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Now Is the Perfect Time for Black Women To Apply To Doctorate Programs
If you’ve been thinking about going back to school, this is your sign!
Covid-19 has ushered in a global recession. And if this recession is anything like the one of 2008, more people will apply to graduate school this year, as those out of work consider investing in higher education as a way to explore interests, change careers, and enhance job security.
On top of the fact that the number of graduate applications will likely increase this year, many academic programs, especially in the humanities and social sciences, have suspended their doctoral admissions for the 2021–22 academic year, deciding instead to focus their pandemic-impacted funding on supporting current students rather than admitting new ones.
While there is no data on the exact numbers of Black women that enroll in doctoral programs each year, the National Science Foundation’s annual Survey of Earned Doctorates reports that, in 2018, 1,730 Black women earned doctoral degrees in the United States, just 3.1% of the 55,195 total number of doctoral degree recipients.
It goes without saying that Black women are grossly underrepresented in doctoral programs. I asked 400 women in my online community to support Black women pursuing doctoral…
