Such lawsuits are not only expensive for the institution, but also have big effects on faculty resources and morale. Having a diverse faculty limits such claims, both by students and faculty, and an easily observable commitment to diversity by the institution and the faculty in both policies and hires provides a strong defense to claims of discrimination. (Washington 1992:2) I feel it is also important to mention that a diverse faculty, especially one supported by good diversity policies and commitments by the institution, is less likely to engage in the kind of discrimination that creates legal liability for the institution. .
One must wonder, if there are so many pros to hiring minority faculty, why hasn't there been a greater effort to enforce their presence? Some reasons Shirley Brown (1988:45) believes are the problem, particularly to teach at universities include: "the small and/or declining number of African-American/Hispanic Ph.D.s; the under representation of minorities in particular disciplines such as science and engineering; the concentration of African-American and Hispanic doctorates in the fields of education, humanities, and social sciences; and the trend toward nonacademic employment among doctoral degree holders." Nevertheless, the lack of affirmative action progress cannot be explained solely by arguments about the availability pool. An important fact to consider is that the proportion of African-Americans and Hispanics who hold faculty positions in predominantly white institutions has never come close to the percentage of African-Americans and Hispanics who hold terminal degrees, even in fields where the supply is relatively good. (Brown, 1988) In certain fields, minorities are more likely than whites to state their reason for working part-time as the inability to find full-time employment. These facts raise issues about the demand for African-American and Hispanic faculty.