Employers expected to up their minority hiring practices may be hard pressed, as statistics show that among college graduates in Rhode Island the pickings are slim. According to most recent figures available from the U.S. Department of Higher Education (1996-97) out of nearly 1.2 million bachelors degrees awarded nationally, 20.5 percent went to minorities – the most, 8.3 percent, to African Americans.
But in Rhode Island, the percentage of minority degrees is much lower, over the last two academic years about 11.2 percent on average, although at certain schools, such as Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design, minorities represent a much higher percentage, with Brown more than 27 percent.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
Still, held against the state’s total demographics, the numbers suggest minorities are represented well on average in the state’s colleges, since according to 1990 U.S. Census Data, about 8.5 percent of the approximately 1 million people in Rhode Island are minorities.
Clifford Montiero, president of the NAACP, Providence branch, said last week that although minorities may seem to be well represented in these statistics, college opportunities for black Americans may actually be down, as more groups are coming to be included in the “minority” category.
At RISD, for example, less than 2 percent of the degrees went to African Americans, while 12 percent went to Asian/Pacific Islanders.
Another unknown, Montiero said, is how many of these degreed recipients actually got jobs, “and did they get jobs in their career field?” He said there needs to be better inroads for minorities into the business and high tech communities “and making sure that the doors stay open.” One problem, he said, is that “minority communities are still programmed to be social workers and school teachers.”
Brien McDaniel, senior media specialist for RISD, said the high minority percentage at RISD might reflect not only the school’s “national and international reputation” but its recruitment and financial aid packages, which include specific aid to minorities.
RISD also recently hired a new admissions person whose job is specifically geared to “encourage people of color to apply,” so that in the next year or two the percentage of minorities at the school may actually increase, McDaniel said. So compared to a school like Rhode Island College, which is geared more to in-state students, “we probably have a much larger scope and our reputation precedes us,” McDaniel said. “And we also have more scholarships available.”
David Almasi, press secretary for “Project 21,” a national conservative African American leadership group sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research, said even considering 10-year-old census figures, overall minority representation among Rhode Island’s colleges and universities appeared high.
He said much has been accomplished regarding employer discrimination since the 1940s, 50s and even 60s. “I think, overall, business people would feel there’s no problem,” Almasi said, although the “people who are the professional agitators, the politicians, will always find a way” to stir things up.
Although companies aren’t required to hire a certain percentage of minorities, “they can’t not hire,” Almasi said. Since “the burden of proof would be on the employer in any question of discrimination,” it naturally makes sense wherever possible for employers to pick a minority candidate over one who’s not. “Unless you’re someone with a racial bias. The way things are, it’d be a feather in your cap,” Almasi said, although “in order for someone to get the benefit, someone is going to get hurt.”
To eliminate some of the negative results of attempts to achieve cultural diversity, ballot initiatives in states like California and Texas have removed Affirmative Action from the selection process, and “it’s actually been a good thing,” Almasi said. He said that although such policies might decrease the number of minorities represented at Ivy League schools like Brown, they might improve minority representation for schools such as the University of Rhode Island – which for the 1998-99 school year awarded less than 8 percent of its graduate and undergraduate degrees to minorities.
Brown University
Out of 5,786 total undergraduates for 1998-99, 27.6 percent were minorities – 366 (6.3 percent) were African American, 894 (15.5 percent) were Asian and 336 (5.8 percent) were Hispanic.
Bryant College
For the 1999-2000, out of 552 undergraduates, 5 percent of the degrees were awarded to minorities – 11 degrees (2 percent) to Asians, 6 degrees (1 percent) to African Americans and 11 degrees (2 percent) to Hispanics. The school does not provide a breakdown for Native Americans, and according to Renee Buisson, director of public relations, and based on previous year figures, about 7 percent of the degrees awarded this year went to non-resident aliens (international students).
Community College of Rhode Island
Although current numbers are “all unofficial at this point,” for this year, out of approximately 1,300 CCRI graduates, approximately 10 percent (129 degrees) went to minorities, said Bill LeBlanc, director of institutional research and planning. Of these, 40 graduates (3 percent) were African American, 60 (4.6 percent) were Hispanic, 5 (less than 1 percent) were American Indian and 24 (1.8 percent) were Asian/Pacific Islander.
Another 100 or so degree recipients did not report their ethnicity, LeBlanc said. Last year the percentages were about the same, with slightly more black students and less Hispanic, and ten years ago the minority percentage was only about 8 percent.
Providence College
For the 1998-99 academic year, about 65 (7 percent) of the 925 undergraduates and about 46 (5 percent) of graduate degree recipients were minorities, said Thomas Frank, director of institutional research.
Rhode Island College
Out of 1,116 bachelor degrees awarded in 1998-99, just under 9 percent went to minorities – 36 degrees (3 percent) to blacks, 2 degrees (less than one percent) to Native American/Alaskan Native, 25 (2 percent) to Asian/Pacific Islanders and 31 (3 percent) to Hispanics. Another 53 graduates or nearly 5 percent did not report and 16 (1 percent) degrees went to international students.
Rhode Island School of Design
For the 1999-2000 school year, out of 484 undergraduates, 83 degrees (17 percent) were awarded to minorities – 8 (1.7 percent) to African Americans, none to Native Americans, 59 to Asian/Pacific Islanders (12 percent) and 16 (3.3 percent) to Hispanics.
Salve Regina University
Out of the 426 undergraduate and graduate degrees awarded for the class of 1999-2000, 26 or 6.1 percent went to minorities – 4 (less than 1 percent) to African Americans, 2 (less than 1 percent) to American Indian/Alaskan, 11 (2.5 percent) to Asian/Pacific Islander and 9 (2.1 percent) to Hispanics. Another 37 students (9 percent) were of unknown ethnic origin.
University of Rhode Island
For the 1998-99 school year, 2,448 graduate and undergraduate degrees were awarded, almost 8 percent of them to minorities – 54 (2.2 percent) degrees went to African American, 7 (.3 percent) went to Native American, 70 (2.9 percent) went to Asians and 64 (2.6 percent) went to Hispanics. Of the graduates, 228 students or 9.3 percent were unreported.
(Note: Statistics for New England Institute of Technology, Johnson and Wales University, Roger Williams University and Ralph R. Papitto School of Law were unavailable by press time.)
