Spotlight for Career Services Professionals
Spotlight for Recruiting Professionals

In August, NACE launched quick polls to gauge how institutions, organizations, and individual career services and recruiting offices are responding to the need to address racial injustice. (Note: The polls also reflect strategies detailed in NACE’s commitment plan for supporting the Black community and fighting racial injustice.) Results are provided in real time and updated as responses are added or altered. The poll closes on September 8.

As of September 4, 82% of the employers and 93% of the colleges responding to the NACE Quick Poll: Responding to Racial Injustice had published statements about anti-racism, but far fewer have taken action to combat racial injustice.

Among the employers that made statements, 63% did so from the company overall, 18% issued statements jointly from the company overall and from its human resources department, and just 1% issued statements only from its human resources department. These results have shifted from two weeks ago, when 66% issued their anti-racism statements from the company overall, while 14% issued statements from both the company overall and from its human resources department.

Actions that responding companies committed to taking included rooting out discrimination within the organization (73%), reviewing hiring policies and procedures (54%), and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement (46%). The percentage of companies making these commitments has increased over the past two weeks.

Human resource departments, meanwhile, pledged to review their policies and procedures that address hiring (81%), personnel (58%), and internships (42%). Also, 65% committed to rooting out discrimination within the department, a substantial jump from the 50% that committed to this action two weeks ago.

As of September 4, while 81% made a commitment to review hiring policies, procedures, and practices, only 57% of the total organizations have begun those reviews. Meanwhile, respondents have been much slower to begin reviews of policies, procedures, and practices addressing promotions (30%) and personnel (26%). Furthermore, while 20% indicated having plans to review these areas, but not having started yet, an equal percentage have no plans in place to conduct these reviews yet.

Among the colleges that made anti-racism statements, 69% did so from the institution, 23% issued statements from both the institution and the career center, and just 1% issued statements only from the career center.

Among college respondents, more than half of responding institutions have committed to rooting out discrimination within the institution (76%); supporting Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) student groups (65%); and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement (57%), which are essentially the same percentages as reported two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, at the departmental level, career centers, too, will take these actions as 77% pledge to support the Black Lives Matter movement, 64% will support BIPOC student groups, and 49% have committed to rooting out discrimination in the career center.

Less than half of colleges and universities have pledged to review their policies, procedures, and practices around hiring (25%), promotions (16%), and personnel (14%). All of these have dipped noticeably from two weeks ago when respondents pledged to review their policies, procedures, and practices around hiring (45%), personnel (41%), and promotions (30%).

Among these, just one-quarter have begun the review of their hiring process, while just 16% of these respondents have begun review of their personnel or promotion processes. A much higher percentage—40 percent—have no plans to conduct these reviews yet.