7.4 Assessing Diversity Leadership Skills in the Interview
Search committees and hiring units can use the following methods to assess candidates’ diversity leadership skills, a required qualification for executive, administrative, faculty, and professional positions. These suggestions are not designed to probe a candidate's personal beliefs; rather, they are offered to help the search committee ascertain effective leadership and management style for an increasingly diverse, multicultural workforce.
Inquiries about equity and diversity need to be consciously incorporated throughout the interview and raised in varied contexts. Avoid compartmentalizing questions about fairness, equity, and affirmative action as if they were separate from issues regarding effective management, leadership, and planning. Similarly, questions about diversity and multiculturalism need to be asked by various members of the search committee and/or the Department Approver. Frequently, members of constituency groups assume the responsibility for asking the "diversity" questions during the meeting. Making a conscious effort to share responsibility for questions regarding diversity ensures that diversity issues will be raised regardless of the gender, racial and/or ethnic makeup of the group.
Keep in mind that questions regarding diversity need to be directly related to the responsibilities of the position for which the candidate is interviewing. The committee may want to identify questions which address specific areas of concern for the hiring unit such as retention, recruitment, or conflict resolution.
Solicit quantifiable information about the candidates’ work in the areas of diversity. Ask about specific studies, policies, procedures, or programs they have initiated to further develop the campus or workplace as a multicultural environment, and ask for a statement of initiatives they would propose if appointed.
Inquire whether candidates had opportunities to recruit, retain, and promote women and persons from ethnically and/or racially diverse groups in previous positions they have held and, if so, their success at these efforts. Ask about committee memberships in his/her previous positions.
The following examples of open-ended interview questions are useful and appropriate for assessing a candidate’s diversity leadership experience and skills.
- What do you see as the most challenging aspects of an increasingly diverse academic community?
- What initiatives have you taken in your previous capacities to meet such challenges?
- What is your sense of the complexities and leadership challenges related to these issues?
- How have you fostered a climate receptive to diversity in the workforce, in the curriculum, in faculty/staff meetings?
- Suppose that in working with a University unit you discover a pervasive belief that diversity and excellence are somehow in conflict. How do you conceptualize the relationship between diversity and excellence? What kinds of leadership efforts are needed to encourage a commitment to excellence through diversity?
- In what ways have you integrated multicultural issues as part of your professional development?
It is also important to be attentive to a candidate's mode of interaction. Communication and attention to group dynamics are important aspects of leadership style and may indicate a candidate's potential effectiveness. Is the candidate at ease discussing diversity-related issues and their significance to the position? Does the candidate listen actively and accurately hear the issues posed? Does the candidate address all members of the search committee?