Academic Leadership by Race

America has a long and grim history of racism. And while the country has made progress in eradicating racism—for example, through the historic March on Washington in 1963 and the more recent Black Lives Matter movement—disparities persist for racial and ethnic minorities.

One place where racial and ethnic minority groups remain underrepresented is in the workplace, especially in high-level positions. This is apparent in higher education: In 2021 (the most recent data available), 66.5% of faculty members were White. At the same time, Latinx/Hispanic, Black, and Asian American faculty made up just 6%, 6%, and 11%, respectively, of professors, instructors, and lecturers, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Racial and ethnic minorities are even rarer in academic leadership roles—even though people of color make up a larger share of postsecondary students than ever before in history. However, diversity—specifically in academic leadership—is essential for the effective management of the institution and the ability to relate to and educate the student body.

First Black College Student and President

A timeline of key events, presented by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, begins in 1799 when John Chavis—a Presbyterian minister and teacher—became the first Black student to attend an American college. (Chavis was a student at what is now Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.) It wasn’t until 24 years later that Alexander Lucius Twilight became the first known Black American to graduate from college, earning a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College. By 1900, more than 2,000 Black Americans had earned college degrees. Around 390 of these were earned from White institutions.

Today, education is seen as the most direct path to financial success. Yet, while the student population has become more diverse, faculty have remained predominantly White, even at Black colleges.

Growth is equally slow for Black representation in academic leadership. Henry Martin Freeman became the first Black college president in 1856 when he was hired at Avery College. In 1874, Patrick Francis Healy became the first Black academic named president of a predominantly White school, Georgetown University. It took nearly a century for Clifton R. Wharton Jr. to become the second Black president of a mostly White university, Michigan State University, in 1969.

Minorities Are Underrepresented in Full-Time Faculty Positions

According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, Black people make up about 13.6% of the country. Yet a 2023 report from executive recruiting firm Crist Kolder Associates found only 12 Black chief executive officers (CEOs) of S&P 500 and Fortune 500 companies in 2023—up from eight in 2022 and six in 2021. And while Latinx and Hispanic people represent the nation’s largest (19.1%) racial or ethnic minority group, just 27 were CEOs at this level.

The higher education industry is not much better. According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, full-time Latinx/Hispanic, Black, and Asian American faculty made up just 4%, 4%, and 12%, respectively, of professors, instructors, and lecturers in 2021 (the most recent data available). White academics comprised the largest portion of all positions and represented 75% of full-time faculty.

White people also hold the most administrative positions in higher education. In 2022, more than 72% of administrators were White, with people of color comprising just 28% of top leadership roles.

Racial Wage Gaps in Higher Education

Even in today’s increasingly diverse workforce, equal pay for equal work is not a reality for most people of color.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, full-time workers had median weekly earnings of $1,145 in the fourth quarter of 2023 (the most recent data available). However, when broken down by race/ethnicity, the results show glaring disparities. Here’s what each group earned:

• Asian American: $1,528
• White: $1,157
• Black: $967
• Latinx/Hispanic: $884

There is a similar pattern among higher education administrators. White, Latinx/Hispanic, and Black administrators are paid less than Asian American administrators, who comprise 3% of these positions and earn significantly more than their Latinx, White, and Black counterparts.

However, the incomes of these other three groups are very close overall. “When it comes to salaries, minority administrators as a whole are paid equitably in relation to their non-minority (White) colleagues. In other words, minority pay matches non-minority pay dollar for dollar. What’s more, this salary parity has remained fairly steady for the past 15 years,” reports a 2017 study from CUPA-HR.

Racial Minority Women

Women who are members of racial minority groups are the least represented and lowest paid segment of the overall workforce and the higher education industry. This group is susceptible to greater bias because of the intersectionality of their identities. For example, women face discrimination in the workplace, as do Black people, so a Black woman is very likely to experience bias based on both of these identity categories.

By gender, median weekly earnings for Black men were $997—80.2% of the median for White men ($1,243). Meanwhile, with median earnings of $923, Latinx/Hispanic men earned 74.3% of the median for White men. The difference was slightly less extreme among women, as Black women’s median earnings were $936—or 89.6% of the median for White women. Latina/Hispanic women earned $810, or 77.5% of those for White women. The median earnings of Asian American men ($1,731) and women ($1,356) were higher than their White peers.

The gap narrows for racial minority women in staff, faculty, administrative, and professional positions at colleges and universities. When looking at median pay as a percentage of White men’s income, pay equity for Black women decreases slightly as the position level increases. At the same time, pay equity declines at every position level for White women.

Racial Gaps Between Faculty and Students

In recent years, colleges and universities have begun to recognize the importance of a diverse student body. Stories of unfair admissions practices have made headlines, including alleged discrimination against Asian American applicants to Harvard and celebrities buying their way into top colleges. Although there is still a long way to go before true diversity is achieved, colleges and universities have made some progress.

Today, the focus is shifting toward the demographic composition of the faculty. As the student body of colleges becomes more diverse, the staff and administration remain largely White. For example, a Pew Research Study found that 20% of college students were Latinx/Hispanic, compared with just 5% of faculty. Forty-five percent of undergraduate students were members of minority groups, compared with only 24% of faculty.

The racial gap has narrowed slightly over the last two decades (from 1997 to 2017) when looking at non-White people as a whole. In 1997, minority groups made up 28% of students and 14% of faculty. However, Black and Latinx/Hispanic representation in faculty barely moved. Black representation increased from 5% to 6%, and Latinx/Hispanic grew from 3% to 5%.

The Bottom Line

Having diverse leadership in higher education is important for the institution and the student body. Having minority representation in faculty, administration, and staff improves student engagement and retention, as well as classroom discussions, and helps prepare students for the workforce. Racial gaps will not improve overnight, but there are steps that colleges and universities can take to help speed up the process:

• Evaluate existing pay and representation to identify any gaps.
• Ensure fair market wages and competitive salaries when competing for minority candidates.
• Examine employee turnover, age, and experience of existing minority employees to identify those who can potentially move up the career track.

Higher education has come a long way since segregation and all-male colleges. Taking steps today will help institutions narrow the pay and representation gaps, creating a more equitable environment for all students, faculty, staff, and administrators.