The Snail-Like Progress of Blacks Into Full-Time Faculty Positions at U.S. Colleges and Universities

A new report from the U.S. Department of Education finds that in 2003 there were more than 31,700 African Americans holding full-time faculty positions at U. S. colleges and universities. Only 51 percent of all black faculty were employed on a full-time basis. In 1993, 57 percent of the black faculty held full-time positions. For whites, 55 percent of the faculty was full-time in 2003 compared to 60 percent in 1993.

Blacks were 5.2 percent of the full-time faculty in 2003. In 1993 blacks were 4.7 percent of the full-time faculty. This is some progress but at best it can be regarded as snail-like. At JBHE we have extrapolated the gains in black full-time faculty over the past decade forward into the future. We find that it will take 160 years for the black percentage of full-time faculty at U.S. colleges and universities to equal the black percentage of the U.S. work force in general.

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