Have you ever thought about the diversity among professors at UNI? How many of your courses this semester or the semesters before are being taught by ethnic professors?

According to data from the 2014 school year, UNI actually is more diverse than what we expected, at about 14 percent. That being said, it still doesn’t match up to an acceptable standard compared to the rest of the nation.

In order to be a professor at an academic institution a person must have a doctorate degree in an academic field. In the U.S., of all potential professors who meet that requirement. 20 percent of them are multicultural. Therefore it should understandable that the standard for being considered a diverse campus would be to have at least, 20 percent of the faculty be multicultural.

For our research, we created a survey for students. The questions included:

– If you have a professor(s) who are diverse, does it bother you?

– How many professors do you have who are diverse?

– What are your thoughts on having more diversity among professors/teachers?

– Do you think there is lack of ethnic professors and teachers at UNI/other colleges? Yes or No? Why?

26 students took this survey. 15 students said they had one to two ethnic professors, three had four professors and up, while eight said that they have none.

Students as a whole have no problem with multicultural professors as long as they are able to lead a class successfully. In fact they feel it is good to have an outlook apart from the usual at UNI.

Those in education said that someone from a different ethnic background could “provide a different view on things that you do not get a lot in the Education department” and that multicultural teachers “allow children to understand that there’s more to the world than just them.” The same could be said about college students.

It brings up the point of students here that have the mindset of someone who hasn’t gotten the opportunity to branch out and see the entire world personally and make their own judgments. UNI is home to a large amount of its student population that come from small Iowa towns.

There are students here who have never seen anybody other than Caucasian people in the flesh. They’ve never met an African-American person, a Hispanic person, an Asian person, a Pacific Islander, anybody from overseas. Those that have different skin tones and even those that share the same skin tones but have an entirely different culture attached to them. Some only know what is presented to them by their parents and what they saw on TV.

A student said, “Diversity allows for more areas and viewpoints to be incorporated into the education system and better prepare people for the real world.” These people exist in the working world.

When asked what their thoughts on diverse professors were, a student responded, “It is beneficial because they can offer different styles and techniques from their culture. Some language barriers can be difficult, but all of the diverse teachers I’ve had are willing to work with you.”

Students say it’s better to have more diversity on campuses. They not only learn material from the class but they also learn about the professors, where they came from and what their backgrounds are.

A student said, “Diversity allows for more areas and viewpoints to be incorporated into the education system and better prepare people for the real world.”

This couldn’t be truer out in the working world. The same way that someone is sought after more because they are proficient in multiple languages, someone with an open mind, broad range of interpersonal skills and experience with different ethnicities and cultures are looked at in a higher regard in the work force.

UNI definitely has a somewhat-noticeable group of professors here from multiple ethnic backgrounds. But there is room for improvement, without a doubt. Multicultural professors provide a learning experience that translates inside as well as outside of the classroom and cannot be found anywhere else.

A 20 percent diverse faculty seems reasonable, although the solution shouldn’t be a quota. Goals set in that form always wither down to a loophole that results in less than acceptable results just so a goal gets accomplished and sub-par professors aren’t the answer, rather it should be made more aware to the higher ups how important a diverse faculty is. Hopefully this has a part in that.

-Anonymous