Taylor et al. / The Journal of Faculty Development / January 2022
Faculty members have been found to be important for student recruitment and engagement, yet few studies have investigated how faculty members share their personal identities on their institutional (.edu) profiles. This gap in the literature is problematic, as prospective students have asserted that students are drawn to faculty members who share their identities (e.g., race, gender, religion), a phenomenon known as finding or seeing affinity. From a random sample of 1,500 faculty profiles, this study will examine 756 faculty biographies published on institutional (.edu) websites to explore what identities faculty members disclose, potentially allowing students to find or see affinity with that faculty member. Preliminary results suggest less than 1% of faculty biographies include one's race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or first-generation status, and 0% of faculty biographies included preferred pronouns. Implications for student choice and faculty professional development are addressed.
