Wed, Jul 22, 2026
[Archive]
Volume 7, Issue 2 (JUNE ISSUE 2026)
johepal 2026, 7(2): 7-25 |
Back to browse issues page
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Hakkola L, Laplante J. (2026). Examining an Equity-Minded Search Training as a Catalyst for More Inclusive Faculty Hiring. johepal. 7(2), 7-25. doi:10.66224/johepal.7.2.7
URL: http://johepal.com/article-1-1764-en.html
URL: http://johepal.com/article-1-1764-en.html
Abstract: (835 Views)
Higher education institutions often utilize search committee trainings to better equip participants with the tools needed to execute a fair faculty search process. This study examined the ways in which a Predominantly White multi-campus university system in the Northeastern United States restructured its system-wide Equal Opportunity search training to assist participants in centering diversity and equity in their searches. Researchers designed and evaluated a pre and post survey to examine the ways in which participation in the equity-minded search training affected respondents’ critical understanding of equity and diversity and potentially enriched notions of fairness in the search process. This study advances scholarship focused on the positive impact equity-mindedness can have when thoughtfully implemented into a university-led intervention. Additionally, results demonstrate how institutional leaders in Equal Opportunity can partner with faculty and staff to engage in reflexive and ongoing conversations about diversity and equity to uncover how hiring practices may lead to implicit bias, systemic discrimination, and unintended inequities in the search process.
Keywords: Diversity, Equal Opportunity Leaders, Equity-mindedness, Faculty Searches, Search Training
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2025/12/8 | Accepted: 2026/06/14 | Published: 2026/06/30
Received: 2025/12/8 | Accepted: 2026/06/14 | Published: 2026/06/30
Online Supplement (Tables 1 & 2) [PDF 1340 KB] (96 Download)
References
1. AAUP. (2024, October). Diversity, equity, and inclusion criteria for faculty evaluation. American Association of University Professors Reports and Publications. [Article]
2. Bhalla, N. (2019). Strategies to improve equity in faculty hiring. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 30(22), 2744-2749. [DOI]
3. Bensimon, E. M. (2018). Reclaiming racial justice in equity. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 50(3/4), 95-98. [DOI]
4. Bensimon, E. M., Dowd, A. C., & Witham, K. (2016). Five principles for enacting equity by design. Diversity & Democracy, 19(1), 8-11.
5. Bilimoria, D., & Buch, K. K. (2010). The search is on: Engendering faculty diversity through more effective search and recruitment. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 42(4), 27-32. [DOI]
6. Blair-Loy, M., Packer, J. R., Mayorova, O. V., & Cosman, P. C. (2025). Introducing excellence: Gender and the introduction of faculty finalist candidates in engineering job talks. Work and Occupations, 52(4), 569-614. [DOI]
7. Bonilla-Silva, E. (2018). Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in America (5th ed.). Rowman & Littlefield.
8. Cahn, P. S., Gona, C. M., Naidoo, K., & Truong, K. A. (2022). Disrupting bias without trainings: The effect of equity advocates on faculty search committees. Innovative Higher Education. 47(2) 253-272. [DOI]
9. Cavanaugh, C., & Green, K. (2020). Training faculty search committees to improve racial and ethnic diversity in hiring. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 72(4), 263-274. [DOI]
10. Colby, G., & Guzman, R. (2025, Fall). Data snapshot: Women faculty and faculty of color, fall 2023. Academe. American Association of University Professors. [Article]
11. Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.
12. Dobbin, F., & Kalev, A. (2018). Why doesn’t diversity training work? The challenge for industry and academia. Anthropology Now, 10(2), 48-55. [DOI]
13. Espenshade, T. J., & Radford, A. W. (2009). No longer separate, not yet equal: Race and class in elite college admission and campus life. Princeton University Press.
14. Fine, E., & Handelsman, J. (2012a). Reviewing applicants: Research on bias and assumptions (3rd ed.). Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute (WISELI), University of Wisconsin–Madison. [Article]
15. Fine, E., & Handelsman, J. (2012b). Searching for excellence and diversity: A guide for search committees (2nd ed.). Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute, University of Wisconsin–Madison. [Article]
16. Gasman, K. (2022). Doing the right thing: How colleges and universities can undo systemic racism in faculty hiring. Princeton University Press.
17. Gasman, M., Kim, J., & Nguyen, T. H. (2011). Effectively recruiting faculty of color at highly selective institutions: A school of education case study. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 4(4), 212-222. [DOI]
18. Greenwald, A. G., Dasgupta, N., & Teachman, B. A. (2022). Implicit-bias remedies: Treating discriminatory bias as a public-health problem. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 23(1), 7-40. [DOI]
19. Hakkola, L., & Dyer, S. J. V. (2022). Role conflict: How search committee chairs negotiate faculty status, diversity, and equity in faculty searches. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 15(5), 583-595. [DOI]
20. Hakkola, L., & Ropers-Huilman, R. (2018). A critical examination of diversity discourses in higher education: A focus on diversity in student affairs and admissions. In M. Paulsen, (Ed.) Higher education: Handbook of theory & research (Vol. 33, pp. 417-468). Springer International Publishing.
21. Harris, M., & Ellis, M. (2020). Measuring changes in institutional diversity: The US context. Higher Education, 79(2), 345-360. [DOI]
22. Harvard University. (2016). Best practices for conducting faculty searches. Harvard University. [Article]
23. Hurtado, S., Milem, J. F., Clayton-Pedersen, A. R., & Allen, W. R. (1999). Enacting diverse learning environments: Improving the climate for racial/ethnic diversity in higher education (ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, Vol. 26, No. 8). Jossey-Bass.
