Who Leads ARL: Representation in Leadership Across ARL Institutions David Banush Tulane University October 2017 (Revised March 2018)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Who Leads ARL: Representation in Leadership Across ARL Institutions David Banush Tulane University October 2017 (revised March 2018) Summary The following analysis examines whether ARL leadership, as indicated by those serving on the ARL board and holding the ARL presidency, over- or under-represents member institutions based on factors such as geographic location, size of budget, and institutional nature (e.g., state, private, non-academic). ARL staff supplied the data, which cover the period 2006-2016 for board membership and for the ARL presidency. The data indicate the following: • ARL board members are disproportionately drawn from the Northeastern/North Atlantic region of the United States and from institutions with the largest budgets. • Presidents of ARL are somewhat disproportionately from the Northeastern/North Atlantic and Midwestern regions of the United States and very disproportionately from those members with the largest budgets. • Canadian institutions have been somewhat over-represented among board members, but under-represented among presidents. • Mid-Atlantic and Deep South region members are consistently the least well-represented institutions in senior ARL leadership. Introduction Ongoing discussions about diversity both at ARL and elsewhere in academia are at heart conversations about whether institutions of higher education reflect, or should reflect, the societies they serve. As the populations of our societies become more heterogeneous, are universities moving in the same direction and at the same pace? Is it important that they do? A broad consensus in academia has concluded that diversity does matter, that greater inclusion pays greater dividends to society, and that there remains too great a gap between the demography of society at large and the membership of its institutions of power and influence (Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, & Gurin, 2002). In response, many organizations, including ARL, have increased their efforts to diversify themselves, believing their credibility and long-term viability are at stake if they fail to do so. Though less commonly considered, the question of whether the leadership of our professional organizations reflects the members who sustain them is also a factor in determining whether a given entity fully lives the diversity principles that it champions. While greater ethnic and gender diversity issues are certainly present in these leadership roles as in the profession at large, other factors— geographic location, size of budget, public or private funding, US- or Canadian-based—help fully inform the notion of diversity among ARL membership at the institution level. The following analysis examines the question of whether ARL leadership—in this instance, those serving on the ARL board and holding the ARL presidency—over- or under-represents institutions based on these factors. The data used in here were supplied by the ARL staff and cover the period 2006-2016 for board membership and for the presidency. The data and discussions are divided below by geography, type of institution, and size of institutional budget. A final section looks at the presidents of ARL and their home institutions relative to the makeup of the membership, followed by discussion and analysis, suggestions for further study, and some notes on the data. Geography ARL membership as of October 2017 includes 123 institutions in Canada and the United States. Of the members of the Association, 108, or 88%, are based in the US; 15 libraries, or 12%, are in Canada. ARL Membership by Geographic Area ARL MEMBERSHIP, CANADA AND UNITED STATES Canada 12% US 88% Board membership is just about in line with this breakdown (84%/16%), with Canadian institutions slightly over-represented on the board in the roughly 10-year period. This may be due to a longstanding custom (not codified in the bylaws) of setting at least one board seat aside for a Canadian member. Breaking down the geographic data a bit more finely, however, a somewhat different picture emerges. ARL members are placed into regions: Canada and four geographic subdivisions of the US, as illustrated in the graph below, which shows the regions, number of members, and percentage of membership. ARL INSTITUTIONS BY GEOGRAPHIC REGION Canada, 15, 12% West/Southwest, 26, 21% Mid-Atlantic/Deep South, 29, 24% Northeast/North Atlantic, 26, 21% Midwest, 27, 22% The distribution across the US is nearly even, with 3 of 4 regions having just over 20% and one region, the Mid-Atlantic/Deep South, being home to just under 25%. Board membership, however, is distributed less evenly. The biggest differences are found with Northeastern and North Atlantic institutions, which are over-represented (+9%) relative to their number in the overall population, and Mid-Atlantic/Deep South members, which are under-represented by the same percentage difference (- 9%). Western/Southwestern US members have been exactly proportional, Canadian institutions are slightly