Johns Hopkins University published four reports today showing modest but measurable increases in the compositional diversity of its student, faculty, and staff populations over the past decade.
The biannual composition reports track demographic changes in four areas: undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and staff. The reports are a key component of JHU's unwavering commitment to building a diverse, vibrant, pluralistic community, as articulated in the Second Roadmap on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The reports serve as essential tools for identifying areas of strength and weakness in recruitment and retention and for establishing transparency and accountability related to diversity, equity, and inclusion goals.
The university first published a faculty composition report in 2016, added reports pertaining to graduate students in 2017 and staff in 2019, and published a report on undergraduate students for the first time in 2023.
"These reports are an important accountability measure for the university to track the results of our investments and efforts to diversify the Hopkins community," said Katrina Caldwell, vice provost for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer. "We are pleased to see steady progress in many areas, and the reports also point to areas where we have room to grow. We will use this as an opportunity to reflect and redouble our efforts in those areas."
All four of the new reports show an increase over time in the percentage of people who self-identify with racial or ethnic groups that are traditionally underrepresented in higher education.
The university community is encouraged to review the reports online:
- Report on Undergraduate Student Composition 2023-24
- Report on Graduate Student Composition 2023-24
- Report on Faculty Composition 2023-24
- Report on Staff Composition 2023-24
Racial and ethnic data is collected in accordance with federal requirements used for the U.S. Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Data System (IPEDS), a public dataset. In compiling the reports, JHU uses a collective measure of racial and ethnic diversity, "Domestic Underrepresented Group (D-URG)", to assess the university's progress in admitting and employing U.S. residents from historically excluded racial and ethnic groups. Students and employees are counted in the "Domestic-Underrepresented Group" measure if they are not an international student and self-identify with one or more of the following groups: Hispanic/Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Black or African American, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
This collective approach allows the university to fully account for the rich diversity of underrepresented students and employees who identify with more than one race or ethnicity.
Among the findings in the new reports:
The percentage of faculty from underrepresented groups increased from 11.3% in 2021 to 11.8% in 2023 among all faculty, and from 10.6% in 2021 to 10.9% in 2023 among professorial faculty.
48% of all faculty—and 44% of full-time professorial faculty—employed in fall 2023 were female.
The proportion of staff from underrepresented groups grew from 28% in 2013 to 33% in 2023.
The proportion of female staff in executive/administrative roles has increased from 53% in 2013 to 56% in 2023, and in managerial roles from 67% in 2013 to 70% in 2023.
The proportion of domestic PhD students who self-identified as part of one or more underrepresented groups doubled over the past decade, from 12% in 2013 to 24% in 2023; In 30 PhD programs, 25% or more of enrolled domestic students were from underrepresented groups in 2023-24.
The proportion of female students has increased over the past decade, from 49% in 2013 to 54% in 2023 among undergraduates, and from 50% in 2013 to 52% in 2023 among graduate students.
The proportion of first generation and/or limited income (FLI) students within the undergraduate student body increased from 17% in 2013 to 29% in 2023.
Additionally, the proportion of domestic undergraduate students who self-identified as part of an underrepresented group increased significantly, from 18% in 2013 to 34% in 2023. However, the reports are based on data collected through the 2023-24 academic year and do not reflect the decline in underrepresented students registered in this fall's incoming first-year class of undergraduates, the first class admitted following the Supreme Court decision to prohibit the use of race in admissions. The impact of those changes, which the university first announced earlier this fall, will be reflected in future undergraduate student composition reports.
Among the areas for targeted improvement, 14 academic areas reported a proportion of female, full-time professorial faculty less than 25%, significantly less than the 44.2% university average. And the overall proportion of full-time professorial faculty from underrepresented groups sits at 11%, including just 7% at the rank of full professor.
"Fostering an academic environment with a rich diversity of people, backgrounds, experiences, and thought is integral to the mission of the university," Caldwell said. "Transparency remains a driving force in our sustained progress, ensuring that people across our community have access to information that will shape our decisions and animate our work."
