University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Documenting Diversity among Working LIS Graduates

Morgan, Jennifer Craft; Farrar, Brandy; Owens, Irene

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/15365

Description

Title
Documenting Diversity among Working LIS Graduates
Author(s)
  • Morgan, Jennifer Craft
  • Farrar, Brandy
  • Owens, Irene
Issue Date
2009
Keyword(s)
  • Diversity in the workplace -- North Carolina
  • Librarians -- Recruiting -- North Carolina
  • Discrimination in employment -- North Carolina
  • Library and information science
  • Labor studies
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to document the demographic characteristics of the library and information science (LIS) workforce and to discuss the implications of these findings for education and workforce planning. Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science 1 (WILIS 1) is a collaborative research partnership of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science and the University of North Carolina Institute on Aging, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through its Librarians for the 21st Century Program. Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science 1 (WILIS 1) is a comprehensive study of the career patterns of graduates of LIS programs in North Carolina since 1964. This article examines data from 1,903 working LIS graduate respondents. The results of this study suggest that the LIS workforce is predominantly female, underrepresented in terms of race/ethnic minorities, and consists of slightly older workers than the workforce overall. Comparisons of earnings reveal a substantial wage gap between the males and females in the sample (men earn more). We also find significant race, sex, and gender differences in factors that motivated respondents to enter an LIS program and qualities of jobs that respondents find desirable. Based on these findings, we suggest the following strategies to increasing diversity: (1) focus efforts on recruiting race/ethnic minorities to the LIS profession; (2) structure LIS jobs to accommodate the needs of women workers; and (3) plan for and accommodate the large segment of older and retiring workers.
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
ISSN
0024-2594
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/15365
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2009 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Owning Collections

Library Trends 58 (2) Fall 2009: Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science PRIMARY
Library Trends 58 (2) Fall 2009: Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science. Edited by Joanne Gard Marshall, Paul Solomon and Susan Rathbun-Grubb.