Full-Time and Part-Time Staff by Occupation
Of the over 1.6 million full-time staff at colleges and universities in fall 2021, the majority were White (63.0 percent), while 32.2 percent were people of color and 1.5 percent were international.[1] The total share of people of color among full-time staff ranged from 21.2 percent of librarians, curators, and archivists and 25.1 percent of natural resources, construction, and maintenance to 39.9 percent of sales and related positions and 46.9 percent of service staff.
The racial and ethnic distribution of part-time staff was similar to that of full-time staff. Of the nearly 232,000 part-time staff in 2021, most were White across all occupation classifications. The shares of part-time staff who identified as people of color[2] were highest in service occupations (36.7 percent) and office and administrative support positions (36.0 percent). The share was the lowest among management occupations (20.2 percent).
Report Links
Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education: 2024 Status Report
Chapter Eight: Postsecondary Faculty and Staff
Chapter Eight Report Download (PDF) 1.9 MB
Chapter Eight Data Tables Download (XLSX) 144 KB
Source
U.S. Department of Education, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, 2021
Data Notes
Data in the first chart reflect full-time staff at all Title IV eligible, degree-granting institutions.
Data in the second chart reflect part-time staff at all Title IV eligible, degree-granting institutions.
[1] Full-time staff does not include instructional, research, or public service staff. While some international students are students of color, IPEDS does not provide further information that allows us to quantify this group.
[2] The group people of color includes American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and multiracial staff.
