More minorities needed
to help set country's course

As U.S. energy secretary, I oversee a federal agency that directly employs thousands and is responsible for some of the world's most important scientific facilities. These facilities in turn employ more than 30,000 highly skilled scientists, engineers and technicians. But, as you might expect, there are very few minorities in upper-level jobs.

It is a condition that is mirrored in much of the country-and one that I trust Florida International University and other forward-looking educational institutions will help us improve. FIU, where Hispanics and blacks constitute about 66 percent of the student population and where women account for 56 percent of all students, can play a leading role.

There is no escaping the need to get more minorities and women into the jobs that help set this country's course in areas like science, technology, energy and diplomacy. We have much to contribute in these areas, and together we must create conditions that allow us to play greater roles. We need only look at conditions as they have long existed to recognize that change is overdue.

For example, in 1995 only 110 Hispanics were among nearly 2,750 employees earning $60,000 or more at the Energy Department's Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where the atomic bomb was developed more than four decades ago. Only two of the lab's top 61 administrators were Hispanics in 1995.

I refer specifically to the very important lab in New Mexico because I was an U.S. Congressman representing that district at the time. I was among many who spoke up for change, and I am happy to say that pressure has been applied at most of the right places to begin altering employment practices and even a mind set that has led to disparities at the lab. And it is being done at other federal sites overseen by the Energy Department, too, even as I have called for renewed focus on scientific research and a greater sharing of science applications. We can have diversity and world-class science at the same time.

U.S. Secretary of Energy, Bill Richardson receives an honorary doctorate degree of Public Service from FIU President, Modesto Maidique in December, 1999.

 

When I came to the agency in 1998, the Energy Department itself had an unenviable record in terms of its minority work force. Hispanics, particularly, have not fared well in the labor force of the entire federal government, where the Office of Personnel Management says we are the only under-represented minority group. It is a long-standing problem that the Clinton/Gore Administration has been aggressively working to address, and it is one that I have addressed as energy secretary.

For example, I have made clear that I expect that job searches be sufficiently broad to produce an adequate pool of candidates from which to make a selection. In filling top-level positions in the Energy Department, I have worked to expand search efforts beyond the traditional venues so that qualified minorities and women are included in the pool of applicants being considered for the job. These broadened searches have paid off with strong appointments and enabled the Energy Department to enlist an increased number of women and minorities to fill management positions.

I have expanded a Hispanic Outreach Initiative begun by the Department in 1996, partnering with the Hispanic community in these critical areas: outreach/communications, education, employment, business and the environment.

"We need to create conditions that make it easier for women and minorities to be hired for ranking jobs-not only by federal agencies and national laboratories, but by private industry."

To help fuel the pipeline that will bring more minorities into important roles, I also am applying new emphasis to our Department's four-year-old partnership with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. This fund has awarded $880,000 in scholarships to more than 300 highly deserving Hispanic students, including 76 recipients this year. Half of this year's awards were made to community college students because we recognize that Hispanics are more likely to begin their post-secondary educational experiences in community colleges.

Apart from the scholarship program, the Energy Department has a special initiative designed to bring community college students into our national laboratories for exciting research opportunities. These students get free housing, a paid stipend and an opportunity to work side-by-side with our world-class scientists. Last summer, the department partnered with more than 70 community colleges, most of which serve predominantly Hispanic, Native American and black students.

These sorts of efforts are important because we need to create conditions that make it easier for women and minorities to be hired for ranking jobs-not only by federal agencies and national laboratories, but by private industry.

Nationally, only about 22 percent of Hispanics attend college. Only about 11 percent of Hispanics are said to have bachelor's degrees. More than 11,000 people nationwide obtained doctorates in physical sciences and engineering in 1995, but Hispanics reportedly accounted for less than 200 of those degrees.

Education is important if more minorities and women are to become influential players and not merely disenfranchised observers in our country's development. Education is the key to advancement. Anyone who doubts the advice need only consider these numbers: Nationally, the average annual income of someone without a high school diploma in 1997 was $14,900. It was $21,680 for someone with a bachelor's degree; $52,771 for someone with a master's degree; $79,346 for someone with a doctorate.

A good income, of course, does not guarantee a good life, but there is no escaping the fact that health care, housing, nutrition, transportation, education for our children, and so much more of what helps define quality of life is tied to income.

Let's work together so that diversity is used to mold strength, not create destructive divisions. It is projected that Hispanics and blacks will constitute about 40 percent of the total U.S. population by the year 2050. It is our responsibility to assure that our greater presence is accompanied by greater influence and impact on the course of our people and the world.

