Somewhere to Stay and Thrive: Relationships between Persistence and Environments for Diverse Faculty

Abstract

As colleges and universities invest in efforts to cultivate diverse learning environments, a primary focus has been hiring and retaining faculty with underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds. Using data from a large-scale, multi-institution quantitative data set, we explore how faculty persistence relates to aspects of a faculty member’s environment. We found that faculty perceptions of work-life balance and within-work balance were the strongest indicators of a faculty member’s intentions to persist. Relationships between persistence and aspects of environment tended to be strongest for LGBQ+ faculty. Institutions interested in supporting and retaining diverse faculty can use these findings to better understand their institution’s environment for faculty and pinpoint areas to implement change.