Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Justice in Academia

[ucgrit]

Hey gradcafe! We're the Graduate Recruitment Initiative Team (GRIT) at the University of Chicago. We're a team of graduate students committed to the recruitment and retention of students from marginalized backgrounds to graduate programs in the Biological Sciences Division, Physical Sciences Division, and School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago.

For students from marginalized backgrounds, the road to grad school can be confusing, downright scary, and may seem impossible. The lack of diversity in STEM is a huge problem, generating unsupportive and sometimes hostile work environments for students of color, LGBTQ+ students, students with disabilities, and female-identifying students. GRIT aims to help fix the "leaky pipeline" in graduate school recruitment by actively recruiting minority students to graduate school, connecting prospective students with faculty members of interest, and fostering personal connections with prospective students to ensure they find the best graduate program for their interests. In addition we aim to bridge gaps in marginalized student retention by providing programming that aims to provide supportive environments, community building, and increase access to mentors and role models (such as seminar series featuring LGBTQ+ scientists, womxn's networking and mentorship events, and community-focused events).

So... why are we here? We want to reach out to the prospective graduate student community and offer our support! We're here to talk diversity and inclusion, talk about struggles we have faced, talk about the graduate school experience, talk about applications: ranging from "am I a competitive applicant" to how to talk about non-scientific strengths (i.e. you balanced 3 jobs in undergrad and don't have a high GPA because of it) and even what graduate and non-graduate programs to consider, to talk about our successes in recruiting, STEM identity and more! We're happy to answer questions related to applications, graduate student communities, diversity statements, read applications, provide feedback and more! (and of course, if you're interested in a PhD program at UChicago, that's even better!) 

We are here to help other students have a better experience, both in the application process and after they get in. Reach out and let us know what we can do.