Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives releases Diversity at MSU Report

July 6, 2021 - Henry Mochida

The Diversity at MSU 2019-20 Annual Student and Workforce Data Report, now in its 41st year is a component of Michigan State University’s work to evaluate and increase the compositional diversity of students, faculty and staff.

“Since I arrived in December 2020, I have been learning about the history of my office’s work to support the recruitment, retention and advancement of underrepresented groups on campus,” said Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Jabbar R. Bennett, Ph.D. 

For more than 50 years, MSU has undertaken these efforts through the evolution of the office as the Equal Opportunity Programs (1968 - 1973), Human Relations Department (1973 - 1992), Affirmative Action Compliance and Monitoring (1992 - 2007) to its current iteration as the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives (2007 - Present). The work has shifted from meeting compliance regulations to supporting efforts around increasing diversity, equity and inclusion.

The 2019-20 annual report provides an overview of student and workforce data. It provides information on enrollment, graduation rate, hiring rate and other measures based on demographics and domestic vs. international status for student data.

In fall 2020, students of color enrollment increased by 6.8% at MSU since fall 2019, a 49.4% increase since 2010. Students of color include African American or Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latino, or belonging to two or more races. Among all students who are entering college for the first time, the number of students of color also increased, with the most significant percentage change among American Indian/Alaska Native at 21.4% and Asian students at 12.7%. Additionally, 81% of all students who entered MSU in 2013 graduated within six years, compared to 70% of students of color (87% for Asian and 63.1% for African American/Black). Meanwhile, the average time to degree for first-time students lowered from 4.3 years to 4 years. Despite these improvements, among the 2019-2020 graduating cohort, African American/Black students took on average nearly 7 months longer to graduate and had higher probationary rates than the average student.

“While we cannot attribute these outcomes to a single factor and are proud of the actions taken to close opportunity gaps in access, probation, attrition and graduation, we acknowledge that the full impact of COVID-19 has yet to be fully realized,” said Bennett. “I am optimistic that current and future student success strategic initiatives will continue to mitigate historical and contemporary barriers and improve overall outcomes.”

This report is the first time a 10-year comparison, 2010-2020, will only use the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System race and ethnicity categories adopted in 2010. These include the separation of “Asian” and “Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander” and being able to self-identify as belonging to two or more races. Before 2010, “Asian” and “Pacific Islanders” were counted as a single category.

Although data disaggregation provides a more accurate measure for evaluating student and workforce data, more work is to be done. For example, the Asian demographic comprises over 19 origin groups, yet the data is primarily shaped by a few groups representing the majority of Asian Americans. Bennett said, “A monolithic category can mask the challenges faced within a group and in this case has the risk of perpetuating the model minority myth.” 

The model minority myth presents Asian Americans as exemplary to downplay racism and inequity in this country. However, disaggregating the Asian demographic would allow a greater understanding of the various levels of inequity experienced by diverse ethnic groups.

The report has additional limitations, such as its ability to capture the experiences beyond the legal sex identifier and is a current gap in representing data on sex and gender identities. However, according to the report, the issue is being addressed and shall be reflected in next year’s document. 

Disability data is provided for both students and employees by the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities or RCPD. Both groups experienced an increase in reporting permanent disabilities. Students who registered with permanent disabilities increased by 9.8%, with a 32.2% increase in registration for the deaf/hard of hearing disability type. Registrations of employees increased overall by 35.3% across individual disability types.

For employees, data include general shifts in demographics among current faculty and staff and tenure system changes. Workforce data show a 6.9% increase in hiring and retaining employees reporting two or more races compared to 2019. In addition, the number of African American/Black faculty and women faculty in the tenure system increased respectively by 8.0% and 2.3% in fall 2020. People of color comprise 17.2% of support staff with 6.8% African American/Black, 5.8% Hispanic/Latino/a (of any race) and 3.4% Asian.

MSU spent a total of $46.8 million in FY19-20 with diverse suppliers. Of this, 54.5% was spent with women-owned suppliers, a 10.6% decrease from FY15-16. In addition, compared to five years ago, supplier spending with a person of color-owned business increased by 14.2%, while supplier spending lowered by 1.2% with veteran-owned businesses.

In career placement, among students who graduated in spring and summer 2020 and provided information about their post-graduation pursuits, 56% were employed (full-time, part-time, starting their own business or in the military). An additional 30% were continuing their education and 1% were volunteering. African American/Black graduates had the highest employment rate at 63%, followed by White graduates at 58% and Hispanic/Latino/a students of any race at 55%.  

“I would like to thank Institutional Research in the Office of Planning and Budgets who provided data, designed graphs and worked with DigitalX on ensuring accessibility of the report,” said Bennett. “I especially recognize Audrey Bentley on my team who has worked diligently over many years to coordinate the compilation of the annual diversity report.” 

The report included contributions by the Associate Provost and Associate Vice President for Academic Human Resources, Associate Vice President for Human Resources, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education, The Gender and Sexuality Campus Center (formerly the LGBT Resource Center), Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities, University Services and the Career Services Network in the Division of Student Affairs and Services. 

The Diversity at MSU Report covers additional areas, such as statistics undergraduate vs. graduate comparisons and is available to download on the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives website.