For the past two years, The Eagle has released a staff diversity report as part of our work to take tangible steps to diversify our staff and our coverage. We know that simply measuring this data is not enough, but our hope is that in doing so, we can continue to provide a level of transparency to ensure that our staff more accurately represents the community that we cover. The Eagle’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion group is continuing to meet biweekly this semester and is committed to improving the diversity of both its staff and coverage.
Staff diversity report
The data for the staff diversity report were collected through The Eagle’s fall 2022 staff acceptance form, which all staff members filled out upon acceptance to The Eagle. The form asks optional demographic questions about race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and financial aid status.
This semester marks the largest known Eagle staff at 127 members. The percentage of staffers who identify as multiracial remains the same as in spring 2022, with about 15 percent of staff identifying as multiracial.
This semester, the number of staff members who identify as white slightly decreased, with about 66 percent this semester compared to 69 percent in spring 2022. Both of these figures are higher than the amount of AU undergraduates who identify as white, which was about 55 percent in 2021.
Data from the acceptance form show an increase in Latine and Hispanic representation among staff since the spring 2022 semester and slight decreases in Black and East Asian representation.
The majority of staff who chose to disclose their sexual orientation identifies as heterosexual, and 46 percent of staffers identify as being LGBTQ+, up from 33 percent last semester.
The majority of staffers identify as female, as observed the past few semesters. This semester has seen a slight increase in gender neutral/non-conforming staff members and a decrease in the number of staffers who identify as male, from about 26 percent to 24 percent.
The staff demographics show an increase in students who receive financial aid since the spring. The percentage of staffers who are recipients of the Pell Grant has nearly doubled, from about 7 percent to 13 percent. Half of staffers who responded to the question do not receive financial aid, compared to 48 percent of staffers last semester.
Most staffers attend the School of Communication, a slight decrease from last semester, with 48 staffers in SOC, 15 staffers in the School of Public Affairs, 10 in the School of International Service, seven in the College of Arts and Sciences and four in the Kogod School of Business.
Although The Eagle has taken steps to improve the diversity and inclusion of its staff, there is still work to be done. The Eagle’s DEI initiatives for the semester include a workshop on reporting on gender and sexuality, increased accessibility on social media and our website with the addition of alt text to images, continuing coverage of student groups that have historically been neglected by The Eagle’s coverage and partnering with an outside organization to do an implicit bias training for all staff members. In Oct. 2022, we began using the term Latine instead of Latino, Latina and Latinx. The group is also continuing to build connections with student organizations and reaching out to affinity groups on campus more often to ensure that we continue covering communities fully, not just in times of crisis or tragedy.
zbell@theeagleonline.com
