Some 800 scholars from 30 states will attend the Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, a four-day conference hosted by the Southern Regional Education Board at the Tampa Marriott Water Street Oct. 26-29. The event provides workshops, career mentors and recruitment opportunities for the SREB-State Doctoral Program as well as for participants in seven other scholarship programs, including the NASA Fellowships and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Minority Ph.D. Program.

While the Institute has grown and helped more than 2,000 scholars finish their doctorates, faculty diversity experts say there is still a shortage of faculty members of color in the South and across the United States. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, more than a third of U.S. college students are people of color, but racial and ethnic minorities make up only small fractions of college faculty. For example, nationwide, 6% of faculty are Black, just over 5% are Hispanic and only about 1% are Native American. 

Ansley Abraham, who has directed the SREB program since its inception in the early 1990s, said the low representation is compounded by the fact that surveys show that only half of Ph.D. graduates plan to pursue careers on college campuses.

“Despite the size and impact of the Institute, the need is even greater,” Abraham said. “No matter the solution to improve the numbers, higher education institutions will need to play a lead role.”

Media are invited to talk to Abraham before, during and after the conference about efforts to increase faculty diversity. In addition, doctoral students, faculty and recruiters will be available at the conference for interviews. Abraham’s bio is available on the SREB website.

To review a schedule of events, see the Institute’s 2023 agenda. For short interviews with SREB scholars, visit the SREB video page on YouTube.

The SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program has an Institute landing page with recent news, video shorts from previous conferences, links to past webinars, blog posts by program graduates and other information related to the program. 

The following SREB reports and publications are available on the website:

• Now Is the Time to Focus on Faculty Diversity
• Connect, Build and Grow: Tips on How to Make the Most of the Institute from Graduates
• Student Debt Stifles Faculty Diversity
• Changing the Face of College Faculty: 25 Years of Increasing Faculty Diversity

Social media hashtags and handles for the conference include:

#INST2023

#ILookLikeAPhD

@SREBDocSch

@SREBeducation

Contact: Janita Poe, SREB News Manager, at Janita.Poe@sreb.org or 404-879-5516, ext. 216

The Southern Regional Education Board works with states, districts and schools to improve education at every level, from early childhood through doctoral education and the workforce. An interstate compact and a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Atlanta, SREB was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region.