A Commentary by Compton College President/CEO, Dr. Keith Curry
As a true community college, Compton College is steadfast in serving its community with outstanding educational opportunities and resources. To be successful, it is imperative to maintain an academic environment that attracts, hires, and retains faculty and staff who are responsive, knowledgeable, and prepared to meet the needs of the student body.
Faculty and staff members at Compton College reflect the population of the Compton Community College District, an outcome guided by the 2016 Equal Employment Opportunity Plan, which was designed to ensure diversity, equity, inclusion, cultural competency, and equal employment opportunity when hiring new employees. Our continued success is attributed to many factors, including adding a director of diversity, compliance, and Title IX position and our partnership with the USC Race and Equity Center to review our hiring process and procedures, which started in the 2019-2020 academic year.
The College is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, ensuring a welcoming, and thriving environment for all of its employees, students, and surrounding communities. To achieve this, the college uses equity-minded hiring, evaluating, and advancing processes and is intentional in recruiting, hiring, and retaining diverse employees to reflect the diversity of our college community and student populations.
Establishing and retaining diversity among the college’s faculty and staff takes continuous and purposeful work. Now that we are several years into the Equal Employment Opportunity Plan, we are encouraged by changes that are clearly beneficial to employees, students, and the community at large. We know from research that students who have instructors and supporters they can identify with are more successful as they grow and learn with guidance from successful role models and mentors. Last year, Compton College’s student population was 65% female and the majority of students identified as Latinx.
As president of Compton College, I am providing this official data regarding the gender and ethnicity of District employees, along with the communities served by the Compton Community College District.
Compton College Employees
Gender
- More females were hired in 2022 than males.
- Overall, 55% of the Compton College workforce was female in 2022.
- According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population breakdown in the service area of the Compton Community College District is largely equal between male/female: Compton 49%/51%; Lynwood 49%/51%; Paramount 50%/50%.
- Statewide, the majority of California residents in 2020 were 50.3% female versus 49.7% male.
- For Los Angeles County, the statistics are 50.7% female, 49% male
Ethnicity
- Among Compton Community College District and Compton College employees, the majority of new hires for 2022 were Black/African American and Latinx.
- The District’s service area population of an estimated 307,229 residents is also predominately Latinx (78%); 16% were recorded as Black or African American according to the American Community Survey, 2020.
- Statewide demographics show 39.4% of California residents are Latinx, and 6.5% are African American.
- For Los Angeles County, the statistics are 48.6% Latinx, 9% Black.
Compton College sponsors an on-campus job fair each year, featuring career development opportunities such as free workshops in resume writing and interview skills. A spring 2023 hiring event is planned for Saturday, March 25 from 9 a.m. to noon. All employment opportunities are announced on the Compton Community College District Human Resources webpage: www.compton.edu/district/administration/humanresources.
Building a diverse faculty and staff is a priority for the Compton Community College District Board of Trustees, which remains committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone. Employees work together in our college community that supports student completion, success, and learning through an environment that emphasizes respect, integrity, diversity, and excellence for all.
1 Comment
What’s the ethnic FTE on-campus student breakdown for the current semester?