Bill Richardson is a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Congressman from New Mexico. He was sworn in as the ninth Secretary of Energy August 18, 1998, and is the highest-ranking Hispanic in the Clinton administration.

 

Higher education plays key role
in preparing students for a
diverse workplace

 

"Taking a comparative curricular approach to ethnic/race relations will help all individuals understand the dynamic interactions, which includes both opportunities and threats."

Much has been written about the changing demographic profile of our country. It goes without saying that the future ethnic make-up of America will be much different than it is today. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that the current population of the United States is approximately 269 million. It will rise to 286 million in 2005, 298 million in 2010, and 323 million in 2020. Of the more than 50 million who will be added to the national population in the next few decades, it is estimated that 60 percent will result from more births than deaths and about 40 percent from immigration. Immigrants and their children will account for more than one-half of the population growth.

Without question, the U.S. population will show significant increases in racial and ethnic diversity in the coming years. Projections indicate that "between 1990 and 2030, the population of whites in the United States will increase about 25 percent, the black population about 68 percent, the Asian American, Pacific Island American, and the Native American population about 79 percent, and the Hispanic population about 187 percent" (Manley, 1990, p.1). Demographic changes alone, however, will not lead to a changed educational environment unless members of underrepresented groups are included in the system of higher education.

One specific example of including underrepresented populations in the educational environment with positive outcomes is the race-sensitive admissions research done by William Bowen and Derek Bok, former presidents of Princeton and Harvard Universities, respectively. Their research, summarized in The Shape of the River (1997), indicated that race-sensitive admissions at highly selective institutions not only changed the make-up of the student population but also improved the quality of all students' educational experience. In their study, they found that 56 percent of the white students in their sample said that they knew two or more black students well, (which is significant considering that the black student population only made up approximately seven percent of the student bodies of the 30,000-student sample).

Eighty-eight percent of the black students said that they knew two or more white students well. Students in the sample were asked what diversity had meant to them and what they would do about the admissions policies that result in a diverse student body. Thirty-nine percent said they would strengthen the policies even further, another 39 percent said they would retain them as is, and only 22 percent believed that they should be diminished or eliminated altogether.

While the research of Bowen and Bok reflects the efforts of highly selective institutions to diversify the educational environment, there are certainly things that all colleges and universities can do to promote a collegiate experience that embraces diversity and multiculturalism, and in so doing, best prepares its students for the new millennium.

"…students learn better when the learning occurs in a setting where they are confronted with others who are unlike themselves."

First, institutions of higher education must participate in curricular reform. This will allow ethnic students to see themselves in the classroom, on the campus, and in American society. It is imperative for students to see themselves in the educational process for, as much of the research about student diversity has found, students from previously underrepresented groups have felt alienated from the rest of the campus community (Smith, 1989; Rendon and Hope, 1996).

Second, taking a comparative curricular approach to ethnic/race relations will help all individuals understand the dynamic interactions, which includes both opportunities and threats.

Colleges and universities should actively engage in research about the ethnic experience in American society as it applies to a variety of social issues including, but not limited to urban education, childcare, delivery of medical services, other health-related issues and civic engagement. The economic stratification and social problems facing the nation require colleges and universities to adapt the academy's three missions of research, teaching, and service to meet the emergent needs of the demographically changing world.

Finally, in the context of the increasingly multicultural environment, institutions of higher education should be vigilant and all encompassing in their efforts to prepare students for the next millennium. Colleges and universities must carefully frame research questions, train practitioners, and provide answers to pressing problems, all in the overall effort to prepare future leaders to return to the community and contribute as responsible citizens of a multicultural world. The data prove what academicians have been asserting all along…students learn better when the learning occurs in a setting where they are confronted with others who are unlike themselves (Bowen and Bok, 1997).

Others outside the academy have also supported the notion that education plays a significant role in bridging the racial divide and preparing our students for the new millennium. In Bakke v. Regents of the University of California (1978), nearly 20 years prior to the research of Bowen and Bok, Justice Powell asserted that "the nation's future depends upon leaders trained through wide exposure to the ideas and mores of students as diverse as this nation of many peoples." Colleges and universities must heed the insights of Justice Powell in his majority opinion in Bakke, and further, they must remember the more recent research findings that support the same…Diversity within the educational experience is indeed teaching students how to live in an increasingly diverse society, whereby best preparing them for the new millennium.

