The Relationship Between Faculty Diversity and Student Success in Public Community Colleges

• In Event: Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Gender in Education Poster Session

Abstract

Community colleges serve the most diverse student populations in higher education yet have some of the lowest levels of faculty diversity in higher education. Retaining diverse student cohorts through transfer/graduation is a goal, yet attaining this goal has been elusive. Few studies have explored the impact of faculty diversity on the successful retention of URM community college students. This study used data of 120 public community colleges from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to calculate a Diversity Score for each college to quantify the relationship between faculty diversity and student graduation, transfer, and drop-out rates. The findings suggest significant strong positive relationships between graduation, transfer, and drop-out rates for URM students of all race/ethnic categories and faculty diversity.

Authors

• James David Cross, Houston Community College

• Carol A. Carman, University of Texas Medical Branch