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Institutional Diversity
By Thomas Landefeld
I truly believe that diversification of the academy, as a whole, is the most important issue facing us as academicians today. Perhaps the best demonstration of that, at least personally, is the fact, as evidenced by my CV, that my entire administrative career, beginning at the University of Michigan Medical School (UMMS), and continuing since my arrival at CSU Dominguez Hills in 1996. has been devoted to addressing the under representation of minorities, particularly in the sciences where this under representation is most severe.
The reasons why diversification is essential not only to academia, but to society, in general, all relate to better learning via better understanding of diverse ideas, philosophies and principles. Unquestionably, bringing different perspectives to the table makes the discussions much more realistic since they represent better the society in which the persons live. With that, the work force issue is addressed in a way that cannot otherwise be done. In fact, this is truly the cornerstone of academe, as only by prioritizing this issue can we guarantee the training of a workforce that will meet the diverse nature of the nation's population in 20-25 years.
That being said, it is most obvious that it is much more easily said than done as there is still considerable resistance to making this happen at all levels, e.g. students, staff, faculty and administration. This is best evidenced with the recent actions against programs targeting under represented minority groups, going back to the passing of Proposition 209 in California to the Michigan case to the recent actions by the Justice Department against programs at SIU-Carbondale.
These actions have had a considerable negative effect on the progress that had been made over the years through the Civil Rights movement in the 60's that resulted in a number of programs, including several at NIH, e.g. MARC, MBRS. Although these helped in addressing the under representation, the playing field is far from level especially when one looks at the biomedical sciences, including the science professoriate, as well as the health professions, e.g. medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, etc. The onus has to be on institutions of higher learning to not only set an example of diversification but in training individuals, in such an environment, to carry the society forward in the future.
So we know the problem, so why haven't we been able to solve it? First of all, there has to be a true commitment to make a difference and this "buy-in" has to be across academia. Quite frankly, that has not happened. Secondly, for the efforts to have a true impact, academic institutions must truly make a commitment starting at the very top of the academic hierarchy, for without accountability to the top, history has shown that this just does not work. Third, the effort must include affiliated organizations such as professional societies as these groups are often where academicians play a crucial role in advancing changes. Once that it is obvious that such a commitment has been made, then this can be accomplished, even if only initially a few institutions at a time.
A key component of effective institutional diversity is the fact that for it to really work there has to be individualization and personalization of individuals. I have spent many years working in the area of under representation of minorities, particularly in the sciences and the recognition of the personalization of the students' needs is by far the most important component in addressing this problem. The same is true with individuals at all levels since the recognition of their individual strengths, beliefs and perspectives are crucial in all interactions. Concomitantly, the environment in which the individual exists is essential. There is still documentation that academicians, whether it is staff, faculty or students are lost because of the unfriendly climate/environment. That is why the administration has to make the institution aware of the importance of the commitment.
As mentioned, throughout my career, especially as an administrator, I have learned first hand the importance of diversity in academia and, probably even more importantly, ways to make any efforts in that area successful. The bottom line is that compassion and commitment are the two most important attributes for successfully achieving institutional diversity and, as stated, the importance of institutional diversity to academe and society is paramount to academia successfully preparing society for the future.
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