24. Jayakumar, U., Garces, L. M., Park, J. J. (2018). Reclaiming diversity: Advancing the next generation of diversity research toward racial equity. In M. Paulsen, (Ed.) Higher education: Handbook of theory & research (Vol. 33, pp. 11-79). Springer International Publishing.
25. Jayakumar, U., Howard, T., Allen, W., & Han, J. (2009). Racial privilege in the professoriate: An exploration of campus climate, retention, and satisfaction. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(5), 538-563. [DOI]
26. Kets, W., & Sandroni, A. (2015). Challenging conformity: A case for diversity. Discussion Paper No. 1585. [Article]
27. Kossek, E. E., Buzzanell, P. M., Wright, B. J., Batz-Barbarich, C., Moors, A. C., Sullivan, C., Kokini, K., Hirsch, A. S., Maxey, K., & Nikalje, A. (2024). Implementing diversity training targeting faculty microaggressions and inclusion: Practical insights and initial findings. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 60(1), 50-86. [DOI]
28. Lee, C. D. (2014). Search committees: A comprehensive guide to successful faculty, staff, and administrative searches. Stylus.
29. Liera, R. (2020a). Equity advocates using equity-mindedness to interrupt faculty hiring’s racial structure. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 122(9), 1-42. [DOI]
30. Liera, R. (2020b). Moving beyond a culture of niceness in faculty hiring to advance racial equity. American Educational Research Journal, 57(5), 1954-1994. [DOI]
31. Liera, R., & Ching, C. (2020). Reconceptualizing “merit” and “fit”: An equity-minded approach to hiring. In A. Kezar & J. Posselt (Eds.), Administration for social justice and equity in higher education: Critical perspectives for leadership and decision-making (pp. 111–131). Routledge.
32. Liera, R. (2022). Advancing racial equity in faculty hiring through inquiry. In R. Johnson, U. Anya, & L. Garces (Eds.), Racial equity on college campuses: Connecting research and practice (pp. 21-41). State University of New York Press.
33. Liera, R., & Hernandez, T. E. (2021). Color-evasive racism in the final stage of faculty searches: Examining search committee hiring practices that jeopardize racial equity policy. The Review of Higher Education, 45(2), 181-209. [DOI]
34. Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. SAGE Publications, Inc.
35. Malcom-Piqueux, L., & Bensimon, E. M. (2017). Taking equity-minded action to close equity gaps. Peer Review: Emerging Trends and Key Debates in Undergraduate Education, 19(2), 5-8.
36. Moody, J. (2012). Faculty diversity: Removing the barriers. (2nd ed.). Routledge.
37. Nelson, L. K., & Zippel, K. (2021). From theory to practice: How the concept of implicit bias was implemented in academe, and what this means for gender theories of organizational change. Gender & Society, 35(3), 330-357. [DOI]
38. Neuendorf, K. A. (2017). The content analysis guidebook. SAGE Publications, Inc.
39. O’Meara, K., Culpepper, D., Templeton, L. L. (2020). Nudging toward diversity: Applying behavioral design to faculty hiring. Review of Educational Research, 90(3), 311-349. [DOI]
40. Paluck, E. L., Porat, R., Clark, C. S., Green, D. P. (2021). Prejudice reduction: Progress and challenges. Annual Review of Psychology, 72, 533-560. [DOI]
41. Posselt, J., Hernandez, T. E., Villarreal, C. D., Rodgers, A. J., & Irwin, L. N. (2020). Evaluation and decision making in higher education: Toward equitable repertoires of faculty practice. In L. W. Perna (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (vol. 35, pp. 1-63). Springer. [DOI]
42. Sensoy, O., & DiAngelo, R. (2017). “We are all for diversity, but…”: How faculty hiring committees reproduce Whiteness and practical suggestions for how they can change. Harvard Educational Review, 87(4), 557-580. [DOI]
43. Smith, D. G. (2000). How to diversify the faculty. Academe, 86(5), 48-52. [DOI]
44. Smith, D. G., Turner, C. S. V., Osei-Kofi, N., & Richards, S. (2004). Interrupting the usual: Successful strategies for hiring diverse faculty. The Journal of Higher Education, 75(2), 133-160. [DOI]
45. Tierney, W. G., & Bensimon, E. M. (1996). Promotion and tenure: Community and socialization in academe. New York Press.
46. Tomlinson, G., & Freeman, S. Jr. (2017). Who really selected you? Insights into faculty selection processes in top-ranked higher education graduate programmes. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 42(6), 855-867. [DOI]
47. Trower, C. A., & Chait, R. P. (2002, March 01). Faculty diversity. Harvard Magazine. [Article]
48. Turner, C. S. V., González, J. C., & Wood, J. L. (2008). Faculty of color in academe: What 20 years of literature tells us. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 1(3), 139-168. [DOI]
49. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (n.d.). Overview. [Article]
50. Umbach, P. D. (2006). The contribution of faculty of color to undergraduate education. Research in Higher Education, 47(3), 317-345. [DOI]
51. White-Lewis, D. K. (2020). The facade of fit in faculty search processes. The Journal of Higher Education, 91(6), 833-857. [DOI]
| Rights and permissions | |
 |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
