Interpreting the Data
By Victor M.H. Borden and Pamela C. Brown
Joy, uncertainty, sadness and feelings of accomplishment are just a few of the things graduates feel when walking across the stage to accept their diploma. They join a long line of predecessors who have sweated and cried over term papers, quizzes, final exams and for some, state and national boards. At the graduate and professional level, these feelings are also mixed with the prestige of being among a group of elites, particularly for minority students. After all, the requirements to get into graduate school are more stringent than those at the undergraduate level. And the recruitment methods and support programs in place for undergraduates do not often exist at the graduate level. Underrepresented students who defy the odds, not just once, but in some cases, two and three times, truly have made a huge step towards closing the graduate program participation and completion gap.
But closing that gap has become more difficult in recent years.
As anti-affirmative action sentiment continues to grow, graduate programs seem to be the first target. Although there is a consensus that diversity is essential for universities, there is disagreement as to how far universities should go to promote access and persistence among students of color. Yet we know graduate students have the same needs as undergraduates: They want to feel a sense of belonging to their institution and to see faculty and administrators who look like them. Without specific recruitment and support programs, their concerns fall on deaf ears. Given the low levels of minority participation within graduate programs, current political trends do not bode well for expanding the ranks of the minority professoriate. This can negatively impact the representation of individuals of color within higher education, K-12, medical fields, the business world and in the political arena.
