`Progress' Seen In Affirmative Action Hiring

The University made "considerable progress" in appointing minority and women professors to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) last year, but the decreasing number of minority candidates nationwide may hamper future affirmative action efforts, according to the 1994 Affirmative Action Report.

The report, released by University officials yesterday, says that since 1991 the FAS has tenured four Black scholars, producing an appointment rate of one Black tenured faculty member per year. This is "the most significant increase in the appointment of Black scholars in Harvard's history," the report says.

"I think we have made considerable advances in the last year, but there's still a long way to go," Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles said in an interview yesterday. "We should neither be said nor smug."

"The pools of Blacks and Hispanics seeking Ph.D.s are shrinking," Knowles said. "While we may be doing reasonably right now, we're very concerned about the longer term future."

According to the report, "the 'pipeline' for new Black, Hispanic and Native American faculty continues to produce only a weak trickle."

Harvard itself has yet to suffer from the effects of the dearth of minorities beginning careers in academia, however, according to Knowles.

Almost seven percent of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences' (GSAS) current enrollment in Black, Knowlessaid. In 1989, Black students constituted only 2.9percent of enrollment.

"Even though the numbers in our own graduateschool are encouraging, the rapidly diminishingnational pool of minority faculty candidatesremains a cause for deeper concern," Knowles said.

Knowles, who met with the academic affairscommittee of the Harvard Foundation forIntercultural and Race Relations yesterday, saidhe has discussed minority faculty hiring withconcerned students throughout the year.

Student concern reached a peak last spring whenthe Minority Students Alliance--a group ofrepresentatives from several student minoritygroups--staged protests at a Junior Parent'sWeekend event.

Last month the alliance staged a similar,though less visible, demonstration protesting theslow progress of the University in hiring minoritytenured faculty during the last year.

Associate Vice President for Affirmative ActionJames S. Hoyte said yesterday that the Universityis very concerned with creating an academiccommunity which accurately reflects the diversityof the "larger national community."

Hoyte said the FAS in particular is progressingtowards this goal, albeit slowly. Five out of 23ladder faculty appointments made last year weremembers of underrepresented minority groups.

"There are reasons for encouragement," Hoytesaid, "even though the pool of minority Ph.D.candidates is stagnating, at best."

He said that some specific initiatives recentlyestablished by the University have been successfulin increasing the diversity of certainconstituencies on campus.

"The administrative staff successfullyestablished an administrative fellowship program,"Hoyte said. "And while the increases in thenumbers of underrepresented administrative staffwere modest, we have to remember that this ishappening while the University is in a period ofcost-containment."

Out of the 23 ladder faculty appointments madelast year, ten were of women, resulting in ahiring rate of 43 percent.

"To date, this is the highest FAS annual hiringrate for ladder faculty women, and itsubstantially exceeds the newly revisedavailablity rate of 34 percent for women in theladder faculty labor pool," the report said.

Similarly, the FAS has appointed five women totenured positions in each of the past two years,resulting in a hiring rate of 23 percent comparedto a tenured pool availablity rate of 14 percent.

Altogether, 22 of the 102 tenure appointments(21.5 percent) made during the past five yearshave been women, resulting in a net gain of 13tenured women since 1988

"Even though the numbers in our own graduateschool are encouraging, the rapidly diminishingnational pool of minority faculty candidatesremains a cause for deeper concern," Knowles said.

Knowles, who met with the academic affairscommittee of the Harvard Foundation forIntercultural and Race Relations yesterday, saidhe has discussed minority faculty hiring withconcerned students throughout the year.

Student concern reached a peak last spring whenthe Minority Students Alliance--a group ofrepresentatives from several student minoritygroups--staged protests at a Junior Parent'sWeekend event.

Last month the alliance staged a similar,though less visible, demonstration protesting theslow progress of the University in hiring minoritytenured faculty during the last year.

Associate Vice President for Affirmative ActionJames S. Hoyte said yesterday that the Universityis very concerned with creating an academiccommunity which accurately reflects the diversityof the "larger national community."

Hoyte said the FAS in particular is progressingtowards this goal, albeit slowly. Five out of 23ladder faculty appointments made last year weremembers of underrepresented minority groups.

"There are reasons for encouragement," Hoytesaid, "even though the pool of minority Ph.D.candidates is stagnating, at best."

He said that some specific initiatives recentlyestablished by the University have been successfulin increasing the diversity of certainconstituencies on campus.

"The administrative staff successfullyestablished an administrative fellowship program,"Hoyte said. "And while the increases in thenumbers of underrepresented administrative staffwere modest, we have to remember that this ishappening while the University is in a period ofcost-containment."

Out of the 23 ladder faculty appointments madelast year, ten were of women, resulting in ahiring rate of 43 percent.

"To date, this is the highest FAS annual hiringrate for ladder faculty women, and itsubstantially exceeds the newly revisedavailablity rate of 34 percent for women in theladder faculty labor pool," the report said.

Similarly, the FAS has appointed five women totenured positions in each of the past two years,resulting in a hiring rate of 23 percent comparedto a tenured pool availablity rate of 14 percent.

Altogether, 22 of the 102 tenure appointments(21.5 percent) made during the past five yearshave been women, resulting in a net gain of 13tenured women since 1988