Why offer the Pipeline Program?

Simply put, there is a marked disparity in the number of higher education faculty of color and students of color. Racial minorities make up approximately 36% of students in U.S. colleges and universities but only about 18% of the individuals doing the teaching. Our goal is to bring these two numbers closer together (and raise them in the process).

While the question of race and higher education is important to us, it is only one of many areas of underrepresented identity we embrace and explore.  

Research has shown that the transition from the undergraduate to graduate education worlds is particularly difficult for students from underrepresented groups. Some difficulties are related to socio-economic factors (inability to afford graduate school or the need to support family members) while others can be categorized as cultural factors (like an unfamiliarity with terms, rules, or expectations in the graduate education world).

The Pipeline Program attempts to break down these barriers (or at least minimize them) so students with intellectual potential have an equal shot at being amazing graduate students, inspirational professors, serious researchers, and life-changing mentors.

Why offer the Pipeline Program at the Graduate Center?

The Office of Educational Opportunity and Diversity (EOD) at the CUNY Graduate Center serves the City University of New York by promoting excellence through diversity, and diversity through excellence, in doctoral education. The Graduate Center is the perfect place to house the Pipeline Program because the Pipeline Graduate Fellows (current PhD students at the GC) serve as intellectual and social mentors, having faced some of the same barriers mentioned above. Too, EOD's professional staff are dedicated to building a diverse environment that fosters a sense of community and a safe space for all to flourish academically and personally.