Your Higher Education Marketing Link(s) of the Week… Diversity Openness at Drake, Holy Cross, Tufts universities… 19 February 2021

“Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” data isn’t easy to find at most colleges and universities… Drake, Holy Cross, and Tufts are different

College of the Holy Cross“Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” is a common heading at many college and university websites. What’s not so common is easy-to-find information (aka, data) on actual diversity at the same universities. We expected to either find that data on the opening page… or behind a clear link leading to stats on ethnic, economic, and gender diversity immediately behind the opening “diversity” page.

Instead of data most universities post strategic plans, mission statements, lists of diverse clubs, diversity events, and photos of diverse smiling students. And similar stuff. A commitment to “diversity, equity, and inclusion” is professed. Nothing wrong with that. But actual easy-to-find data to tell visitors of the current diversity status is missing.

Today we highlight 3 schools that are far different than the 30+ visited after searching on Google for “diversity, equity, inclusion universities” and visiting the first page that turned up through the first 6 result pages.

College of the Holy Cross

Holy Cross uses an interactive display to show diversity stats for “Overall Student Enrollment” from Fall 2010 to Fall 2019. You can make 4 selections:

  • Biological Sex
  • Race/Ethnicity
  • First Generation Status
  • Pell Eligibility

You can quickly see, for instance, that Pell Eligibility has fluctuated between 14 percent and 16 percent over those years. Asian, Black, and Hispanic enrollment has been similarly stable.

Tufts UniversityDrake UniversityTufts University

Tufts adds individual displays for “Faculty” and “Staff” to the data for “Students.” At Tufts the Tableau format lets you view data from the years Fall 2015 to Fall 2019. As at Holy Cross, checking for changes in ethnicity is easy. Student data is provided for undergraduates, graduate students, and “Professional Doctorate.” When you visit you’ll see that additional categories are also available.

Drake University

Drake provides data in 3 primary areas for immediate viewing:

  • International Students
  • “Undergraduate Domestic Student Ethnicity 2018-19”
  • LGBTQ+

Following a link to “More Information” reveals updated undergrad ethnicity for 2019-2020 and “Faculty Ethnicity.”

A Slightly Cynical Note…

Might it be possible that some universities do not make data easy to find because the data will show a lack of diversity? That’s a possibility. Drake, on the other hand, is not deterred by the fact that the undergraduate enrollment is primarily White (97 percent in 2019-2020) as is the faculty (87 percent). From my perspective, that earns Drake extra points for transparency.

Follow the Link(s) of the Week

To see how 3 universities post detailed diversity data where everyone can find it, visit the relevant pages at Drake University and College of the Holy Cross and Tufts University.

Recommend a future Link of the Week

Always eager to get recommendations of websites that dare to be different… or just do something ordinary in a special way. Write a comment with link here or send me the link at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com

Top Tasks Website Content Group on LinkedIn

Join 866+ people on the Top Tasks: Higher Education Website Content group on LinkedIn.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *