Association of Research Libraries

35 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 295 — 2018 Figure 1 Eliminating the Caucasian trendline and tweaking the scale on the “percent of population” axis allows us to highlight the growth in diversity that has occurred. (See Figure 2.) All of the underrepresented racial and ethnic groups increase in the period, and the Hispanic portion of the population nearly doubles, albeit from a very small number in 1980. Figure 2

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Page 3Demographic Trends in the ARL Library Professional Population: An Overview
Page 6Delayed Retirements and the Youth Movement among ARL Library Professionals click to expand contents
Page 17Hiring and Staffing Trends in ARL Libraries click to expand contents
Page 32Selected Demographic Trends in the ARL Professional Population click to expand contents

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35 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 295 — 2018 Figure 1 Eliminating the Caucasian trendline and tweaking the scale on the “percent of population” axis allows us to highlight the growth in diversity that has occurred. (See Figure 2.) All of the underrepresented racial and ethnic groups increase in the period, and the Hispanic portion of the population nearly doubles, albeit from a very small number in 1980. Figure 2

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34 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 295 — 2018 Canadian ARL libraries. It is easy to imagine a broad range of possible explanations for the US/ Canadian salary disparities, but the ARL data can do little more than eliminate some of them. For example, Canadian professionals do not have higher percentages of professional experience, PhD degrees, or supervisory positions. To be sure, there are some modest differences between the two groups: Canadians are somewhat more female (69% compared to 63% in the US), and somewhat younger (45% under 45 compared to 39% in the US). None of these differences seem likely to explain the salary differences, however. I suspect that the primary drivers are macroeconomic in nature, and outside the scope of this study. Historically Underrepresented Groups The demographic profile of historically underrepresented groups in professional positions in US ARL university libraries is frustrating in that 2015 proved to be yet another year in a series that has exhibited only excruciatingly slow improvement.3 (See Figure 1.) The Caucasian portion of the population fell in the 35 years between 1980 and 2015, but only slightly, from 88.6% to 85.1%. This metric alone can’t support the conclusion that our diversity efforts have failed. It’s always possible that without these efforts, our situation could have gotten worse! But our profession aspires to far greater progress in this area, and the 2015 data should spur commitment to redoubled efforts, or entirely new efforts, or both.

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36 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 295 — 2018 There are modest disparities in diversity by region, with western ARL libraries exhibiting the smallest percentage of Caucasian professionals. (See Table 2.) Northeast North Central South West Native American or Native Alaskan 0.2% 0.3% 0% 1% Asian or Pacific Islander 7% 5% 5% 13% African American 4% 5% 6% 3% Caucasian 86% 87% 85% 78% Hispanic 2% 2% 3% 5% Total 100% 100% 100% 100% Table 2: Race/Ethnicity of Professional Staff in US ARL University Libraries by Region, 2015 Another measure of diversity across US ARL libraries is the distribution of racial and ethnic groups across these broad regions. (See Table 3.) If these groups were equally represented according to region, we would expect to see 25% throughout. There are some notable disparities throughout, however, possibly the result of regional differences in the distribution of racial and ethnic groups in the broader US population.4 While ARL libraries routinely recruit nationally for most professional positions, regional and local labor markets surely play an important role. Northeast North Central South West Total Native American or Native Alaskan 17% 20% 20% 43% 100% Asian or Pacific Islander 31% 18% 23% 27% 100% African American 24% 24% 42% 10% 100% Caucasian 31% 24% 32% 14% 100% Hispanic 25% 17% 32% 25% 100% Table 3: Proportional Distribution of Professional Staff in US ARL University Libraries by Race/ Ethnicity and Region, 2015 In analyses of previous ARL data sets, examining the age of racial and ethnic groups gave some hope that normal retirements might

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Page 6Delayed Retirements and the Youth Movement among ARL Library Professionals click to expand contents

Page 17Hiring and Staffing Trends in ARL Libraries click to expand contents

Page 32Selected Demographic Trends in the ARL Professional Population click to expand contents

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