Michigan State University Extension
Diversity and Pluralism - 02090086
12/95/
ERIC TITLE NUMBER: ED134110 AUTHOR: Marcus, Laurence R.
TITLE: Affirmative Action in Science Departments: A
Challenge for Higher Education.
YEAR PUBLISHED: (1976)
NOTE: 16 p.; Adapted from a dissertation.
ABSTRACT: As part of a study of the implementation of
affirmative action in academic affairs at the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst, interviews were conducted with
the
heads of ten of the eleven departments and programs of the
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (FNSM). The
data
received were combined with written data available in
administrative files and in the university's archives and
affirmative action plan. There was strong consensus that it
was the federal initiative that had resulted in the
university's affirmative action plan. Among the faculties
surveyed, there was considerable resistance to the concept
of goals, seen to be identical with quotas, and there was
strong concern for maintenance of standards. Debate,
however, was generally low key. The percentages of
available
women and minority doctorates was low in most disciplines
at
the time; the distribution within existing faculty was more
balanced than in some other divisions, however. Post
doctoral positions in FNSM are an area in which, for
several
reasons, affirmative action has not been implemented. In
other areas of faculty hiring, the collegial contact
approach was the most commonly used one for hiring women
and
minorities. Most department chairmen felt that strong upper
level administrative support was essential to successful
implementation, and that budgetary considerations were
important; none felt that faculty leadership was an
important factor. The disciplines involved in the survey
are
biochemistry, botany, chemistry, computer and information
science, geology and geography, mathematics and statistics,
microbiology, physics and astronomy, polymer science and
engineering, and zoology. (MSE)
KEY DESCRIPTORS: Astronomy-; Biochemistry-; Botany-;
Chemistry-; Computer-Science; Department-Heads; Engineering
; Federal-Legislation; Geography-; Geology-; Government
Role; Microbiology-; Physics-; Racial-Discrimination; Sex
Discrimination; Standards-; Statistics-; Surveys-; Zoology-
KEY DESCRIPTORS: *Affirmative-Action; *College-Faculty;
*Employment-Practices; *Equal-Opportunities-Jobs;
*Mathematics-Teachers; *Science-Departments
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