To foster diversity, law departments ought to follow three steps

The three steps are hiring, retaining, and advancing minorities, according to InsideCounsel, Oct. 2006 at 56. It isn’t enough to rely on “recruiting or hiring” minorities, and then leave them to their own devices. Though common, that approach fails. The article takes law departments to task, since 44 percent of the 377 survey respondents agreed with the statement “My department is doing enough to diversify its ranks.”

By the way, what is the difference between “recruit” and “hire”? The former has a militaristic connotation and a sense that you are luring the person from another job, while the “hire” seems to apply to employment of people with fewer skills or qualifications than people whom you recruit.

But back to the point. Law departments need to devote special attention and efforts not just to bringing in minorities but also to keeping and promoting them as their abilities warrant.