The diversity of teachers and school leaders—in terms of racial/ethnic and gender representation[1] Endnote details—is critical to students’ educational experiences and outcomes. Research consistently shows that students benefit from both increased ethnoracial representation and diversity among educators. When students of color see themselves reflected in their teachers and leaders, it boosts their sense of belonging and academic engagement; moreover, a diverse educator workforce broadens all students’ perspectives and readiness for an interconnected world (Gershenson et al., 2021; Redding, 2019).
What Is the Ethnoracial and Gender Makeup of Teachers and Principals in NYC?
Has It Changed Over Time? And Does It Reflect the Diversity of the Student Population?
The gender and ethnoracial makeup of the NYC Public Schools (NYCPS) workforce and student body has evolved in recent years, but disparities in representation remain. To better understand the intersection of ethnoracial and gender representation, Figure 1 shows the demographic makeup of NYCPS teachers, principals,[2] Endnote details and students of color over six academic years, from 2019-20 to 2024-25. As a share of all teachers, the percentage of teachers of color (both men and women) increased from approximately 44 percent to 49 percent between 2020 to 2025. This change corresponded with slight increases in the share of teachers who identified as Latinx,[3] Endnote details Asian, or from other or unreported ethnoracial backgrounds, but no notable change in the share of Black teachers.
Notably, there was slightly more ethnoracial diversity among principals than in the teacher workforce. We found that the share of principals of color rose from about 53 percent to 55 percent. This change was concentrated among female principals. The ethnoracial makeup of male principals remained largely stable, with a far lower share of principals of color—about 8 percent of all principals were Black men, 5 to 6 percent were Latino men, and about 2 percent were Asian men or from other or unreported ethnoracial backgrounds.
Figure 1 also shows that the ethnoracial makeup of male and female NYCPS students remained relatively stable between 2020 and 2025. In any given year, about 9 to 10 percent of the student population were Black female students, 20 to 21 percent were Latina, and 9 percent were Asian female students. Similarly, about 10 to 11 percent of the student population were Black male students, 21 to 23 percent were Latino, and 10 percent were Asian male students.
All told, between the 2019–20 and 2024–25 school years, NYCPS saw a modest rise in ethnoracial diversity among teachers and principals, with notable differences across gender lines. In terms of overall ethnoracial makeup, the educator workforce added nearly 2,300 Latinx and 1,200 Asian teachers, while the number of Black teachers increased by about 140. Over the same time period, NYCPS added about 20 Latinx, 20 Asian, and 5 Black principals. Despite these shifts, our analysis shows that the ethnoracial and gender composition of educators and school leaders across the system is still dramatically different from the NYCPS student population.
The Disconnect Between Workforce Diversity and Student Representation
While these trends illustrate overall citywide differences between students’ ethnoracial and gender identities and those of the teacher and principal workforce, it is possible that the staff at individual schools might more closely mirror the demographics of their enrolled students. To explore this, Figure 2 presents data on ethnoracial and gender congruence between students and the teachers working at their school, for both the 2019-20 and 2024-25 school years. White female students had the highest ethnoracial-gender congruence with teachers—in 2020, citywide, they attended schools where about 57 percent of teachers were White women, declining to roughly 45 percent in 2025. Black female students came next in terms of ethnoracial-gender match with their teachers, though at less than half the rate of their White female peers. Latina students were closely behind. When we toggle to view results for male students, we see that White male students had the highest ethnoracial-gender match with teachers, well over the rates seen for Black, Latino, and Asian male students. From 2020 to 2025, teacher-student ethnoracial-gender match declined slightly for White and Black students, but was unchanged or rose modestly for Latinx and Asian students.
Figure 3 reveals different patterns of ethnoracial-gender congruence between students and their principals. White female students had a lower level of ethnoracial-gender match with principals than with teachers—in 2025, citywide, about 40 percent attended schools with a White female principal, slightly down from 47 percent in 2020. Match rates were lower for Black female students and White male students, at about 25 and 24 percent, respectively, in 2025. Notably this means both Black female and White male students experienced more congruence with principals, on average, than with teachers. Ethnoracial-gender match rates were markedly lower for Black male students and all Latinx and Asian students. Between 2020 and 2025, the only students who experienced an increase in ethnoracial-gender match with their school principals were Latinx and Asian female students and Asian male students, with all other groups experiencing a decline.
The persistent gaps between the demographics of NYC’s student population and those of its teachers and principals reflect more than simple hiring trends. Research points to structural barriers that limit the recruitment and retention of educators of color—including hostile racial climates, insufficient administrative support, and inequitable career pathways (Carter Andrews et al., 2019; Kohli, 2018)—which continue to shape the educator workforce and constrain progress toward a teaching and leadership staff that mirrors the diversity of the students they serve.
Implications for Students and Educational Practice
These trends have important implications for students and educational policy. For students—particularly those from historically underrepresented ethnoracial and gender groups—the lack of representation among teachers and school leaders can contribute to feelings of marginalization and a diminished sense of possibility. Research shows that students who see role models who look like them, especially in leadership positions, are more likely to succeed academically and feel a stronger connection to their school community (Redding, 2019). Moreover, diverse educators can better serve the varied needs of students from different cultural and social backgrounds, fostering a more inclusive and understanding school environment (Gershenson et al., 2021).
