May 21 is World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, a day for people around the globe to celebrate diversity in their own contexts, whether locally or globally. To mark the day, UW Department of Global Health (DGH) highlights the views and experiences of UW students who are recipients of the Endowed Fellowship for Global Health Excellence, Equity and Impact and some ways that we can all get involved in promoting diversity at UW.
“The Department of Global Health values diverse experiences and perspectives. We strive to create welcoming and respectful learning environments, and promote access, opportunity, and justice for all,” says Carey Farquhar, MD, MPH, Associate Chair for Academic Programs, Global Health, UW. “Yet we recognize that to broaden student diversity within DGH we must address some barriers to the UW’s successful recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority students.”
According to the UW Graduate School 2013 Graduate School Diversity Report, these barriers include the lack of guaranteed funding beyond a year or two, making attracting underrepresented minority (URM) graduate students a challenge—especially when top students receive multi-year offers from other universities. Further, for many years, much of the responsibility to promote diversity and mentor underrepresented minority graduate students has fallen to faculty of color, becoming an unfair burden on a select few.
“Promoting inclusion and representative diversity is the collective responsibility of all UW faculty and staff,” says Farquhar, “To celebrate the day, we ask you to do one thing for diversity, such as informing yourself about diversity issues at UW or in your own community, or showing your support for the Endowed Fellowship for Global Health Excellence, Equity and Impact.”
For insights into how the Endowed Fellowship for Global Health Excellence, Equity and Impact is making a positive difference, UW Department of Global Health students and fellowship recipients Sofia De Anda and Shadae Paul share their experiences in the following blogs.
Sofia De Anda, UW Master of Public Health in Global Health student
This opportunity would have been out of my reach had it not been for one thing. My name is Sofia De Anda and I am a recipient of the Endowed Fellowship for Global Health Excellence, Equity and Impact, without this Fellowship, I would not have been able to enroll as an MPH student in UW’s Department of Global Health.
Before I start I have a confession to make. Up until a few years ago, I was somewhat unaware that I am a minority. I am from El Paso, Texas, a very Latino place (80%). Once I left El Paso I realized that actually I am a minority, especially in academia. I had hints of this all my life, but as I grew older I began to notice them more each time I left home.
The realization of my status as a minority does not come as a complaint, I am proud of my Mexican heritage. I had just never experienced it because I grew up in such a homogenous community. This new experience comes with feelings of inadequacy, not being able to relate to my peers, and “impostor syndrome”. It’s a feeling I still fight sometimes.
These feelings of inadequacy are sometimes coupled with another realization, the realization that it has been a little easier for some to get here than for others, that I do have a disadvantage. I am the daughter of first generation immigrants, my parents did not graduate from college, my mom did not help me with my writing because she does not speak English. I received so much encouragement from my parents, but the direction and planning of my academic career was vague.
Luckily, I received the Fellowship for Global Health Excellence, Equity and Impact. Without it, my experience here would not only have been impossible, it would also have been really overwhelming.
My decision to come to UW was heavily influenced by this fellowship, which has given me two very valuable things. The first is peace of mind in terms of the financial stress that comes with working and paying rent in a city like Seattle. It has also provided me what I consider just as or even more valuable: mentorship. It has allowed me to feel like and be a part of the community in this institution. It has given me opportunities and skills that have allowed me to network and gain experience - to make up for an advantage I previously lacked.
Although I had some disadvantages, I did have some advantages to get to where I am now. I was blessed with good mentors at my undergraduate university, who encouraged me to continue my studies and helped me with my graduate school applications. Not everyone has this, many underrepresented minorities do not have the support they need to navigate graduate school. Many minorities have also felt inadequate their whole lives.
A little less than a year ago I accepted my admission to UW. I accepted because I knew I had this opportunity and I know how important it is to have income and a place to live. Most of all I know how important it is to have a mentor and a community that supports me, which is what I have here.
What I want you to take away from my story is that yes, I am a minority and I have had some disadvantages but I am not the only one and thanks to this fellowship I have had it a little easier now.
Which leads me to my next point, which is that we need more scholarships because they can help other underrepresented minorities succeed. These fellowships will give them the opportunity to accept admission to UW and enable them to join an amazing community they wouldn’t have been able to be a part of otherwise.
Shadae Paul, UW Master of Public Health in Global Health and Master of Public Administration student
My Family’s Immigration Story
My transnational experience began at a very young age. My family and I moved to the United States from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean when I was four years old when my father, a skilled mechanic, landed a job as a mechanic at an auto dealership in Rockville, Maryland. My family was able transition to life in the US relatively smoothly with the support of family and friends, however there are many in the international immigrant community who are forced to migrate due to economic, political, social, or environmental factors in their home country.
Like most immigrants, my identity—and by extension my graduate school experience—crosses cultural and geographic borders. I am what is called a “1.75 generation” student, which is a term used to describe people who immigrate to the US at age five or younger (Table 1)[i]. Like many other 1.75 generation students, I live in the unique space between what was and what is and am constantly trying to reconcile the two. In an academic setting, many first-generation graduate students face unique sociocultural and psychological stressors such as culture shock, language barriers, feelings of social exclusion and cultural exclusion, and imposter syndrome. Depending on the reason for immigration, some graduate students may also be dealing with threats of deportation in addition to the academic rigors of pursuing an advanced degree.
