According to the university’s 2022 Equity and Inclusion Report, Quinnipiac University’s School of Education does not have a dedicated faculty member who identifies underrepresented minorities, limiting the perspectives students learn from.

Based on the 2021 report, this is the second year in a row that the Faculty of Education is the only department or school without a full-time faculty member identified as a URM within the university.

The lack of minority professors in the Faculty of Education is not unfamiliar to some students.

2022 English Program graduate Justin Ellis said he doesn’t remember having a URM professor in his class.

“I never had the opportunity to be taught by a minority professor,” Ellis said. “However, the professors who were willing to teach diversity-based courses were very knowledgeable.”

According to an article by Vector Solutions, a consulting and management firm, hiring professors from diverse backgrounds can keep underrepresented students in the classroom.

A 2017 article stated, “A diverse faculty can help improve retention among minority student populations.”

Not only are minority students easier to retain, but all students get the chance to learn fresh perspectives from underrepresented professors, says Interfolio, the university’s faculty management company. In addition, URM faculty are able to expand their ‘social knowledge and understanding’ on topics that have already been researched.

Gordon said Quinnipiac was unhappy with the lack of diversity within its education department, but said the report needed to take context into account.

“The Faculty of Education is a very small school. It’s like a department, it’s a small department.”

The Faculty of Education currently has 13 full-time faculty members. All white women except Gordon. As of 2019, there are 322 students enrolled in the Faculty of Education.

Gordon also said it was “unfair” to compare the education department’s demographics to larger schools such as the College of Arts and Sciences.

According to the report, 17% of full-time faculty members in the liberal arts identify themselves as URM.

About one in five full-time teachers in all Quinnipiac schools are from URM, according to this year’s report. With 55 full-time faculty, the business school leads the industry with approximately 45% recognizing her URM.

The second most diverse school in terms of faculties is Law, with 23.8% of full-time faculties identifying themselves as URM, followed by Computing & Engineering faculties at 20%.

According to reports, all other QU schools have less than 20% of URM full-time teachers.

Outside of the education department, the nursing department has the next lowest percentage of URM faculty, with 9% of its 31 full-time faculty identifying themselves as URM.

Gordon said there is diversity in the faculty’s adjunct faculty.

The Equity and Inclusion report does not disclose the demographics of the university’s part-time faculty.

“We have multiple minority part-time faculty members in the education department,” Gordon said.

“They have different backgrounds and it’s important to recognize that.”

To combat the lack of diversity within education schools, Gordon and Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion Don Sawyer said the school has opened two new faculty positions and is prioritizing URM candidates. I got

“[The Department of Education]understands the importance of diversifying its faculty,” says Sawyer. “So they’re planning when the role opens up so they can cast the net wide by expanding the role and hopefully find someone who can fill the position.”

But Sawyer said the university cannot “force it.”

“It has to happen organically,” says Sawyer. “We can’t say who to hire, but we need to make sure our talent is diverse and representative of the field.”