ABSTRACT
Drawing on over 40 years of research on diversity in teaching, this chapter explores the development of the rationale for diversifying the teaching profession employed in the literature, with a particular focus on ‘demographic-matching’. A historical overview is necessary because the premises underpinning the various arguments advocating for a more diverse teaching population are complex and have changed over time. Most relevant research has focused on race and ethnicity, particularly in the United States of America (USA), but the field has also included additional dimensions of diversity in many national contexts. Utilising a modified chronological approach, this chapter identifies four ‘waves’ of diversity in teaching research to highlight central concerns of the research time frame in question. These waves trace the development of the rationale from its early emphasis on the benefits of a diverse teaching body for an equitable society, to the emergence of the demographic-matching rationale and then its critical interrogation, through to its resurgence and complexification.
