Professors Without Borders Think Tank

  • A new study by Professors Without Borders analyses  how faculty diversity impacts graduate rates in higher education.
  • The study identifies significant positive relationships between faculty diversity, expressed by gender, and graduation rates of female students.
  • The report underscores the need for future research in determining how to measure faculty diversity in higher education institutions.

Download the paper here The Impact of Faculty Diversity on Graduation Rates, Samantha Fu

Copy of Press Release Press Release The Impact of Faculty Diversity on Graduation Rates, Samantha Fu

PROFESSORS WITHOUT BORDERS (PROWIBO) PRESS RELEASE 25th October, 2018 | London

The Impact of Faculty Diversity on Graduation Rates, Samantha Fu is the latest study from Professors Without Borders.

This paper focuses on how faculty diversity impacts graduation rates. While there is extensive literature that explores the impact of campus diversity on students’ university experiences, particularly  their cognitive development and their satisfaction with their university experience, there is little research into the relationship between faculty diversity and student academic outcomes. Using survey data from higher education institutions in the United States of America, researcher Samantha Fu examines how diverse faculty representation affects student academic outcomes. Fu measures faculty diversity by determining the number of full-time teaching faculty who identify as a particular ethnic/racial group. Moreover, Fu includes a secondary measure of diversity that demonstrates the number of full-time teaching faculty who identify as female. 

Our research shows that there are significant positive relationships between faculty diversity, expressed by gender, and graduation rates of female students. While the paper does not establish a causal relationship between faculty diversity and student graduation rates, it emphasizes the need for a broad measurement of diversity that extends beyond ethnicity, race, and/or gender.

To find out more about or mission, please see www.prowibo.com or https://thinktank.prowibo.org

Samantha Fu is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Administration at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to commencing graduate studies, she worked on the analytics team for the 2016 Clinton campaign, as an economic consultant at Cornerstone Research in New York, and earned a Bachelor’s degree from McGill University in Montreal.

For further enquiries, interviews and media, contact,

Director, Dr Caroline Varin – cvarin@prowibo.com

Richard Adams for further press enquiries radams@prowibo.com