Reducing Pipeline Leaks: Faculty Development for Advancing and Retaining a Diverse Faculty

A diverse faculty is beneficial for enhancing institutional innovation and creativity, and cultivating culturally competent students who are prepared to solve global problems from diverse perspectives. While many universities are taking steps to increase the presence of diverse faculty on their campuses (structural diversity), they still lag when it comes to promoting and retaining women and faculty in underrepresented groups. The leaky pipeline metaphor, originally applied to the attrition of women in STEM (Pell, 1996), applies to all underrepresented groups in all disciplines, and for many underrepresented faculty members, the path to success has many barriers. Faculty development professionals can make an important contribution to reducing pipeline leaks and ensuring that the path to promotion and success for faculty at their institution is paved with equity.