Giving Compass' Take:

• Dr. Patricia Faison Hewlin, writing for Getting Smart, discusses how university faculty can encourage diversity by empowering more women and minorities within higher education. 

•  The author notes that trainings to address bias are the norm, but encourages universities to ensure authentic discussions are happening.

• Read about how to create a culture of inclusion at your organization.

While women earn more than half of all undergraduate and master’s degrees in the U.S., they remain substantially underrepresented in leadership positions.

The gap is even wider for students of color and widest among black students as the majority of black undergraduate and graduate students are women. The gender gaps in pay and leadership positions continue to receive attention and have triggered discussions and efforts in corporate and educational institutions, as well as the research community.

Universities, however, are uniquely poised to address these gaps because campus life is in many ways a microcosm of society.

The university setting is embedded with formal and informal norms that convey to students acceptable and unacceptable rules of engagement for interacting with diverse populations, both academically and socially. In light of this, those of us in faculty and leadership positions in universities have an opportunity to show our students what is possible in work and society by fostering an environment in which every student truly feels supported and empowered to self-actualize. In so doing, we can address the leadership gap among women and minorities.

Addressing the leadership gap among women and minorities begins with faculty and administrators becoming more attentive to the benefits of leveraging diversity, as well as promoting inclusion and empowerment among all students. Research shows that diverse groups tend to be more innovative and make better decisions. In particular, students’ integrative thinking capacity benefits from diverse collaborations and friendships. These are important outcomes that can chip away at biases that often hinder the degree to which women and minority students thrive in their universities and beyond.

In addition to diverse faculty hiring, an immediate step must be taken to address the issue of bias within and outside the classroom. While training is the usual “go to,” it is critical to select training programs that encourage authentic discussions around gender, race, and other categories in which students feel marginalized.

Read the full article about universities can address the leadership gap among women by Dr. Patricia Faison Hewlin at Getting Smart.