The Experiences of Graduate Students of Color During Recruitment

Journal of College Access Volume 10 Issue 2 Article 4 6-2025 The Experiences of Graduate Students of Color During Recruitment Tracy Sweet University of Maryland, Kristabel Stark University of Vermont Bridget Turner Kelly University of Maryland, Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jca Part of the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Sweet, Tracy; Stark, Kristabel; and Kelly, Bridget Turner (2025) "The Experiences of Graduate Students of Color During Recruitment," Journal of College Access: Vol. 10: Iss. 2, Article 4. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jca/vol10/iss2/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western Michigan University at ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of College Access by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact . The Experiences of Graduate Students of Color during Recruitment Authored by Tracy Sweet (University of Maryland) Kristabel Stark (University of Vermont) Bridget Turner Kelly (University of Maryland) ABSTRACT pedagogical techniques and perspectives that faculty of color can offer students (Delgado & Villalpando, 2002; Umbach, 2006). One way to increase racial diversity in higher education is to recruit and support a diverse graduate student population (Squire et al., 2016). Doing so improves the racial diversity of the student body and simultaneously increases the pool of candidates of color applying for future faculty positions (Squire et al., 2016). If colleges and universities hope to recruit and sustain a racially diverse student and faculty population, investing in the recruitment of graduate students of color is essential. We posit that graduate student recruitment is a form of community engagement where universi es invite community members to apply. We conducted a study about the recruitment experience with 29 newly matriculated graduate students of color. Many students reported that welcoming interac ons as well as research and courses on diversity or racial equity impacted their decision to enroll. Some barriers included lack of informa on, standardized tests, and funding. This study offers important insights for improving inclusive recruitment strategies. Keywords: diversity, recruitment, graduate students of color I ncreasing the racial diversity of higher education campus communities is beneficial to all members. Having a racially diverse student body improves a variety of student outcomes, such as cognitive skills (Gurin et al., 2002), critical thinking (Pascarella et al., 2014), and civic engagement (Bowman, 2011). Likewise, having a racially diverse faculty has a variety of positive impacts for both students and faculty (Kelly & Winkle-Wagner, 2017; Patton, 2009). Working with faculty of color positively impacts student outcomes and retention by strengthening student-faculty relationships, providing role models for students of color (Griffin et al., 2020; Patton, 2009), and exposing students to the unique Volume 10 | June 2025 | Issue 2 In this paper, we present a study on the recruitment experiences of graduate students of color within one historically and predominantly white (H/PWI) Tier 1 institution in the MidAtlantic United States. We assert that the graduate student recruitment process is a crucial form of community engagement. We describe the forms of engagement used by the university and discuss students’ experiences regarding their engagement with the university prior to becoming a member. Our work offers insight for other universities looking to effectively recruit graduate students of color. 28 Graduate students of color Conceptual Framework: Recruitment as Community Engagement Engagement and community are operationalized and conceptualized in a wide variety of ways in the literature (Koekkoek et al., 2021). Recruitment of new students (and faculty) is an important aspect of the university’s engagement with the broader community. How the university engages with current and potential students matters greatly. These forms of engagement, or recruitment strategies, have received some research attention (Levin et al., 2013; Squire et al., 2016) but more research is needed. In the fields of social work and psychology, common strategies are to have current faculty and students of color engage with prospective students as well as use their personal networks to refer students of color to these programs (Bowie et al. 2018; Rogers & Molina, 2006). Other strategies include personal contacts, direct mailing to undergraduate programs, providing generous funding packages, offering diversity courses, and engaging students in diversity-related research. et al., 2016). Research from the medical field demonstrated that efforts intended to increase diversity through community engagement can be harmful to historically underrepresented communities when they are done to rather than with these communities (Wieland et al., 2021). Therefore, as universities engage in strategic efforts to recruit graduate students of color, it is crucial that strategies include efforts to understand how recruited community members experience the recruitment process, and the extent to which they actually feel a sense of community within the institution during and after enrollment (Squire et al., 2016). Conceptualizing recruitment as community engagement is particularly salient in admissions, as universities grapple with the effects of the Supreme Court’s recent decision to prohibit the consideration of an applicant’s race in admissions decisions (Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2023). While the Court’s decision allows applicants to explain how their race is tied to a unique trait or attribute and for this to be considered in admissions’ decisions, dissenting justices lauded the importance of having a racially diverse student body and workforce and expressed concern that this decision overall may impede campus diversity. In future admissions cycles, universities who desire a diverse student body will have to be even more strategic about what happens before a student’s application is evaluated by the admissions team, to ensure that students of color not only Both who is invited to join the university, and how, have important implications for the evolution and growth of the university. If universities want to recruit and retain a diverse student population, we posit that universities will be successful by strategically engaging with members of communities of color—and other historically underrepresented groups—throughout the recruitment and enrollment processes (Squire Volume 10 | June 2025 | Issue 2 29 Graduate students of color choose to apply but also are equipped with the information they need to submit successful applications (Levin et al., 2013). The College contributed to the survey so that it reflected their admission experiences. Many of the sur (...truncated)