Clemson University (Clemson University Library)

Clemson University Libraries, with Western Carolina University and Purdue University, will conduct a two-year, mixed methods workforce study of racially and ethnically minoritized academic library support staff. The research team will deploy a national survey and conduct regional focus groups with minoritized library staff across the United States to describe barriers to pathways to librarianship (i.e., to understand why so many minoritized individuals remain in support staff roles instead of becoming librarians). This project will generate new insights and understanding of minoritized academic library support staff’s status (numbers, distribution, demographics, levels of educational attainment, activities, etc.), their professional interests and aspirations, and barriers (financial, cultural, personal, other) that might hinder recruitment, retention, and advancement of minoritized populations in the field. The research will increase the profession-wide understanding of the multiple barriers (systemic and localized) to achieving greater library and information science professional workforce diversity.