Presentation:

Demographic changes at the national, state, and university levels have rapidly diversified the population over the past forty years. These demographic changes will continue to profoundly impact population size, diversity, and structure for the next half century. The changes are potentially divisive and have major implications for perpetuating inequalities. How universities address these profound changes is extremely important for the future of local areas, states, and the nation as a whole. This presentation had three objectives: (1) To show clear evidence of the changing demography of Texas and the U.S., (2) To consider the implications of these changes for The University of Texas at Austin and other universities, and (3) To review the population-related programs initiated at The University of Texas at Austin.

Demographic Changes

The shifting demographics of Texas and the United States are a result of three basic processes: Growth, diversification, and aging. Overall, the past forty years featured steady population growth as a result of increased immigration and relatively high fertility rates. The state of Texas, for example, added over two million residents between 2000 and 2005, roughly the equivalent of adding Nevada’s 2000 state population.

Rates of population growth varied tremendously, however, by race and ethnicity. Very rapid growth of the Asian American and Hispanic populations, followed by steady growth of the black population and little to no growth of the white population, has profoundly altered Texas’ racial composition. Specifically, between 1990 and 2000 the Asian American population in Texas increased by over 80 percent, the Hispanic population increased by over 50 percent, the non-Hispanic black population increased by about 20 percent, and the non-Hispanic white population increased by only about seven percent. By 2004, these disparate growth rates had shifted Texas’ population from a white-majority state to a majority-minority state. This diversification of the state population is projected to continue well into the future.

Rates of growth also vary considerably by age. The most rapid percentage growth in both Texas and the United States is among seniors (65+). Furthermore, because the age structures of the white and non-white populations differ, the white population is rapidly aging while the Hispanic and Asian American populations are remaining much younger. Thus, along with increasing immigration and disparate fertility rates, the different aging patterns of white and non-white populations will continue to change the racial and ethnic composition of university and state populations.

Implications for Universities and Communities

Today’s populations are quite different from those only forty years ago, and universities must adapt. Given current patterns of racial/ethnic socioeconomic inequality, there will be continued major inequalities in education and income by race and ethnicity unless our educational institutions change. As a response, we must educate the general student body about these population changes and implement programs to address growing diversity and continuing inequalities.

UT-Austin’s Population-related Programs

The University of Texas at Austin has initiated several population-related programs to address the changing demographics of the University, the state of Texas, and the United States as a whole. This presentation reviewed five of those programs, and discussed their successes in addressing the changing needs of the campus population.

• The first program is the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in minority group demography. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and administered by the University’s Population Research Center, this population-related program offers both classroom instruction and mentored research opportunities to 10 undergraduates per year.
• The second UT initiative is the Bridging Disciplines Program in Population and Public Policy., an interdisciplinary certificate program that exposes students and faculty to issues of social and economic inequality from different disciplinary perspectives through courses, special forum seminars and internships. perspectives from different disciplines.
• The third initiative is broadening the UT undergraduate curriculum to incorporate more population-related themes is the third initiative.
• The fourth undergraduate program is the Difficult Dialogues Initiative, funded by Ford-Funded, to support the creation of a course on population change, social inequality, and public policy that is being integrated into UT’s core curriculum.
• The final program is the NSF-sponsored Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE). This initiative’s primary goal is to increase the enrollment, retention, and successful graduation of underrepresented minority students in SBE graduate programs.

Taken together, the five programs, which encompass curricular, research and support activities, aim to foster the institutional changes needed to educate the student body about the changing demographic composition of the United States population and to address the persistent ethnic-racial inequalities in education and income.

Discussion:

What are some regionally-specific changes that need to be addressed?

• Different demographic changes?
• Different university changes?

A participant in the session from UC-Berkeley brought up the challenges of tailoring curriculum, research opportunities, and general university services to students with low English proficiency. The other participants largely agreed that universities especially struggle with rapidly growing first-generation populations, and that existing resources fail to support linguistic diversity. Investments in the needed services are being cut while tuition and enrollment continue to rise. One member expressed the fear that funding the most needy students can put the institution as a whole at risk; others agreed that merit-based scholarships may be receiving too much attention.

What initiatives exist at your university to address population changes and inequalities?

Rutgers University has three campus-wide initiatives that address the changing demographics of the university, city, and state. Outside grants were procured for faculty professionalization and interdisciplinary faculty-led seminars. The UT-Austin “Longhorns Scholars Program” was also referred to as an additional mechanism of addressing student diversity. This is an honors program for first generation university students from high schools that are under-represented on the UT-Austin campus. The framing of programmatic initiatives was also widely discussed. “Public scholarship” was suggested as an alternative to “outreach work,” and the terms “equity and inclusion” was thought to be more consensus building than “diversity.”

What sources of support exist within and beyond your university? What are the barriers to enacting initiatives within your university?

This topic elicited the most stimulating discussion. All audience members spoke of interdepartmental disagreement as challenges to interdisciplinary work, as well as the lack of administrative leadership for interdisciplinary programmatic initiatives. Many audience members felt that UT-Austin is in luxurious position, whereby it benefits from both institutional support and the goodwill of administrative leadership. Concerns were raised that such arrangements could not be replicated in all universities. Nevertheless, all session participants were enthusiastic about the lessons of the presentation. Despite the challenges of funding programs equivalent to those at UT-Austin, the audience were all convinced of their needs. Furthermore, all members were enthusiastic about establishing and sustaining programs to meet their students’ needs.

Recommendations:

• Use demographic data to educate colleagues, administrators and legislators about the changing needs of the student population in various states: Show the numbers!
• Incorporate population change and policy issues directly into undergraduate curriculum, student programs, and research opportunities.
• Build a critical mass of committed faculty to internally sustain programs in this area.

References/Resources:

Websites

1. Texas State Data Center. September, 2006. http://txsdc.utsa.edu/
2. Bridging Disciplines Program, Connexus, University of Texas at Austin. http://www.utexas.edu/student/connexus/bdp/
3. Difficult Dialogues Program, Connexus, University of Texas at Austin.
   http://www.utexas.edu/student/connexus/difficultdialogues/index.htm
4. Forum Seminars, Connexus, University of Texas at Austin.
   http://www.utexas.edu/student/connexus/forumsem/index.html
5. Undergraduate Training Programs and Resources, Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin. http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/prc/training_and_fellowships/undergrad/