a minority applicant to a highly selective university? Let us know your thoughts on the matter by posting below.