Step 3: Advertising the Position to Generate a Diverse Applicant Pool

The purpose of this step is to make sure the position is marketed to reach, appeal to, and welcome members of underrepresented groups.

In Step 1, we emphasized the importance of designing the position such that it is more likely to draw applicants who are members of underrepresented groups. Yet even the most carefully constructed position will only succeed in generating a widely representative applicant pool if it is advertised in a way that reflects and supports the unit's commitment to inclusive excellence.

For strategies to ensure the position is advertised with attention to the principles of inclusive excellence, see Guidebook 2, located in CU Boulder's Faculty Search Process Manual.

Two Strategies for Generating a Diverse Applicant Pool

1. Use inclusive language in the position announcement:

Research has shown that the vocabulary in a position announcement affects the degree to which the announcement appeals to members of various social groups. For information on how to avoid exclusive wording in a position announcement, please see Creating a Job Announcement, which is located in CU Boulder's Faculty Search Process Manual.

In addition, there are software tools—referred to as augmented writing programs—designed to analyze the inclusivity of position-announcement vocabulary. For a list of such programs, see this link. The hiring committee should consider using one of these resources.

For an annotated example of an inclusive position announcement, see Sample Posting Synopsis and Sample Job Announcement, which is located in CU Boulder's Faculty Search Process Manual.

2. Ensure that the position announcement reaches applicants outside of the unit's existing networks:

Even the most inclusive position announcement will only generate a diverse applicant pool if it is circulated broadly and with attention to reaching prospective applicants who are members of underrepresented groups.

For information on how to ensure wide and inclusive dissemination of the position announcement, please see Developing a Faculty Outreach and Recruitment Plan, which is located in CU Boulder's Faculty Search Process Manual.

For a list of recommended advertising sources, please see Faculty Advertising Sources for Diversity, which is located in CU Boulder's Faculty Search Process Manual.

The hiring committee should also meet with the Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Unit in Human Resources to brainstorm strategies for reaching potential applicants

Finally, the hiring committee should communicate closely with the Affirmative Action Officer in Human Resources to evaluate the demographic composition of the applicant pool and to determine whether benchmarks for specific fields are being met. One such consultation should occur halfway through the application phase of the faculty-search process. A second should take place after all applications have been received.

Request Diversity Statements in the Position Announcement

The hiring committee should request diversity statements in the application-instructions section of the position announcement.

Diversity statements give applicants a platform to demonstrate that, if hired, they will actively foster inclusivity and equitability within the unit. Whether or not they are members of underrepresented groups, applicants can use the diversity statement to express their commitment to the principles of inclusive excellence, to communicate their knowledge about structural inequity, and to demonstrate ways in which they have put their commitment to inclusivity and equitability into action.

Applicants who are members of underrepresented groups might also use their diversity statements to articulate how their positionality has informed their understanding of structural inequity and their commitment to redressing disparities in representation within academic professions.

Not all applicants who are members of underrepresented social categories will, however, want to share intimate information about their lived experiences and identities. Nor should they be expected to. It is therefore imperative that the hiring committee formulates diversity-statement prompts that welcomes deeply personal responses without treating them as mandatory or preferable. There are a lot of effective ways to approach a diversity statement. Some people choose to go with raw self-expression. Others opt to focus solely on how their research and/or service have promoted inclusivity and equitability.

There is no single best approach to writing a diversity statement.

But where adversity is concerned, applicants can benefit by revealing private aspects of their lives. The diversity statement provides applicants with an opportunity, if they so choose, to discuss ways in which adversity has shaped their professional trajectories. Whether or not they are members of underrepresented groups, most people can point to challenges they have had to overcome in the process of pursuing their career goals. Yet some face far more daunting obstacles than others. Because structural inequity so profoundly affects access to opportunities, adversity can intersect with social representation in complex and influential ways. And this is where traditional measures of accomplishment—the CV for example—can fail to adequately represent candidates' actual qualifications. Privilege often correlates with opportunity. As such, a highly qualified candidate who has overcome tremendous adversity might not have as impressive a CV as a highly qualified candidate who has enjoyed greater privilege. To comprehensively and accurately assess an applicant's aptitude to excel as a faculty member—which is, after all, the ultimate purpose of a job search—an equitable hiring committee must consider not only that applicant's documented achievements to date but also the obstacles that the applicant has faced in the process of accomplishing those achievements. Furthermore, experiences of adversity shape perspective. Though not easily transposed onto a CV, the knowledge that a person gains when confronting great difficulty can be a powerful career asset and educational tool.

