White women dominate the college admissions field

Dive Brief:

• White women comprise about half of all chief admissions officers, admissions heads and counselors, according to new data from CUPA-HR, the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.
• White men are also prevalent in the field, found CUPA-HR, which Tuesday released the survey results of more than 12,000 admissions professionals. One-third of chief admissions officers are White men, as well as about one-quarter of heads of admissions and one-fifth of admissions coordinators and counselors. 
• Workers least represented include those who are Native American and Pacific Islander. Not even 1% of chief admissions officers were Native American, and there were no Pacific Islander men in that position.

Dive Insight:

Women of all races and ethnicities eclipse the share of men at all levels of admissions, CUPA-HR found.

However, generally, Asian and Hispanic or Latino workers are underrepresented in the industry. For instance, representation of Asian employees at each level is about one-third of the representation of Asian people among U.S. bachelor’s degree holders, the association said. 

There are also fewer workers of color farther up on the admissions ladder — 31% of coordinators and counselors are people of color, versus only 21% of chief admissions officers.