Diversity All Around Us But Not at the Top

Last week I chatted about my recent interview on a new podcast featuring thought leaders in the government and nonprofit sectors.  The podcast was developed by a former student and graduate of our MPA program, Jacob Lawrence.  You can listen to the full hour interview here: http://www.iamjakelawrence.com/podcast/2017/3/18/episode-3-alicia-schatteman.

It was a lot of fun!  It was also interesting to think about my career and the many twists and turns which are common for those who decide to dedicate their lives to a life of service.  I started out thinking what I wanted to do was work in government and then found myself in the nonprofit space.  It seemed a better fit for me.  Our MPA students often cross back and forth between these sectors, learning, growing, changing.  Sometimes they see it as two steps forward, one step back but I do not. Whatever our experiences are, they have brought us to this day, exactly where we are supposed to be.  I think that is maturity talking.

A couple of weeks ago, I also met with a number of our Latino undergraduate and graduate students who are contemplating a career in public service.  Although people of color currently represent 36% of the US population which is expected to grow to 50% by 2042, they are very underrepresented in government and nonprofit organizations.  According to Nonprofit Quarterly, only 7% of nonprofit chief executives and 18% of nonprofit employees are people of color. In terms of nonprofit governance, according to Board Source, only 8% of nonprofit board members are minorities and 30% of boards lack a single member of color despite the fact that diversity is a core value of 63% of nonprofit organizations. Can should and can do better.

So what about government?  According to Pew Research Center, "fifty-six of the 146 nations (38%) studied by the World Economic Forum in 2014 and 2016 have had a female head of government or state for at least one year in the past half-century". What about the state level? In the US House of Representatives, women hold 19% of the seats and 21% in the Senate.  It's about the same story at the state level.  About a quarter of state legislators are women and about 19% of all mayors are women. 

In higher education, the statistics are no better. In the 2014–15 academic year, only 10.3 percent of doctoral degrees were awarded to African American women and 7.3 to Hispanic women compared to 66 percent for white women.  Women hold fewer tenured positions, and about 26% of all College and University presidents are women.  Women represent about 30% of all college and university board members, which has remained the same for two decades. 

Students studying government and nonprofits are more diverse than ever so we need to do a better job at figuring out how to break into management and boards.