Striving to Ensure听Equitability听and听Inclusivity in听Faculty听Hiring听
The Environmental Studies Program (ENVS) at the 麻豆视频 is dedicated to integrating the principles of inclusive excellence into its faculty-hiring process.
Below, you will find our Step-by-Step Guide to Inclusive Faculty Hiring. Whether or not you are serving on a hiring committee for ENVS, we hope you will find this resource听useful.听
ENVS is committed to redressing disparities in representation in academic professions. An important part of this project听is acknowledging听and working to dismantle systemic听white supremacy. Please see our听Statement on Condemning Racism.
Underrepresentation and听Overrepresentation听in听Academic Communities
Inclusive faculty-hiring protocols are intended to听address structural听inequities听resulting in the underrepresentation of certain social groups听(read differently as the overrepresentation of certain social groups) in academic workplaces. Social categories considered here听include听but are not limited to:
For a list of social categories protected under CU Boulder's Discrimination and Harassment Policy, please see this link.
It is important to note that听where each underrepresented听social category听is concerned,听representation听varies across the academy听as well as within different听departments/programs, colleges/universities, and academic disciplines/fields.听
ENVS faculty-hiring bodies听will comply with university policy and state and federal law. 听
Intersectionality
Members of underrepresented听groups听do not encounter听discrimination in a uniform manner.听Historical circumstances have, for example, resulted in different expressions听of racism toward鈥攁nd different experiences of racism by鈥攎embers听of different groups that have been听racialized "non-white." People with certain manifestations of听physical and/or听neurological difference听experience greater/less听social acceptance听than people with other听manifestations of听physical and/or听neurological difference. An individual who enters the job market at the age of forty-five听may encounter听less age-related discrimination than someone听who is a decade or two older. These are just a few examples of the myriad ways in which the effects of听institutional inequity听vary in relation to individual members of听underrepresented groups.
Furthermore, underrepresented听social categories are, of course, not mutually exclusive. People who are gendered female do not share听a universal听experience of gendered discrimination. In fact, gender听biases often intersect听with racism to produce compound expressions/experiences of discrimination. Likewise, people who identify as LGBTQIA+ may also be members听of听other underrepresented social categories. The same can be said for people who are differently-abled. Again, these are just a few examples of the many ways in which intersectionality shapes self-identification and social profiling.听
In addition, socioeconomic status affects opportunity in powerful and complicated ways. The socioeconomic disadvantage听is often a product of historical disparities in access to resources鈥攄isparities that听disproportionately affect听members of听marginalized ethnic and/or racialized听groups.听
In other words, social identities听are layered.听In the lived experiences of individual applicants, adversity and privilege can intersect and overlap. To counteract听systemic inequities that have resulted in the overrepresentation of privileged social groups in academic professions,听effective hiring committees must听remain cognizant of this complexity.
The Necessity of Implementing Institutional Safeguards to Increase听Faculty Diversity
Enhancing equitability and inclusivity in听faculty hiring听is not simply a matter of meaning well. At every step in the hiring process, structural advantages/disadvantages and implicit biases threaten to undermine the efforts of even the most well-intentioned hiring committee. Overt discrimination can also come into play. It is therefore incumbent upon hiring authorities听to adopt protocols听at every stage of the hiring process听to counter听institutional barriers to inclusivity, equitability, and faculty diversification.听
Our Commitment
The Environmental Studies Program at the 麻豆视频 has identified strategies that hiring committees can employ to address problems that arise throughout the hiring process. At the top of this page, in our Step-by-Step Guide to Inclusive Faculty Hiring, you will find protocols for each of the eight phases in the program's faculty-hiring life cycle. Please explore this content to better understand how discrimination and structural inequity听affect听faculty hiring and what the Environmental Studies Program is doing to combat the widespread overrepresentation of privileged perspectives and underrepresentation of socially marginalized groups in academic professions.
