Race and multiculturalism have become hot topics in scholarly publishing in recent years, with books on those subjects among many presses’ best sellers.
At the same time, scholarly publishing itself remains a largely white enterprise. University presses employ few minority staff members -- and, in many cases, none at all.
One editor, Biodun Iginla, of the University of Minnesota Press, is raising questions about the lack of diversity at scholarly presses. He can find only five minority editors who acquire manuscripts for university presses, a figure that is consistent with estimates offered by other editors. He calls university-press publishing “the last bastion of the old-boy network.”
Although more minority-group members are to be found in marketing, publicity, and other publishing operations of university presses, Mr. Iginla is most concerned about the setting of editorial agendas. “Race has achieved commodity status in publishing,” he says. “Titles on race have become a form of merchandise and a source of value in the cultural stock exchange. But who decides what will get published? Do university presses practice what they theorize?”
He adds: “The interest in race is purely market driven. In a few years, presses may move on to something else.”
The subject came up during a recent Internet discussion on the Association of American University Presses listserv. Mr. Iginla started it with a message pointing out that only a few “editors of color” worked at university presses and asking people to share personal experiences for an article he was writing.
He and other participants in the discussion say they were surprised when some list members objected to the term “editors of color” and made sarcastic remarks about it. Even so, Mr. Iginla says, he received many encouraging replies.
As a result of the discussion, the Association of American University Presses plans to hold a session on the topic at its annual meeting in May.
Mr. Iginla is not the first to express concern about a dearth of minority editors in scholarly publishing. A decade ago the Metropolitan Life Foundation provided support to the presses’ association for minority fellowships to summer publishing institutes. In 1989 the Hewlett Foundation awarded a grant for minority internships at university presses.
Both foundations withdrew their support after a few years, and the efforts languished, says Bruce Wilcox, director of the University of Massachusetts Press, who helped organize the programs. In 1992 the association tried unsuccessfully to raise foundation money for similar programs. Mr. Wilcox concluded that increasing minority representation was a matter of will. “When a job comes up, the director has to make a concerted effort,” he says. “Those presses with the best records have made the effort.”
Last year the association conducted a survey of its members about minority representation. It showed that among nearly 100 university presses, 35 members of minority groups were employed in editorial positions. The figure included 12 Asians, 13 blacks, and 10 Hispanics. The survey did not distinguish among types of position.
The presses reported a total of 522 minority staff members, or about 23 per cent of the 2,300 employees of the association’s member presses. Thirty-six university presses employ no minority staff members.
Among those identified as minority editors are Ali Hossaini, an acquiring editor at the University of Texas Press; Charlotte Dihoff, acting director of Ohio State University Press; Seetha Srinivasan, associate director and editor in chief at the University of Mississippi Press; and Andrea Otanez, editor at large at the University of New Mexico Press.
Until recently, Mr. Iginla, who is a native of Nigeria, was one of two minority editors at the University of Minnesota Press; Janaki Bakhle left last year to work on her doctorate. Minnesota’s marketing director is also a member of a minority group.
Although some editors say they do not believe that only editors of a certain race or ethnicity should acquire books on certain subjects, they say Mr. Iginla has raised an important subject. “It’s a good thing that Biodun has raised the issue, and he’s in a good position to do so,” says Mr. Wilcox of the University of Massachusetts Press.
Lisa Freeman, director of Minnesota’s press, says the problem of minority underrepresentation begins at the entry level. “You can’t get a degree and land a $40,000 job as an editor,” she says. “The way you improve at the higher levels is to focus on the entry level,” such as assistants in editorial, production, permissions, and publicity.
Press officials offer several explanations for the lack of minority editors. Some say presses at universities in rural locations have a hard time recruiting members of minority groups. Others point to the low salaries in publishing, although this factor would apply to applicants regardless of race.
Sara Velez Mallea, managing editor of the University of Nevada Press and chairwoman of the committee that conducted the presses-association survey, believes that salaries are the chief impediment to recruiting more minority-group members. “Unless you have some added income, it’s very hard to stay in scholarly publishing when other businesses are wooing you,” she says.
Another factor is the pool of candidates. Presses often hire editors with advanced degrees, but, according to the National Research Council, blacks made up only 2.8 per cent of those receiving doctorates in the arts and humanities last year and only 4.7 per cent of those in the social sciences.
While scholarly publishing has remained largely white, it has become increasingly populated by women. During the past few years, they have assumed the directorships of more than a dozen presses, including those at North Carolina, Rutgers, and Texas. “Some white men may believe it’s easier to work with a white woman than a black man,” says David Bartlett, director of Temple University Press.
Along with Minnesota, Temple’s press is often cited as having a better-than-average record in hiring minority staff members. Both its marketing director and its warehouse manager are black.
Mr. Bartlett speculates that the lack of minority-group members in scholarly publishing may have to do with “the small-organization problem.” “Many presses employ 10 to 15 people, and they have a job opening every three years or so,” he says. “When a job does appear, someone waiting in the wings slides into it. The movement into these positions is not very fast.”
Mr. Hossaini of Texas, who acquires works in film and media studies, American studies, and Middle Eastern studies, wonders whether the race of editors matters at all. “I would like to think it doesn’t matter. Judging from the quality of books coming out, I don’t think it does.”
He generally resists the idea of racial categories. “I’m not so sure that people publishing on race or ethnic issues should be representative of these categories,” he says. “It seems to me to reinforce the balkanization of our society -- into ethnicities, into genders.”
“I feel that, generally, there are a lot of barriers in immigrant families to going into academic publishing,” he adds. “The money isn’t there; the rewards are intellectual and cultural. I’m very happy to see minority names and to be working on Middle East studies, but politically I feel mixed about translating that into institutional policies.”
Mr. Iginla, however, believes that by not employing more minority editors, presses are paying only lip service to racial equality. “I question the depth of commitment of scholarly presses,” he says. “It’s an act of will to have minority editors and to create the appropriate background for them to work in.”
