Report Says Hire More Blacks

Harvard must emphasize the recruitment and promotion of minority and female employees in the upcoming year in order to increase their presence in several areas of the University, according to the annual affirmative action report.

The report, a summary of which was published last week in the Harvard Gazette, the official University publication, says that although Harvard has a progressive affirmative action hiring record overall, there are specific areas of underutilization of women and minorities, notably the number of high-level Black administrators and academicians.

Published by President Derek C. Bok's office, the report is required by federal law to see if the University meets affirmative action regulations, said John B. Williams, assistant to the president on affirmative action.

The report cited the number of minorities given full professorships as low. The number of tenured minority faculty members has dropped from 56--or 6.3 percent--to 49--or 5.5 percent since last year. In addition, minorities need better representation in executive and deanship positions throughout Harvard, the report says.

Harvard should also increase the number of female skilled workers in non-faculty positions. The percentage of women in such positions has remained steady at 2 percent of the total over the last several years.

But the report claimed success in the area of female tenured faculty members, which it listed as having jumped from 41--or 4.6 percent of all faculty members--to 45--or 5 percent.

In order to bolster the ranks of minorities in upper level positions, Williams said the University needs to expand recruitment and training programs.

But some Black administrators said yesterday that Harvard also needs to do more to make Blacks feel comfortable.

"Harvard needs to change its millieu and make minority people want to stay here," said Joseph L. Henry, associate dean of the School of Dental Medicine.

Henry said that many Blacks feel isolated at Harvard and sense that they need to go elsewhere in order to get promoted to higher positions.

The report cites the declining presence of minorities in graduate school as the reason for the decrease in the number of Black academicians.

Women, according to the report, have made substantial progress at the University. Aside from the area of skilled craftsmen, the report indicates a steady rise in the percentage of women in all areas of University life.

Bok has been outspoken about affirmative action, citing the need to maintain current federal laws mandating that employers meet goals in hiring minorities and women. In an opinion piece printed in the Washington Post earlier this year, Bok attacked efforts by the Justice Department to dismantle current affirmative action laws.