Rethinking the Structure of Student Recruitment and Efforts to Increase Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Doctoral Education

Abstract

While researchers, institutional leaders, and policymakers have made significant progress towards increasing undergraduate student diversity in the United States, diversity in graduate education has been less often studied and a more challenging goal on which to make progress. This qualitative study explores the roles and work of graduate diversity officers (GDOs) in student recruitment activities with a focus on how race and issues of diversity manifest and influence this process. Interviews with fourteen GDOs at 11 different research universities in the United States highlight the phases in the graduate recruitment process, the manner in which diversity is considered at each stage, and GDOs’ perceptions of their ability to shape this process. Findings suggest that GDOs are important institutional agents in diversification efforts; however, faculty engagement and broad institutional commitment are required to increase diversity in graduate education due to GDOs’ often limited involvement in the admissions stage of the recruitment process, where race becomes the most salient in decision making.

Leveraging Promising Practices: Improving the Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention of Diverse & Inclusive Faculty

“…There are several strategies that can be helpful as institutions seek to revise their recruitment strategies. First, it is important to acknowledge that recruitment is not a one-time event; institutions must address: outreach, or long term efforts to build a pool; hiring, the identification and selection of a candidate for a specific position; and yield, encouraging selected candidates to accept an offer (Griffin & Muñiz, 2015;Laursen & Austin, 2014). While women and men of color faculty play an important role in advancing many of these strategies, institutional leaders need to be mindful of not placing further, unrewarded, service burdens on URG faculty (Griffin et al, 2013).…”

Admission Criteria for Educational Leadership Doctoral Students in One U.S. Doctoral Program

“…These models can help us to identify correctly candidates most in danger of dropping out and candidates most likely to complete the doctoral program. Supporting the conclusions of Griffin and Muñiz (2015) who examined graduate admissions and race, program leaders should continue to evaluate the predictive validity of preadmission criteria as a precursor to developing tomorrow's leaders.…”

“We are a huge source of labor”: Exploring STEM Graduate Students’ Roles in Changing Departmental Climate

“…While there is a growing body of research that examines efforts to improve racial climate in STEM graduate education (Griffin & Muñiz, 2015;Hill et al, 2011;Jones, 2016;Posselt, 2020), few studies have explicitly centered the role that graduate students play in this process. Our study adds to the literature by highlighting how STEM graduate students work to change their departmental climates as they are socialized to the norms, standards, and practices of their respective disciplines and fields.…”

“…In effect, many interventions are designed to leave the status quo that centers whiteness intact; they modestly increase diversity and inclusion rather than transform systems to be more equitable (McGee, 2020). For example, departments may focus on recruiting a compositionally diverse group of applicants in combination with revisiting their admissions practices to enroll more students who are racially minoritized and/or women (Griffin & Muñiz, 2015;Jones, 2016;Posselt, 2020). They host workshops and speakers to increase faculty members' understandings of DEI and to improve their capacity to engage in cross-cultural mentoring and advising (Hill et al, 2011).…”