Underrepresented Minorities at UW
Underrepresented minority (URM) students at the UW is defined as students who identify as Black, Southeast Asian, Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, Latino, or American Indian/Alaskan Native. According to the 2016-17 UW Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity Fact Sheet, the enrollment breakdown of URMs are Latino (44.2%), Southeast Asian (20.9%), African Americans (15.3%), Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (2.7%), and American Indian/Alaskan Native (2.4%). While these categorizations are important identifiers of URMs, they do not acknowledge various other minority groups such as religious minorities, students with disabilities, and non-traditional graduate students. Additionally, these descriptors do not account for how intersectionality (i.e. the interconnected nature of race, class, and gender) can also impact a student’s minority status.
Funding through the Department of Global Health
During my graduate school application process, I had applied to 10 public and private graduate programs around the US. I was accepted into seven. Three of those seven graduate programs offered funding. As an out of state graduate student, the average tuition rate from my top choices of schools was roughly $41,000 per year for out of state-tuition (excluding living expenses, textbooks, school supplies, etc.) for a 3-year concurrent degree. Although I wanted to go to these top schools, I knew it would be impossible without significant funding or student loans. One evening, as I drove home after a long day of work, I got a call from Julie Brunett, the Program Manager in the Department of Global Health. On that call, Julie told me that I was a recipient of the Endowed Fellowship for Global Health Excellence, Equity and Impact, and not only would it cover my tuition, I would also have the opportunity to be mentored by a faculty member in the Department of Global Health. When I got home, I told my family who were overjoyed to hear the news. My mind was set—I would be moving to Seattle to pursue graduate studies at the University of Washington!
It wasn’t until well into my first year in the MPH program that I learned that I am the first Caribbean American student to pursue the concurrent MPH/MPA degree. After I got over the initial shock, I had a lot of questions: Why don’t more Caribbean students enroll in graduate programs in the Pacific Northwest generally and the University of Washington specifically? What are the barriers that prevent access to education (i.e. cost, supportive language training, lack of/presence of mentorship specifically by mentors of color, geographic proximity to social and familial networks, community college-to-four year college pathways for recent immigrants and children of immigrants)? And, what do we lose by not having more URM voices in higher education at the UW? To be honest, I don’t know the answers to all of these questions. However, asking these questions is an important first step. I firmly believe that URM students like me have a responsibility to expand opportunities for future URM students. From our position within academia, URM graduate students have an opportunity to speak from (not for) our communities, identify systematic barriers, and work within the existing academic institution to advocate for iterative, adaptive, and inclusive solutions.
The Importance of Funding and Mentorship by Faculty of Color
According to the University of Washington 2013 Diversity Report Follow-Up, funding[ii] (research grants, travel grants, and RA/TA positions) is a primary factor in decision-making when URMs select graduate schools. Many underrepresented minorities do not receive funding offers from the UW or their departments and choose to attend a different school for this reason.
In addition, opportunities for mentorship by faculty of color also contributes to decision-making. Unfortunately, despite diversity efforts, the percentage of tenured URM faculty of color has remained stagnant in the past 10 years. According to the 2013 Diversity Report Follow-Up, of the total 1,970 tenure or tenure-track faculty only 51 were Black, 80 Latino, and 9 Native American/Alaskan Native (Figure 2)[iii].
Personally, I know that mentorship and funding, specifically, shaped my decision to attend UW. During my first year as an MPH student, I worked as a Research Assistant for Dr. Donna Denno, MD, MPH. This experience taught me advanced research methodologies, critical thinking, practical skills, and helped to build my network on campus and beyond. In addition, this experience opened up a pathway to excellent certificate programs like the Global Women, Adolescent, and Child Health certificate program (Global WACh) and the International Development Certificate Program at the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance.
Benefits of Supporting Departmental Funding for Underrepresented Minorities
There are many benefits to supporting funding for underrepresented minorities within the Department of Global Health. Funding for URMs creates a pathway for students to enroll in academic and professional programs at the UW. It also increases access to the department’s elite network of domestic and international global health researchers and practitioners.
Further, graduate program diversity is a key factor for attracting future graduate students. Additionally, funding higher education for URMs promotes diversity for future leaders in global health. Lastly, representation matters; funding for URMs helps to promote positive representation of these groups in academic and professional settings.
While funding is vital, it is most effective when coupled with complementary mechanisms to support URMs throughout their graduate experience. Such measures include research to identify barriers to completion for URMs, psychosocial support and opportunities for cultural expression, and an increase in the percentage of tenure or tenure-track minority mentors for URM students. Moreover, a shift in dialogue about URMs from being labeled as “disadvantaged” to being perceived as empowered through their unique cultural experience, similar to the aims of the Endowed Fellowship for Global Health Excellence, Equity and Impact, is necessary.
Call to Action
To commemorate World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, I would like to call all of you to action to leverage your academic and professional resources on-and-off campus to increase funding for domestic and international underrepresented minorities by supporting fellowships like the Endowed Fellowship for Global Health Excellence, Equity and Impact.
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End notes:
[i] Table 1. Generational Cohorts
The above terms are often used interchangeably due to ambiguity. Source: Rumbaut, Rubén G., Ages, Life Stages, and Generational Cohorts: Decomposing the Immigrant First and Second Generations in the United States (2004). International Migration Review, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 1160-1205, Fall 2004. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2004.tb00232.x
[ii] Figure 1. URMs—Why Accepted Offer From Another University
Source: Diversity Report Follow-Up, 2013. The Importance of Diversity: Our Collective Responsibility. UW Graduate School. November 2013. Available at: http://grad.uw.edu/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013-Graduate-School-Diversity-Report.pdf
[iii] Figure 2. Tenure/Tenure-Track Faculty, Fall 2011
Source: Diversity Report Follow-Up, 2013. The Importance of Diversity: Our Collective Responsibility. UW Graduate School. November 2013. Available at: http://grad.uw.edu/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013-Graduate-School-Diversity-Report.pdf