Celebrating Diversity
Nearly 150 scholars and students from campuses across
the nation attended the fifth annual Yale Bouchet Conference on Diversity in
Graduate Education, which took place March 28-29. The conference was hosted by
the Graduate School's Office for Diversity and Equal Opportunity (ODEO), and is
named for Edward A. Bouchet (Yale College Class of 1874), the first African
American to earn a PhD degree in the United States (in physics in 1876 from
Yale). The keynote speaker of the conference was Yale College alumnus Kurt
Schmoke ’71, former mayor of the city of Baltimore and current dean of the
Howard University School of Law. Dean Schmoke was a member of the Yale
Corporation (the university's board of trustees) from 1989 to 2002.
The Graduate School established ODEO seven years ago
in order to further its commitment to attracting, retaining, supporting, and
mentoring a highly diverse student body. In addition to running the Bouchet
Conference, the staff and ten Diversity Fellows coordinate a mentoring program
that matches graduate students with Yale College students of color, women, and
other traditionally underrepresented students who are interested in pursuing
graduate study. The Fellows run a "Survivor Series" that offers practical
tips on how to thrive in the academic world, and they host the Bouchet
Seminars, at which graduate students present their research to one another.
They also host speakers and panels on a wide range of diversity-related issues.
Graduate applications continue to rise
Applications to Yale's graduate programs have nearly
doubled in the past ten years. Approximately 7,800 people applied for the 480
available slots in PhD programs at the Graduate School this year, and an
additional 920 people applied to master's degree programs, for a grand total of
about 8,720 in the applicant pool. This represents an increase of 2 percent
over last year, which was the second most competitive year ever. Only ten years
ago, the grand total of applicants was 4,698.
Some programs were especially competitive. History
had over 380 applicants for 24 slots; English had more than 310 for 10
openings; and philosophy, more than 260 for 5 places. In the sciences, over 590
people competed for 40 seats in engineering and applied science; in physics,
approximately 270 applicants vied for 18 slots; and the combined programs in
biological and biomedical sciences received over 880 applications for 80
openings. The social sciences had more than 710 hopefuls vying for 23 slots in
economics; about 550 competed for 18 seats in political science; and almost 590
students were eager to enroll in the psychology department, which has room for
only 20.
Yale students mentor science fair participants
One day a week, Daniel Santavicca, graduate student
in applied physics, sets aside his dissertation research on the high-frequency
electrical and electrothermal properties of nanoscale devices to coach a
Hillhouse High School senior who is working on a project for the 14th annual
City-Wide Science Fair at Yale. The City-Wide Science Fair is a big event in
New Haven: more than 8,000 public school students from pre-kindergarten through
12th grade participated in preliminary competitions, with the winners of those
contests invited to exhibit at the City-Wide Fair (taking place May 13-15 in
Woolsey Hall).
Yale is a strong supporter of the science fair, with
faculty and students volunteering as mentors and judges. Last year, 40 of the
65 mentors were from Yale, including 25 graduate students, three undergraduates,
five postdoctoral fellows, five faculty members, and two research scientists.
Of the 120 judges who evaluated projects at the fair itself, 48 were Yale
faculty or students.
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