in most disciplines studied, the percentage of urms among recent phd recipients was significantly greater than their percentage among assistant professors, indicating under-utilization; exceptions included civil engineering and mechanical engineering. in the top 50 departments of chemistry and math, the percentage of hispanic and native american faculty among assistant professors was lower than among associate professors, revealing a decline in hiring those minorities. in contrast, in all disciplines studied, the highest percentage of female faculty was at the level of assistant professor, as a result of increased recent hiring of women.