A closer look: Lack of black professors noticed in classrooms
By Colleen Honigsberg
Feb. 3, 2004 9:00 p.m.
In all his years at UCLA, Myles Regele, a fourth-year
psychobiology student, has never had a class with a black
professor.
“I can’t believe I’ve never had a black
professor,” Regele said. “Why is that?”
Regele’s thoughts and experiences are not unique. Because
of the lack of black and Latino/a professors on campus, many UCLA
students ““ especially those in more science-oriented
departments ““ will have only studied under white or Asian
professors upon graduating.
In 2003, only about 8 percent of UCLA’s faculty was
composed of Latino, black and Native American individuals combined.
This percentage does not reflect the population of Los Angeles
County, which is around 60 percent Latino.
The low percentage of faculty members of color is not unique to
UCLA.
“People of color tend to be underrepresented in academia,
especially in higher education,” said Darnell Hunt, the
director of the Bunche Center for African American studies and
professor of sociology. “The proportions of faculty members
of color don’t reflect the population overall.”
He also said that although UCLA actually has more faculty of
color than some comparable institutions, he thinks the
state’s diverse population should be better reflected among
the faculty of a public university like UCLA.
Hunt said as California becomes more diverse, the gap between
the percentages of faculty members of color and the population in
general is expected to widen.
Since the passing of Proposition 209 ““ which prohibited
public institutions in California to use affirmative action ““
UCLA cannot directly recruit and hire professors based on race.
Instead, in a manner similar to outreach programs, UCLA
indirectly recruits professors of color by trying to ensure new
hires come from racially diverse applicant pools.
“When I know there’s going to be a search, we try to
be sure the pool will include a broad representation of the
characteristics found in California,” said Rosina Becerra,
associate vice chancellor for faculty diversity.
“We cannot influence the decision of whom to hire at the
point of selection, but we can do so at the point of
recruitment,” she added.
Becerra’s office also lends financial support to
departments recruiting minority applicants by offering incentives
such as research money.
Although Becerra works directly with departments, the four
ethnic studies centers are allowed to hire six faculty members
apiece for any department they chose.
The centers conduct these hirings in a similar way to how
Becerra tries to conduct departmental hirings.
The 24 faculty members hired by the Bunche Center, the American
Indian Studies Center, the Chicano Studies Research Center and the
Asian American Studies Center divide their time between their
particular center and their respective academic departments.
In determining who to hire, the centers look for candidates who
have conducted research in an area relevant to their particular
communities, for example a psychologist who has extensively studied
African Americans. This hiring technique causes the applicant pool
to be diverse.
“This method is one vehicle for increasing faculty
diversity,” Hunt said. “There needs to be a concerted
effort to attract these candidates.”
The Faculty Diversity Initiative, which was submitted to the
chancellor’s office in February 2003, proposes that each of
the four centers be allowed to hire six additional faculty members.
Hunt said the administration is currently deciding the matter.
The faculty hired by these centers tend to be located in social
science departments. Overall, departments like history and
political science have more diversity in faculty members than the
more science-oriented departments.
Nashaun Neal, the chairman of the African Student Union, said it
is especially important to have black professors in social science
classes because they can “bring a different perspective to
the topic.” It is also important to have black professors in
science classes to counter stereotypes, he added.
“It’s always good to see minorities in faculty
positions because people might have a preconceived notion of what a
professor is supposed to be, and that notion might not include a
minority,” he said.
