Factors that influence minority faculty's choice for employment at the University of Arkansas

Research for recruiting minority faculty exits in several forms, but little research exists regarding factors that influence job choice, especially those factors related to the choice of specific institutions. The purpose of this study was to determine the professional and personal factors that influence minorities to accept faculty positions at the University of Arkansas. Additionally, this study examined factors that could influence effective recruitment of minority faculty. The target population for this study included minority faculty with 9 or 12 month full-time contracts, have tenure or tenure track status and have been employed at the University of Arkansas since the implementation of the diversity plan at the beginning of the 2002 academic year. There were 87 potential participants identified for this study using race and hire date in the University of Arkansas payroll system (BASIS). The survey questionnaire was distributed through the University of Arkansas e-mail system to the target population of minority faculty using SNAP electronic survey software and 34 individuals responded.;Descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, and one-way ANOVAs were used to analyze the data from the survey questionnaire. The findings from this study identified the level of importance to which the professional factors influenced the respondents' decision to accept a position at the University of Arkansas. Also, the findings from this study compared the individuals by ethnicity in terms of factors influencing their job choice. The results revealed no significant difference based on ethnicity for the professional factors; however there were some significant differences for the personal factors. The findings from this study identified importance factors to address when recruiting qualified minority faculty. The results can provide the foundation for future in when looking as best practices for recruiting majority faculty as well as professional staff in academia.