Sidney Ribeau, Ph.D., is president of Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. An expert in intercultural communication, African American culture, relational communication, public discourse and race relations, he is the co-author of the award-winning book, African American Communication: Identity and Cultural Interpretations. References Bowen, W., and Bok, D. (1997) The Shape of the River: Long-term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Manley, R.E. (1990) Fraternities' future holds ethnic diversity, Fraternity Law, 31, 1. Rendon, L.I., and Hope, R.O. (1996). An educational system in crisis. In L.I. Rendon, R.O. Hope, and Associated (eds), Educating a New Majority. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Smith, D.G. (1989) The challenge of diversity: Involvement or alienation in the academy? Report no. 5. Washington, D.C.: School of Education and Human Development, George Washington University.

References

Bowen, W., and Bok, D. (1997) The Shape of the River: Long-term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Manley, R.E. (1990) Fraternities' future holds ethnic diversity, Fraternity Law, 31, 1.

Rendon, L.I., and Hope, R.O. (1996). An educational system in crisis. In L.I. Rendon, R.O. Hope, and Associated (eds), Educating a New Majority. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Smith, D.G. (1989) The challenge of diversity: Involvement or alienation in the academy? Report no. 5. Washington, D.C.: School of Education and Human Development, George Washington University.

A diverse marketplace of ideas

 

"Affirmative action's value extends to the entire society."

There is overwhelming support for the proposition that the progress made over the last 30 years in achieving greater diversity is to be prized, not devalued.

-William Bowen and Derek Bok

 

The assertion above was made by two former presidents of institutions-Princeton (Bowen) and Harvard (Bok)-at the pinnacle of higher education in America in The Shape of the River, their landmark 1998 study on the role of race in the higher education. The issue of race in higher education is currently prominent in the public eye in light of efforts to eliminate affirmative action in Florida, California, Texas and elsewhere.

Both protagonists and antagonists of affirmative action are obliged to confront a central question: What's its public policy value? People on both sides of the issue are able to offer a litany of moral, sociological and political reasons for its maintenance and elimination, often focusing on its direct beneficiaries: blacks, Hispanics, women and other minorities. Yet, affirmative action is to be prized not just because of benefits to blacks, Hispanics, and women- it should be prized also because it has public policy value that goes beyond these minority groups.

Affirmative action has value not just for groups disadvantaged in education, housing, business and other areas by factors because of race, ethnicity and gender. Its value extends to the entire society. Among other things, it can facilitate appreciation of the nation's changing demographic reality with regard to racial and ethnic groups that are now numerically stronger. One gets a sense of this changing demographic reality from the latest Statistical Abstract of the United States, available at the web site of the U.S. Census Bureau-http://www.census.gov. The data show that whites comprised 86 percent of the population in 1980, were 84 percent in 1990, are 82 percent in 2000, and will be about 78 percent in 2025. Blacks were 12 percent in both 1980 and 1990, are 13 percent in 2000, and will be approximately 14 percent in 2025. The Hispanic population has been growing rapidly: six percent in 1980, nine percent in 1990, 11 percent in 2000, and it will be 18 percent in 2025.

Thus, whether or not people like it or know it, America is undergoing continuing dramatic demographic changes. In the context of this change, it is important for people in the groups that are now simultaneously the numerically largest and steadily declining to temper the inclination to be xenophobic and to develop an awareness of and tolerance for experiences, views, and interpretations that are predicated on and reflective of ethnic and racial backgrounds different than theirs. Diversity programs can aid this process.

FIU student musicians performed at a reception honoring Desmond Tutu. Pictured left to right are Pei-Ju Wang, Deborah Lugo, Archbishop Tutu, Lisa Donald, and Kevin Sylvester.

Moreover, diversity programs generally, and affirmative action in particular, are to be prized by educational institutions, which essentially are about preparing new generations for leadership roles in business, government, medicine, education and other areas critical for societal growth and development. In this respect, and bearing in mind the changing demographics mentioned earlier, it is apposite to note an observation made by Chang-Lin Tien, former chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley, in a November 1997 edition of USA Today. She remarked:

No career or profession will be untouched by the rapid socio-demographic change. For instance, consider how America's diversity will affect those in U.S. colleges and universities. Education students will teach many youngsters born in different countries. Medical students will treat many patients with beliefs and attitudes about medicine that differ from the Western outlook. Students of engineering and business will work for major corporations, where they will be expected to design, develop and market products that not just sell in the U.S. but in markets around the world. Law students will represent clients whose experiences with the judicial system in their neighborhoods and barrios is distinctive from the way Middle America regards the law.

