Annual Surveys of Journalism and Mass Communication

Journalism and Mass Communication Faculty: Gender, Race/Ethnicity and Rank

Lee B. Becker and Gerald M. Kosicki

Abstract

Journalism and mass communication students, nearly 60% of whom are women, are taught by a faculty that is largely male. The faculty also is overwhelmingly White, while only about seven in 10 of the students are. When students do confront women and minorities as faculty members, these female and minority faculty members are most likely to be at the lowest--and least powerful--academic ranks. There are still today few women and few minorities who are full professors. The picture is changing, but the evidence is that the change is slow. For the foreseeable future, there are likely to be rather striking discrepancies between the characteristics of the students studying for careers in journalism and mass communication and of those at the front of the classroom serving as their role models.

Becker, L. B. and Kosicki, G. M. (1996, October). Journalism and mass communication faculty: gender, race/ethnicity and rank. This paper was presented at MAPOR, Miami, FL.