On our Admission e-List, discussion bloomed over the right way to attract more diverse applicants for various grade levels. Encouraging a diverse, accepting culture is a primary goal of many schools’ recruiting efforts, representing part of a school’s overall mission to create inclusive environments and help its students become citizens of the world.
With that in mind, we’ve put together some tips for those who’d like to diversify their applicant pool while keeping their school’s mission at the heart of all recruitment efforts.
- Decide what kind of “diversity” is important in your school’s pursuit of mission-centered excellence. Some people think that students must be “visually” different in order to be considered diverse members of the school community, when that’s not always the case. (If you want to get technical about diversity, every school has 100% diversity: Every student is a unique individual, different from his or her peers.) But if you’re aiming to incorporate more diversity of a particular student trait, you should specify that trait and demonstrate why its increased prevalence is desirable. Are you looking for students from different socioeconomic backgrounds? Cultures? Genders? Religions? Family structures? Once you know what type of diversity your school needs to better serve its mission, you’ll be able to better target those populations.
- Provide resources for programs in which you want greater diversity. For example, if you want to attract more talented musicians, make sure the music department is presented as an attractive, well-supported program in your school. Explore your records, and find which aspects of your school have appealed to the targeted demographic in the past.
- Determine if diversity scholarships are in the budget. Remember that every full-pay student subsidizes scholarship students, so offering a scholarship to every “diverse” candidate may not be financially feasible. Still, having assistance available to ensure the attendance of particularly qualified candidates might make the difference in the caliber of student you retain come spring.
- Update materials to reflect your school’s dedication to the type of diverse community your school wants to foster. Avoid themes like “tolerance”—that implies an “us and them” separated culture, as opposed to the naturally inclusive environment your school wishes to create. Gaining testimonials from students similar to those you wish to recruit will also help engender inclusivity from the start of their admission process. Training currently enrolled families who engender the traits you’re trying to attract as parent or student ambassadors will create natural “allies” for diverse prospects at recruitment events.
- Remain selective in your process. Having greater diversity should not be a measure of how many “different” students you have, but rather the best quality students who also have those diverse elements you feel your school population lacks. Again: don’t simply admit every “diverse” student for the sake of having “more” diversity. Make sure all students admitted are mission-appropriate.
Did you miss our workshop on diversity this summer? No worries--we're running more sessions of The Double-Edged Sword of Diversity: Reframing Community Life Initiatives in Independent Schools in Houston, Texas, and San Diego, California, in January and February 2016, respectively. Join educational consultant and guest ISM Workshop Leader Derrick Gay to transform your view of diversity and learn how to foster a more inclusive school community.
Additional ISM resources:
The Source for Private School News Vol. 14 No. 3 Defining "Normal:" Double-Edged Diversity Initiatives In Private Schools
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 39 No. 2 Financial and Cultural Questions About Socioeconomic Diversity
I&P Vol. 38 No. 13 Your School's Statement On Diversity
I&P Vol. 38 No. 12 Defining Diversity In Your School's Culture: Implications For Planning
