Diversity and Inclusion Master Plan

Part II. Workforce

This section presents national and SUNY Optometry workforce demographic data by gender, race and rank.

Faculty Diversity ASCO issues an Annual Full-Time Faculty Data report with the total number of full-time faculty in all 21 schools of optometry in the country by gender and race/ethnicity 10 . Faculty data is presented by type of teaching assignment (Didactic, Clinical, Research), and clinical and didactic faculty data are also presented by rank (Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professors, Instructor) 11 . According to the 2014-2015 report (Table 20), out of the total of 708 full-time faculty members, 53% were female and 47% were male. At SUNY Optometry, the total number of faculty, including full time and part time was 142 as of September 1, 2016. The ratio of female to male is very similar to the national trend, with 56% of faculty members being female and 44% male. As per table 20, full-time faculty nationwide are disproportionally White (73.7%) and Asian (15.7%), while URMs are represented in substantially lower numbers. At SUNY Optometry, Whites (72.5%) and Asians (21.8%) are the majority, followed by Hispanics (4.2%) and Blacks (2.1%). Compared to the national average, SUNY Optometry has significantly higher percentage of Asian faculty members (21.8% vs. 15.7%) and lower averages for Blacks (2.1% vs. 2.8%) and Hispanics/Latinos (4.2% vs. 5.2%).

Table 20. Total Full-Time Faculty in Optometry Schools, SUNY Total, and US. Population by Race/Ethnicity

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

American Indian or Alaskan Native

Black or African American

Other or Unknow n

Hispanic or Latino Asian

Total Count

White

National Data, Total Full-Time Faculty by Ethnicity SUNY, Total Faculty by Ethnicity (Full- & Part- Time)

Overall

522

20

37

111

0

2

16

708

% of total

73.7%

2.8%

5.2% 15.7%

0.0%

0.3%

2.3%

Overall

103

3

6

31

0

1 143

% of total

72.5%

2.1%

4.2% 21.8%

0.7%

US Population

61.6%

13.3%

17.6%

5.6%

1.2%

Faculty Rank In regards to faculty ranking, national data shows that males have significantly higher ranks when compared to females. Males represent 70% of faculty with Professor ranking (the highest rank), and 32% of Instructor rank (the lowest rank). A plausible explanation is that Full Professors have been in

10 ASCO (2015). Annual Faculty Data Report: Academic Year 2014-2015. Retrieved from http://www.opted.org/wp- content/uploads/2015/03/2014-15-Annual-Faculty-Data-Report.pdf 11 Faculty with ‘no rank’ or ‘other rank’ were excluded from this analysis.

P age | 31