The PhD Project's Achievements in Diversifying Faculties Offers Model for All of Higher Education to Follow

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Nov 11, 2015, 08:30 ET

MONTVALE, N.J., Nov. 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Recent events at the University of Missouri and elsewhere have focused strong national attention on diversity within higher education. The PhD Project notes in a statement today that increasing the diversity of faculty is an effective strategy to attract minority students at all levels, in all disciplines.

The PhD Project, which has more than quadrupled minority representation in business school faculties, is a model that can be replicated in other academic fields.

PhD Project President, Bernard J. Milano, said in a statement today:

"As the national spotlight focuses directly on diversity in higher education, colleges and universities are seeking meaningful ways to demonstrate their efforts to increase diversity. Improving faculty diversity is one of the most effective ways to signal commitment to that goal."

The PhD Project has achieved results in the business school environment that can be replicated in colleges of arts and science, from the humanities to the sciences. It has demonstrated success by taking a new approach to faculty recruitment, development and retention.

At the core is a business approach to diversifying faculty. The PhD Project is:

A marketing program to attract minorities outside academia to become professors;
A peer- and mentor- based support system to guide them through the rigors of obtaining the doctoral degree needed to become a professor;
A professional development network to connect rising academics with employment openings, and to support them through early career experiences.

This model has produced:

A 90% completion rate among doctoral students.
A quadrupling of the number of minority PhDs in business.
A 97% retention rate of the new faculty it has produced.

These results have come through the specific, concrete, opportunities and advantages it brings to prospective professors who belong to underrepresented minority groups. These include:

Better informed and prepared pool of entering doctoral students.
Preparing doctoral students for challenges specific to each stage of the degree process before they begin it.
Ongoing peer support structure from other minority students at other universities.
Access to minority faculty at other universities who can become mentors and coaches.
Access to a national network of supportive peers and professors who can provide introductions and opportunities for employment upon completion.
Training by peers and faculty in how to conduct research.
Peer support meetings each summer to re-energize and re-motivate doctoral students after each demanding academic year.

Founded in 1994, this collaborative higher-education/business, public-private initiative has made significant inroads and increased diversity in the nation's leading business schools, among faculty and administration, as well as in the international business community. Creating new pathways for minorities to succeed in business schools and then in the boardrooms of corporate America, is what The PhD Project does.

The PhD Project has received ongoing support from its sponsoring companies, participating universities and organizations, and supply alliance members. Its founding organizations in addition to the KPMG Foundation, are the Graduate Management Admission Council, Citi Foundation, AACSB International. The leading corporations, foundations and associations funding it include: 300+ Participating Universities, AICPA Foundation, DiversityInc, Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP, Rockwell Collins, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., American Marketing Association, John Deere Foundation, CIGNA, ADP, Edison International (on behalf of the California State University System), Lincoln Financial Group, Aerotek/ TEKsystems (operating companies of Allegis Group), American Accounting Association, The Hershey Company, Academy of Management, NASBA and OCWEN.