Insei Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I'm narrowing down the schools I'd like to apply to at the end of the year, and I've noticed that many of them give the option of including a diversity statement with one's application. The description of what it is supposed to be is consistently and remarkably vague, however. Here's some stuff I think sets me apart from other people that may be applying to these schools: 1. I'm a girl in science, but that's not really so uncommon anymore. 2. I will be the first person in my family to earn a bachelor's degree, let alone to go to graduate school. 3. I spent much of my childhood in a bad financial situation; as a teenager, I worked to help my single mom pay bills. 4. I have worked 25-30 hours a week to financially support myself as an undergrad. This fact becomes impressive when one considers how much research I do. Do any of these things warrant the writing of a diversity statement? For the record, I'm white If I weren't, this would be a no-brainer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FingersCrossedX Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Diversity means things other than being non-white. You are female in the sciences, which is less rare than it used to be, but its not 50/50 by any means. Being the first in your family with a bachelor's and going on to get a master's is also a big deal. Its easy to think that diversity means race only, but it doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzylogician Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Yes, it sounds like you have a lot to write in a diversity statement. Diversity isn't just about race; you have several experiences that would contribute to the diversity of a "normal" science department and to the university. You don't lose anything by writing the statement, so why not do it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginerd Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I applied to Berkeley, where they require you to write the diversity statement. There request was a little bit more specific with one of the things they ask being something like, "What do you do to further or help minorities in education.." or something remotely like that. I don't remember exactly. But you could also include any service work that you do or organizations (like society of women engineers etc). I didn't have a lot to put for that but I wrote about what I would like to do to encourage underrepresented people to pursue engineering. Just an idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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