ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on both informal and formal processes based on how inequality in the workplace transpires in the workplace today. It provides examples of chairs who are willing to leverage their credibility and status to insist on equity within the academic department. The chapter explores the chair’s leadership role in surmounting informal behavioral barriers that preclude the creation of an inclusive departmental climate. It examines key formal processes that impact faculty diversity and shares forward-looking strategies chairs have adopted to diversify the academic department and provide instrumental support for diverse faculty in the complex pathway to tenure. Chairs on average, rated the climate for diversity in their departments as 4 on a scale of 5. With several notable exceptions, most departmental chair guides devote little attention to one of the most important and challenging roles of the department chair: recruiting and hiring a demographically diverse faculty.
