JOURNALISM & MASS COMMUNICATION EDUCATOR 26 Predictors of Diversification of Journalism & Mass Communication Faculties 1989-1998 LEE B. BECKER, JISU HUH AND TUDOR VLAD Lee B. Becker (LBBECKER@UGA.EDU) is a professor in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and director of the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Commu- nication Training and Research at the University of Georgia. Jisu Huh (JHUH@ARCHES.UGA.EDU) is a doctoral student and research assistant in the Cox Center. Tudor Vlad (tvlad@uga.edu) is assistant director of the center. Preparation of this report was made possible by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The percentage of faculty in journalism and mass communication programs who are women is increasing, but the change is so gradual that, at the present rate, it will be around the year 2035 before the faculty looks like the students enrolled in journalism and mass communication programs today in terms of gender. The situation is much the same in terms of race and ethnicity. Growth in the percentage of faculty who are not white is such that, at the present rate, it will be at least 2035 before the faculty is as diverse as today’s students. The target is moving, however, and by 2035, the percentage of students who are members of racial and ethnic minorities is likely to be higher than it is today. This means that if today’s rate of change in journalism and mass communication faculty continues, in 2035 there still will be a gap between the characteristics of the faculty and the students. From 1989 to 1998 — the period for which data on the characteristics of faculty in journalism and mass communication are available— the amount of change averaged across faculties in the country represented the addition of three-fourths of a woman to the faculty. In terms of minorities, the average change was an increase of half a faculty member. Yet some journalism and mass communication programs have made strides in diversifying their faculties,