Demography is Destiny? Latinos in Social Work Education

Introduction

The Latino population is now the largest minority in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006). Yet, there seem to be few Latinos on faculties of schools of social work, even in areas with large Latino populations.

Purpose

This paper looks at the trends in representation of Latino faculty in Schools of Social Work from 1981 to 2002 in an attempt to answer the following:

1. What has been the trend in numbers and percentage of Latino faculty in schools of social work?

2. What are characteristics of Latino faculty in schools of social work?

Method

Trend data for faculty were analyzed using the Council on Social Work Education's annual statistical summaries. Where current data on faculties were lacking or were unclear, schools were contacted directly to obtain the information.

Findings

In 1981, 6.3% of faculty in undergraduate Social Work programs were Latino (Rubin, 1982). In 1994 the percentage was 3.9%, while in 1996 it was up slightly to 4.8% (Lennon, 1995, 1997). In 2002 the percentage of Latino faculty was 2.5%, that is, 66 out of 1,590 baccalaureate faculty (Lennon, 2004).

In graduate and joint programs, the percentage of Latino faculty has remained fairly constant over the last twenty years. In 1981, Latinos made up 4.3% of graduate/joint faculties (Rubin, 1982). The percentage has since fluctuated from 3.7% in 1985 to 4.1% in 1991, then to 4.3% in 1996 (Rubin, 1986; Lennon, 1992; Lennon, 1997). This is the same percentage as in 1983. In 2002, the percentage of Latino faculty in graduate and joint programs was 4.9%, 246 out of a total of 4,943 faculty (Lennon, 2004).

While there are differences by gender and Hispanic group, what is clear is that the percentage of Latino faculty in schools of social work has not essentially changed in over twenty years. The number of Hispanics in the United States has increased substantially since the last census and is expected to continue to grow dramatically in both number and proportion of the U.S. population. Nevertheless, the percentage of undergraduate Latino faculty has actually decreased and the percentage of graduate faculty has remained relatively stable.

Conclusions and Recommendations

It is clear that there is lack of representation of Hispanic faculty even in those very areas of the country where Hispanics reside in large numbers. There appears little reflection of affirmative action, or even of the implications of multiculturalism in education, in the recruitment, retention, and promotion of Latino faculty. Assuming at a minimum some attempt at “cultural competency”, specific steps need to be taken at various points in the careers of Hispanic faculty to ensure that they "make it" through the system.

While there is some disagreement as to whether the lack of Latino faculty in general is a demand-side or a supply-side issue (Cole & Arias, 2004; Myers and Turner, 2004), we here concentrate on the supply-side. Specific recommendations are made to increase Latino educators in schools of social work.