This, then, is part of the answer to the question about the public policy value of affirmative action. Looking for the public policy value added of affirmative action related to its direct beneficiaries is necessary. But this is not sufficient; one should look beyond the minorities involved, to the society at large. As we do this, we should be mindful of the nation's changing demographic landscape and prize those national projects that have proved to be invaluable to the nation at large as it changed over the last decades.

Ivelaw L. Griffith, Ph.D., is associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and chair of the University Access and Equity Committee at Florida International University

 

 

Universities must prepare students for the diversity millennium

 

"People are the greatest asset of any organization. Nothing works if the people don't."

lobalization is here to stay. The arrival of the new millennium is draped with many opportunities and challenges, and globalization is leading the charge. Between emerging technologies and skyrocketing e-commerce transactions, human capital must accept complete responsibility for moving us toward a global community. There is probably nothing more critical than interaction with other human beings. It is the foundation of our existence and the backbone of our business dealings. People are the greatest asset of any organization. Nothing works if the people don't. For success in the business environment to become a reality, the needs of individuals must be met, and diversity plays the key role in this undertaking.

During the final decade of the 20th century, the word "diversity" surfaced with many definitions. It meant something different to each person. However, most seemed to agree that it is equated to differences, valuing differences, respect for others and inclusion.

Initially, businesses were skeptical about treading these unknown waters. Some approaches make diversity as EEO and affirmative action. Others resisted it because they did not understand it. And, there were some that feared that diversity really meant "quotas." As they learned more about diversity, many identified the value it added if they tied it to the bottom line. It did not take business long to understand that input from a broad spectrum yielded better and broader decisions and results. Today, companies are seeking the best and brightest who will add value to company growth, and universities must do their part to adequately prepare young women and men to rise to the occasion.

It is imperative that universities create a diverse, stimulating and learning environment for all students. Some necessary components to ensure this environment are:

• A commitment to diversity from the "top." Presidents and provosts and their leadership teams must set the stage and lead change.
  
• Ensure that the faculty is diverse.
• Develop a diversity plan for the university.
• Provide diversity training for staff and professors.
• Offer a bonafide degree in diversity.
• Establish a multicultural center that serves as a nucleus for diversity activities on campus.
• Provide adequate funding to support diversity initiatives.
• Communicate! Communicate! Communicate!

Students must be constantly exposed to business leaders and their employees, whether it be a plant visit or a visiting executive. They should also be made aware of recent studies/findings in the diversity arena, such as:

• The Study by Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM): "Barriers to Harassment Study" (1999) which contains diversity observations and insights.
• "Diversity in the Executive Suite: Successful Career Paths" prepared by the Columbia Business School and Korn/Ferry, the world's largest executive recruiting firm.
• Catalyst, Inc.'s "Study on Women of Color in Corporate Management: Opportunities and Barriers" which speaks to the special challenges facing executive women of color.

College graduates entering the work force in the new millennium must be equipped with an appreciation of all people. This means value systems will have to have been challenged during the university years so that when new entrants arrive at the corporate doorway, they are prepared and ready for the challenges that accompany a changing work force. Leaders will be less and less tolerant to those who do not connect with the "inclusion" team.

As mind builders and shapers, universities are charged with preparing the students for tomorrow's work force. These students will be entering a work world that is very different from that of the 20th century. Today, business is seeking people who support work/life balance initiatives and mentoring programs. New entrants are expected to value people who do not look like them and be supportive of more empowered and team-oriented environments. Cutting-edge companies view diversity as a competitive necessity and are leading the charge with enhanced technology that enables broader systems.

Diversity measurements are being introduced across the board, whether it is through recruiting data, employee surveys, and/or number and nature of diversity initiatives. In addition, diversity integration and management is recognized as a process, not a program. Businesses want people who can add value to the bottom line, regardless of their gender, favorite artist, ethnicity, hair color, religious affiliation, race, vacation preferences, work commute, eye color, automobile, favorite restaurant, sports team, alma mater, shoe size, or any other difference. Corporations want people who are broadminded, good communicators, great listeners, trustworthy, honest, energizers, well educated, tolerant, supportive, coachable, risk-takers, and who are, supportive of an inclusive culture. Preparing people to exhibit these behaviors is not an easy undertaking, but it must be done and who better to rise to the occasion than the university community?

Daisy M. Wood is general manager, global diversity, for Delta Airlines, Atlanta, Georgia. She has received the Citizen of the Year Award from the Urban League and the Achiever's Award from the NAACP. She recently completed an unprecedented third term as president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the governing body for historically black fraternities and sororities.

 

"It did not take business long to understand that input from a broad spectrum yielded better and broader decisions and results."