The Meaning of Diversity among the Professoriate

Few issues in higher education are as timely or complicated as diversity. The imperative for universities to embrace cultural and ethnic heterogeneity has gone beyond legal or political expediency. As Sudarkasa (1987) argued, diversity in the academy increasingly is a vital element in the pursuit of excellence because cultural pluralism has been the source of myriad original and seminal contributions to contemporary scholarship. Even recent curtailing of affirmative action initiatives by the U.S. Supreme Court (see Biskupic, 1995; Jacoby, Manly, McDaniel, & Starr,1989; Lemann,1995) might do little to derail the push for diversity within universities. Many students and faculty believe that diversity transcends affirmative action concerns (Bowser, Auletta, & Jones, 1993; Hallock, 1994; Leibler, 1993; Nacoste,1995). They expect that diversity will be considered in decisions about classroom climate and content, how resources are allocated, and how administrators, faculty, and students are recruited and retained. The push for diversity on college campuses is paralleled in the private sector where managing diversity is a prominent opportunity and challenge (Castro, 1990; Herriot & Pemberton, 1995; Mabry, Washington, Joseph, Koehl, Annin, & Manley, 1990; Mabry, 1990; "Melting pot holds," 1991; Suris, 1991). Demographic changes in the workforce and consumer markets have propelled industries to assess how effective they are at trading the melting pot for a "tossed salad" (Avery, 1994, p. E6). Along these lines, mass communication professions are responding to diversity (Allen, 1995; "Communicating to a diverse workforce," 1989; Fitzpatrick, 1994; Garza, 1994; John, 1994; Johnson,1983; Payne & Gonzales, 1994). Much of the discussion has focused on managing workforce heterogeneity and responding to the increasing segmentation of audiences (KernFoxworth, 1989; Kern-Foxworth, Gandy, Hines, & Miller, 1994; Lieberman & McCray, 1994; "Minority newsroom employment," 1992; "Multiculturalism is debated," 1994; Stone,1988; "Valuing diversity," 1994; Williamson, 1998). Despite diversity's impact in the academy and beyond, defining diversity and communicating about diversity remain significant hurdles. What exactly is meant by the term diversity? And, how can diversity be discussed in a way that is empowering for everyone? These questions provided the framework for this study. The purpose was to identify the meaning of diversity and to promote dialogue about diversity issues among faculty in the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida. Equally important is sharing the results of this project in the hope that the University of Florida's experience provides insights and recommendations for other universities as they deal with the issues addressed here. Why study diversity? The issue of defining diversity has become critical in the academic and legal discussions surrounding affirmative action and diversity programs. In March 1996, a federal appeals court struck down the University of Texas law school's affirmative action program for admissions, suggesting the university needed a broader definition of diversity (Verhovek, 1996). "Individuals, with their own conceptions of life, further diversity of viewpoint ... [and] bring a different perspective to the law school," according to the judge (p. 6). The decision, with its potential for affecting programs at universities across the nation, may help shape the definition of diversity to include more than gender, race, and ethnicity. Yet, following the court's decision in Hopwood v: Texas, law school and undergraduate applications for African Americans at the University of Texas fell in 1997 by 42 and 26 percent, respectively (Raspberry, 1997). The figures for Hispanics were 26 percent and 32 percent (Raspberry, 1997). Policies in California eliminating race as a factor in college admissions decisions also have been cited as the cause of plummeting minority enrollment (Baker, 1997). …