Minority B-School Faculty Growing—Slowly

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"I don't think we'll ever be in a position where we'd hire just to improve stats," says John Matsusaka, vice-dean for faculty and academic affairs at Marshall. "We use the numbers, but we won't be driven by the numbers."

Academia as Career Option

One reason the minority PhD pipeline is as dry as it is: Undergraduates are not being shown the benefits of pursuing a business doctorate and a career in academia, says Jerry Strawser, dean at Texas A&M's Mays Business School (Mays Full-Time MBA Profile), where six of the 41 minority faculty, out of 186 total, come from underrepresented groups. Milano says the case can be made persuasively with information on work-life balance and salaries enjoyed by business faculty.

Opening up the minds of minorities to the possibilities of business degrees and showing them that the business world welcomes them are steps in the right direction, says Milano. "How many minorities have relatives who are corporate executives? What is their personal experience with business?" he asks. "They wonder, 'How do I make my mark in a world dominated by white people?' "

Another key to making progress, say business school administrators, is providing mentoring and networking opportunities for all faculty. Strawser suggests supporting faculty organizations for minorities and other underrepresented groups that bring together professors from the wider university and not just the business school.

Having support in place for minority faculty members is also necessary to retain them once a school has hired them. Finding mentors is especially important for minority faculty, who face specific challenges, says Nandini Rajagopalan, a chair in strategic entrepreneurship at Marshall. Many of them are overwhelmed by questions from minority students, who often feel a kinship with minority faculty, and they may feel like outsiders if there are few professors like them. Mainly, says Rajagopalan, they must get help in securing tenure, which requires hard work and a cultivation of talent on the part of the school, regardless of whether one is part of a minority group.

Few Hold Top Deanships

Minorities, like any other group, want proof they will be able to influence the institutions at which they work. With few underrepresented minorities holding deanships at top business schools—New York University's Stern School of Business (Stern Full-Time MBA Profile) is the only one among Bloomberg Businessweek's top 30 U.S.programs—that is a challenge, says Milano. The PhD Project recently launched the Achieving Higher Education Administration Diversity (AHEAD) program, which is intended to encourage tenured minority faculty to think about moving into administration.

In the meantime, some business schools, such as Marshall, see diversity as including the recruitment of professors from other nations and ethnic groups, as well as underrepresented minorities in the U.S., says Rajagopalan. With the U.S. facing more competition from other parts of the world, including the emerging economic powers of China and India, business schools must step up their efforts to diversify their communities and especially their faculty, she adds.

"U.S. universities have no choice but to make diversity a part of their strategy," says Rajagopalan. "It's crucial to their survival."

Di Meglio is a reporter for Businessweek.com in Fort Lee, N.J.