And the Winner is US: How We May All Benefit from Diversity in Academe

Abstract

ing of AfricanAmerican graduate students. Via e-mail, I arranged to take Terrell to lunch. Where would you like to eat? I asked this tall, affable young man, fresh from South Central Los Angeles. Well, that's sort of a problem, he explained, I'm vegan. I'll get back to this lunch, but first, let me detour. John Friedl, in his July/ August 1999 Change article, rightly calls for more (and better) documentation of the benefits of affirmative action. My purpose here is to assert the value of a diverse faculty, but for reasons that may surprise, and reinvigorate, those looking for meaningful educational reform. There is something different about what African Americans bring to academe I call it a mandate for success without conquest. The desire to thrive intellectually without the historical sense of occupation imposed by the dominant group may look to some like an obvious difference in perspective. But it appears to me the signal of a mighty change in the making. In response to the shortage of AfricanAmerican faculty, particularly at research universities, certain programs are becoming increasingly successful at producing AfricanAmerican scholars. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, reporting on this trend, notes record enrollment at the nation's top schools. Cur ently, the four highest-ranked (by U.S. News & World Report) schools of education are, collectively, 9.7 percent black, led by Columbia Teachers College at 13.2 percent. The others, in order, are Stanford University, University of California-Berkeley, and Harvard University. Record enrollments, however, are not limited to top-tier schools. In fact, AfricanAmerican graduate school enrollments have averaged a 6 percent increase each year over the past decade and, according to the National Center for Education Statistics' most recent figures, there were 125,487 African America s in graduate school in 1996. Earned doctorates have grown by an impressive 70 percent, rising in 1998 to 1,467, evidence of improved retention and degree completion. Consequen ly, a record number of African Americans are now in the academic pipeline. These numbers resonate with my experience. When I began graduate school at the University of Washington 10 years ago, there were few African Americans in the program and even fewer i teres ed in faculty appointments. Now, as an assistant professor in the same college, not only do I see far more African Americans pursuing doctoral degrees, both at the local and national levels, but a surprisingly large percentage of those I've talked to plan on academic careers. Why doctoral Edward Taylor is assistant professor of education at the University of Washington. This research was supported in part by grant from the Institute for Ethnic Studies in the United States. <