Diversity of LIS School Students: Trends over the Past 30 Years

Using the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) 2018 statistical reports, this study reports the current diversity status of LIS students. The findings are as follows: (1) overall LIS graduates’ diversity has improved from 6.79% to 17.47% over the past 30 years, and particularly, the increase in the number of Hispanic graduates is noticeable; (2) however, LIS graduates’ diversity does not follow the trends of the US population diversity: whereas 37% of the US population is minority, 17.43% of LIS graduates are minority students; (3) the ratio of LIS minority graduates (17.43%) is lower than the ratio of LIS minority students (20.70%); (4) larger disparities among LIS students are noticed in the most ethnically diverse states; and (5) the rate of minority students among the top ten LIS schools is lower than those of overall LIS schools, except the Asian group.