Does critical diversity pay in higher education? Race, gender, and departmental rankings in research universities

Abstract

“Critical diversity” is the equal inclusion of people from varied backgrounds on a parity basis throughout all ranks and divisions of an organization. The critical diversity perspective argues that as organizations become more diverse, they benefit relative to their competitors. This is in contrast to other accounts that view diversity as either inconsequential to success or actually detrimental. Using data from the 2011 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Rankings of U.S. Research Universities, this paper examines whether racial and gender diversity “pay” in terms of the rankings of academic programs at research universities. The NAS data set consists of several indicators relating to research productivity, student support and outcomes, and program diversity from over 5000 doctoral programs at US research universities. The results show that net of factors such as publication rates, grants, scholarly awards, program size, region, and whether the institution is public or private, racial and gender diversity among faculty and students at research universities are positively associated with departmental rankings. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for diversity in higher education.