by: Chloe Calcote
When choosing a college or university as a minority student, there are a few things that are not considered before making the choice of which school to attend. It is not until the student is admitted and has begun their first semester that they begin to notice the lack of diversity and culture at their institution.
It is no secret that retention rates among Hispanic and African American students at a predominately white institution is lower than those of white and Asian students. Studies show that the retention rates of Asian and white students are 20 percent higher than of minority students at these institutions. Although there are many reasons that these students may not return for a second year, one of the main problems is the lack of diversity and inclusion.
The continuously low retention rates however, are catching the attentions of the faculty and administrators at some of these universities. Most of these institutions like to promote diversity but lack the programming that supports diversity. These universities are also not actively making the conscious effort to hire minority staff and faculty members to promote representation on campus. Along with representation, cultural programs, organizations, and sense of acceptance from their peers is what encourages minority students to stay another year at a university.
On a campus such as Bradley University, minority retention rate has been a problem for the past few years because of the issues previously stated. Although Bradley claims that they are 100% for diversity, the institution does not currently have more than ten African American or Hispanic faculty members. Bradley however is working to fix these issues by retooling the Scholars program to provide more targeted support for students, piloting a program for first generation students, working more closely with cultural student organizations, providing more targeted academic and professional support for students at all levels, and gathering feedback from students about their challenges and ways ODI can assist.