And there are additional reasons why extremely qualified candidates who are also members of underrepresented groups might sometimes not appear as accomplished on paper as their overrepresented counterparts. As mentioned in Step 2, members of underrepresented social categories, particularly those who identify as BIPOC, often bear a higher burden of service than their overrepresented colleagues. Service is time consuming and can impede the project of building up other, more traditionally illustrious, lines on the CV. Furthermore, members of underrepresented groups frequently fulfill important service roles that cannot be incorporated into a CV. Consider, for example, the experiential and social value of mentoring undergraduate students who are themselves members of underrepresented groups or advocating for social justice. Are these somehow less meaningful pursuits than publishing that additional essay? Finally, when service is reflected on a CV, hiring authorities often weigh it lightly in relation to other achievements. So again, traditional measurements of candidates' success—tools such as the CV—are neither objective nor comprehensive. And to treat them as such is to reproduce systemic inequity.

Affirmative action is absolutely not about choosing less qualified candidates to fill categorical quotas. Accusations of such operate on an assumption that candidates who are members of overrepresented groups are inherently more qualified than candidates who are members of underrepresented groups. Affirmative action is about realizing the degree to which discrimination and structural inequity saturate every stage of the hiring process—not to mention the pipeline leading to it. Affirmative action is about recognizing how traditional measures of success can fall short in identifying qualified candidates. It is about understanding how such measures perpetuate systems of inequity and prevent highly qualified candidates from receiving the acknowledgement they deserve. Affirmative action is not about lowering standards but, rather, about recognizing and dismantling institutional tools of exclusion and oppression. To effectively implement affirmative action, hiring authorities must have a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of systemic inequity so they do not fall into the condescending trap of tokenizing members of underrepresented groups.

As mentioned above, not all applicants will want to divulge deeply personal aspects of their lives and identities. Some may worry, and with good cause, that sensitive information could be used against them. It is therefore the hiring committee's responsibility to cultivate trust with the language it uses in the position announcement and in the diversity-statement prompt(s). The committee must also honor that trust during the evaluation phase of the faculty-search process. When applicants expose intimate aspects of their lives so early in the hiring process, they are especially vulnerable to implicit and explicit biases. It is therefore crucial that the hiring committee is equipped to recognize and counteract such biases. In other words, if the hiring committee solicits diversity statements in the application-instructions section of the position announcement, the committee must be composed and prepared such that it embodies the unit's commitment to inclusive excellence (see Step 2).

A Two-Pronged Approach to the Diversity-Statement Prompt

To best gauge both an applicant's commitment to inclusivity and experiences of adversity, the hiring committee should ask applicants to respond to two separate prompts. The first such prompt should ask applicants to discuss ways in which they have worked to promote the principles of inclusivity and equitability (within and/or outside of the academy). The second prompt should ask applicants to discuss challenges that have shaped their professional trajectories and influenced their worldviews. Broadly worded, these prompts allow applicants to decide whether to divulge or withhold sensitive information. Although the second prompt is more personal, it still leaves space for applicants to choose which life experiences they are comfortable sharing.

Refrain from Soliciting Letters of Recommendation in the Position Announcement

Just as the language used in a job announcement will affect how potential applicants perceive the position, the vocabulary in a letter of recommendation can influence how decisionmakers perceive an applicant.

Studies have shown that implicit biases can profoundly affect how letter writers depict applicants. For specific examples, please see Appendix Five: Examples of Bias in the Hiring Process in Guidebook 3 (Evaluating Applicants), which is located in CU Boulder's Faculty Search Process Manual.

Because letters of recommendation often reflect implicit biases, the hiring committee should refrain from soliciting them at least until after the committee has completed its first—or even second—round of evaluations. If and when the committee does solicit letters of recommendation, committee members should remain highly cognizant of the ways in which implicit biases may permeate these problematic evaluative materials.