Graduate school deans at top universities from across the nation say that colleges and universities can do more to diversify graduate education and avoid bias in current admissions processes in a Thursday webinar panel sponsored by Education Testing Service (ETS), GRE and Diverse: Issues In Higher Education.
Panelists Dr. Karen P. DePauw, vice president and dean for graduate education at Virginia Tech; Dr. Steven W. Matson, dean of University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill Graduate School, and Dr. Mark J. T. Smith, dean of the University of Texas at Austin’s Graduate School discussed barriers to diversifying an institution’s student body, fair and effective admissions processes and best practices to having and maintaining a diverse population during the discussion titled “Diversity in Graduate Education: Looking at – and Beyond – Admissions.”
Dr. Jamal Watson, executive editor of Diverse, moderated the conversation.
“If you’re going to diversify your student body it requires energy, you have to be intentional, it requires hard work,” Smith said. “In order for that to happen on the large scale, you really need a culture where people are willing to invest that kind of energy, it becomes the thing to do.”
DePauw said that graduate faculty and leadership are “critical in helping” universities “create a helping and affirming environment for our grad students.”
The panelists also discussed some of their institution’s accomplishments in building a diverse pipeline, including the creation between Virginia Tech and Historically Black colleges and universities.
UNC-Chapel Hill utilizes its Diversity and Student Success (DSS) program to increase the retention of its graduate students to help see them through degree completion. This initiative has yielded positive results, Matson said.
