The GAO report released on Tuesday revealed that the diversity of college faculty is not keeping up with the diversity of students in higher education.
The report, titled “Higher Education: Employment Discrimination Case Referrals between Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Could Be Improved,” found that although diversity has increased over the years, it still lags behind the diversity of students at colleges.
In 2021, only 8 percent of college faculty were Black, while Black students made up 12 percent of the college population. Hispanic faculty accounted for seven percent, compared to 19 percent Hispanic students.
Representative Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Ranking Member for the Education and the Workforce committee, requested the GAO study on faculty diversity at higher education institutions and their hiring policies. Scott highlighted the importance of faculty diversity in student success and retention rates.
Scott also noted that while faculty diversity has improved over the past twenty years, it still does not accurately represent the student population.
The GAO also discovered that the Department of Education takes too long to refer discrimination complaints against colleges to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Although the department aims to refer complaints within 30 days, the report found that it takes an average of 71 days for complaints to reach the commission.
The GAO provided two recommendations to address this issue: tracking the timing of referrals and developing a new protocol for receiving and processing complaint referrals.
The Department of Education agreed to track the timing but did not make a decision on changing protocols.
Scott expressed his encouragement regarding the Administration's commitment to implementing the GAO’s recommendations for improving the claims process, particularly in light of the GAO's discovery that the process for faculty to file discrimination claims is not always clear or prompt.