over-represented, and Midwestern institutions are slightly under-represented. The graph below illustrates. ARL BOARD MEMBERS BY GEOGRAPHIC REGION Board Members ARL Membership 35% 30% 30% 25% 24% 22% 21% 21% 21% 20% 19% 15% 15% 15% 12% 10% 5% 0% Canada Mid-Atlantic/Deep Midwest Northeast/North West/Southwest South Atlantic Institution Type Member institutions may also be grouped into several other categories. One such grouping is type of institution by primary funding source. All Canadian members, and a large majority of US-based institutions, are publicly supported academic libraries. Just over 25% of the overall membership consists of privately-funded academic institutions, all in the US. The smallest group is US-based non-academic libraries, about 7% (9 members, nearly all public). ARL INSTITUTIONS BY TYPE 7% 12% Canadian academic US private US state 25% US non- academic 55% Board membership has been distributed a bit differently. While US state institutions have been represented proportionately on the board over the past decade, US private institutions and Canadian institutions have been somewhat over-represented. The biggest disparity is with US-based non- academic research libraries, which have seen virtually no representation on the board at all. (The notes section below has further details.) The following graph illustrates the differences. ARL BOARD MEMBERS BY INSTITUTION TYPE Board Members ARL Membership 60% 60% 55% 50% 40% 30% 30% 27% 20% 15% 13% 10% 0% 0% 0% US State US Private Canadian US Non-Academic Size of Budget ARL divides members into four categories based on the size of their annual budgets. The smallest group of members (total of 16, or 14%) has an annual budget between $10 to $17.7M US. The largest group, with 37 members (32%), reports expenditures between $17.8 and $23.3M US. 26 institutions (23%) have budgets between $24 and $32.5M, and the 35 largest institutions (31%) have budgets of over $32.6M. These figures do not include the 9 research libraries not affiliated with universities, whose budget figures are not available (or at least are not reported to ARL). The percentages stated here reflect the proportion of academic institutions that fall into each category. ARL ACADEMIC MEMBERS BY SIZE OF BUDGET 14% 31% $10-17.7M USD $17.8-23.3M USD $24-32.5M USD $32.6M USD- 32% up 23% ARL board membership across these categories breaks out a bit differently. The largest group of members by budget is the most under-represented (32% of members vs. 23% of board members). The top 54% of members by annual expenditures have made up 64% of board members over this period, while the smallest members were about proportionately represented. The chart below illustrates the differences. ARL BOARD MEMBERS BY INSTITUTIONAL BUDGET Board Members ARL Membership 40% 36% 35% 32% 31% 30% 28% 25% 23% 23% 20% 14% 15% 13% 10% 5% 0% $10-17.7M USD $17.8-23.3M USD $23.4-32.5M USD Over $32.6M USD Presidency ARL presidents are drawn from the board membership. Consistent over-representation of a group of libraries in one or more categories noted above would therefore have implications for the presidency. The data show that the over-representation by larger members on the board is amplified by the presidency, where representative disparities are more pronounced. Because non-university research libraries have not held seats on the board (with one exception, described in the notes below), no member representative from such an institution has held the presidency. Reasons for that under- representation are multifaceted and are touched upon in the notes section below. Presidents by Geographic Region As noted above, distribution by geographic region of ARL institutions within the US is balanced. Board membership is less so; unsurprisingly, perhaps, so is the distribution of presidents. In the period analyzed, association presidents were disproportionately drawn from the Northeastern and Midwestern regions of the US. Canadian and Western/Southwestern US members were somewhat underrepresented, and those from the mid-Atlantic and Deep South regions were underrepresented by a greater factor (-6%), as shown in the chart below. ARL PRESIDENTS BY REGION, 2006-2016 Presidents ARL Membership 30% 27% 27% 25% 24% 22% 21% 21% 20% 18% 18% 15% 12% 9% 10% 5% 0% Canada Mid-Atlantic/Deep Midwest Northeast/North West/Southwest South Atlantic Institution Type and the Presidency Presidents of ARL have been drawn somewhat disproportionately from US state institutions (+9% over their membership) and US private institutions (+2%), while research libraries not affiliated with universities have seen no representation and Canadian members have been slightly under-represented. ARL PRESIDENTS BY TYPE OF INSTITUTION Percentage of Presidents Percentage of Membership 70% 64% 60% 55% 50% 40% 30% 27% 25% 20% 12% 9% 10% 7% 0 0% US State US Private Canadian US Non-Academic Presidents by Geographic Region Disparities by region among the presidents have been most pronounced in the Northeastern/North Atlantic and Midwestern regions of the US, where presidents drawn from institutions in those regions are over-represented relative to the ARL population by 6% and 5% respectively.