For policymakers and education leaders, addressing these gaps requires intentional strategies for recruitment, retention, and promotion of educators and school leaders of color. Efforts could include investment in early teacher pipeline programs, such as New York City Men Teach (NYCMT), which targets male teachers of color; grow-your-own models like Future Ready NYC teaching pathways, which support high school students with aspirations to enter the classroom; and pathways for paraprofessionals, who are often more racially and ethnically diverse than the overall teacher workforce, to transition into full-time teaching roles (Rodriguez et al., 2026). Complementary strategies to diversify educator and leadership pipelines include targeted mentoring programs, leadership training for educators from diverse backgrounds, and policies and initiatives that strengthen workplace conditions—such as equity-focused professional development, affinity groups, and supportive administrative practices—to ensure schools are hospitable and sustaining environments for all teachers.
Ultimately, moving toward a teacher and principal workforce that better reflects the diversity of the student population will be a key factor in fostering educational equity in New York City’s public schools.
Big Questions
- What are the drivers of the disparities we see in student access to schools with teachers and principals who share their race/ethnicity and gender?
- What factors at the system and school levels contribute to enhanced teacher and leader diversity across NYCPS?
- What has been the impact of programs for increasing ethnoracial and gender diversity (e.g., NYC Men Teach) among school staff on the demographic makeup of the NYCPS system? Where are supports for the recruitment and retention of teachers and leaders of color, especially men of color, still needed?
- How does racial-ethnic representation among teachers and principals impact perceptions of school climate, attendance, and academic performance among NYCPS students?
This Spotlight post was authored by Luis A. Rodriguez and Clare Buckley Flack. Erin Readling provided assistance on the data visualizations.
Figure Notes
Figure 1: Ethnoracial Composition of Female Students of Color in NYCPS, 2019-20 to 2024-25 School Years
Note: Percentages of White students, teachers, and principals are not shown. Gender reported as “other” and unreported not shown because data for this category were not collected for all study years. Rao–Scott (clustered) corrected chi-square tests indicate significant changes in the ethnoracial-gender makeup over time for teachers and students (p < 0.05) but not for principals.
Figure 2: Ethnoracial and Gender Congruence of Students and Teachers, 2019-20 and 2024-25 School Years
Note: Gender and racial/ethnic groups marked as “other” and unreported not shown since ethnoracial congruence requires alignment between identifiable racial/ethnic categories, and “other” reflects heterogeneous identities that cannot be meaningfully compared as a single group. Change over time was tested with a regression including a three-way interaction of year, student race/ethnicity, and gender, clustering standard errors at the student level and using Stata’s lincom for subgroup contrasts across years. All year-to-year differences are significant beyond 0.05 level, except for Latina female students (p = 0.301).
Figure 3: Ethnoracial and Gender Congruence of Students and Principals, 2019-20 and 2024-2025 School Years
Note: Gender and racial/ethnic groups marked as “other” and unreported not shown since ethnoracial congruence requires alignment between identifiable racial/ethnic categories, and “other” reflects heterogeneous identities that cannot be meaningfully compared as a single group. Change over time was tested with a regression including a three-way interaction of year, student race/ethnicity, and gender, clustering standard errors at the student level and using Stata’s lincom package for subgroup contrasts across years. All year-to-year differences are significant beyond 0.05 level.
Endnotes
[1] Our categories for gender (“male” and “female”) are based on data collected by NYC Public Schools. Students are able to change their gender marker in their permanent record with parental approval. Gender marker X – Neither Female nor Male (e.g., identifies as non-binary, gender expansive, or gender fluid) became an option in 2022-23. Since these analyses start with the 2019-20 school year, when data beyond the gender binary were not yet collected, we do not include discussion of students in the X subgroup. For this reason, as well as small sample sizes, we also do not include discussion of principals and teachers who identified as “Nonbinary (not female/woman or male/man)”, “Other - A gender not listed”, or “Unknown / I choose not to disclose” in their employment records.↩
[2] Note that this analysis does not include assistant principals.↩
[3] NYCPS collects ethnoracial data on students through the "Student Ethnic & Race Identification" form, which contains instructions that prompts caregivers to "indicate whether your child is of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin" and ethnoracial data on staff through the “Equal Employment Opportunity” form. NYCPS uses the term "Hispanic" in its official data reports. The Research Alliance uses the terms "Latino/a" or "Latinx" in response to feedback from students and educators who expressed that these terms more accurately reflect their identities and cultural experiences.↩
References
Carter Andrews, D. J., Castro, E., Cho, C. L., Petchauer, E., Richmond, G., & Floden, R. (2019). Changing the narrative on diversifying the teaching workforce: A look at historical and contemporary factors that inform recruitment and retention of teachers of color. Journal of Teacher Education, 70(1), 6–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487118812418.
Gershenson, S., Hansen, M. J., & Lindsay, C. A. (2021). Teacher diversity and student success: Why racial representation matters in the classroom. Harvard Education Press.
Kohli, R. (2018). Behind school doors: The impact of hostile racial climates on urban teachers of color. Urban Education, 53(3), 307–333. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085916636653.
Redding, C. (2019). A teacher like me: A review of the effect of student–teacher racial/ethnic matching on teacher perceptions of students and student academic and behavioral outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 89(4), 499–535. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319853545.
Rodriguez, Luis A., Xinghua Toby Wu, and Emily Myers. (2026). Transitioning Teacher Talent: An Ethnoracial Descriptive Portrait of the Paraprofessional-to-Teacher Pipeline in New York City Public Schools. (EdWorkingPaper: 26-1388). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/511n-s861.