Applicants of Color

[Arcanelady27]

To those who are of color, do you feel there is a discriminatory component in this field? 

I remember being interviewed and being the only person of color there. 

 

All, please feel free to respond

 

 

[eeee1923]

Hello there - I'm a person of color and all I can really say is that those of color tend to be in the minority at the graduate level regardless of the field of study. I wouldn't say it's a discriminatory component of the SLP field - it's very prevalent in the STEM fields as well. The reasons for the low participation of those of color at the graduate/professional level are quite complex and I wouldn't conclude it as strictly discriminatory. 

[Arcanelady27]

Hello there - I'm a person of color and all I can really say is that those of color tend to be in the minority at the graduate level regardless of the field of study. I wouldn't say it's a discriminatory component of the SLP field - it's very prevalent in the STEM fields as well. The reasons for the low participation of those of color at the graduate/professional level are quite complex and I wouldn't conclude it as strictly discriminatory. 

 

Yes, people of color are a minority in graduate study. However, in SLP, the number is quite dispropronate to those who are studying the field on the undergraduate level. I took classes with an array of women of color, yet I was one of three women of color interviewed. The other two were hispanic women. 

[oneshot35]

I am an African-American woman and in my whole department for SLP in the undergraduate and graduate level there are only 2 of us! We are clearly the minority in graduate school but also in the field of SLP. I think it is because not many people of color know or understands what SLPs do. Most people I talked to think I am studying public speaking or communications. In most of my classes it is only two people of color (my friend and I). 

[Arcanelady27]

I am an African-American woman and in my whole department for SLP in the undergraduate and graduate level there are only 2 of us! We are clearly the minority in graduate school but also in the field of SLP. I think it is because not many people of color know or understands what SLPs do. Most people I talked to think I am studying public speaking or communications. In most of my classes it is only two people of color (my friend and I). 

 

This is very true. I think where you are attending school is a factor also. I live in NYC. The melting pot of the world. LOL 

I just do not understand; why so few people of color are admitted on the grad level here? I had many people of color in my classes. 

[oneshot35]

So true! I go to school in the midwest and I applied to a lot of schools in different regions because I wanted to see more diversity. Its crazy that even HBCUs do not admit people of color that often. I wonder what it is...what do you think?

Also where do you attend school?

[Arcanelady27]

So true! I go to school in the midwest and I applied to a lot of schools in different regions because I wanted to see more diversity. Its crazy that even HBCUs do not admit people of color that often. I wonder what it is...what do you think?

Also where do you attend school?

 

Your post just made feel like there truly is a discriminatory aspect in this field.  HBCUs not admitting people of color that often? That is really strange. I can't believe people of color are not applying. I see them on a undergrad level in abundance. 

 

I am a post bacc student and took my prerequsites at Lehman College. I took grad courses as a non-matriculated student at Brooklyn College and was the only African-American student in BOTH classes. 

[oneshot35]

There might be....I guess there is no way to know it is sad though...
I was talking to a few people of color at the ASHA convention in November and they had some really nice explanations as to why we are the minority and why we always be in this field...

 

Sidenote: I applied to one school in New York (Teacher's College) mainly because they said they promote diversity in their program and look at the holistic person and not just stats

[Arcanelady27]

I wish I could apply to private universities and colleges. However with the amount of student loan debt I already have, it would just be a receipe for financial ruin. 

 

There is a misconception, in the African American community, that if you pronounce all your words correctly, you are talking white. This is something I dealt with all my life, especially as an undergraduate in college. I did my undergrad at a private university out in Long Island. I loved it because there was a bit of diversity. 

[oneshot35]

I experience the same exact thing! People assume or judge you because of the way that you speak it blows my mind. We can't just be educated...have you seen this performance?!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tN4Zulagb8

 

Also has this happened to you...people in our program think they we as minorities have a better chance of getting into grad school just because we are people of color...I was shocked when I first heard that from a few of my classmates...

 

If anything we have to be 10x better just so we can be recognized or even mentioned in the same category 

[Arcanelady27]

I experience the same exact thing! People assume or judge you because of the way that you speak it blows my mind. We can't just be educated...have you seen this performance?!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tN4Zulagb8

 

Also has this happened to you...people in our program think they we as minorities have a better chance of getting into grad school just because we are people of color...I was shocked when I first heard that from a few of my classmates...

 

If anything we have to be 10x better just so we can be recognized or even mentioned in the same category 

Yes, I saw this performance and loved it! As a minority, I have not had any luck getting into a program. I really have not had anyone say what you stated to me. 

However, in my non matriculated grad class, a student was shocked that I gave a presentation that received at perfect grade! She kept questioning me "you got an A?...you got an A?   YES, I got an A!  I wanted to ask her did she think I was not capable of A work? 

[Chandru1]

I personally am not sure of my identity as a PoC (I'm Indian), but I have also noticed that the field is overwhelmingly female (asha says 95% of SLPs are female). I think part of the reason I would like to enter the schools is to be in an environment in which they don't see many guys.

[neucool]

Institutional racism is alive and well. There are enormous barriers to access graduate education, and considering SLP is a fairly "niche" field, many people haven't even heard about it unless they've had personal contact with SLPs in some capacity- something that is also fairly classed/racialized.

[missymel17]

As an African American, I haven't experienced any discrimination as far as I'm concerned. At the undergrad level, my program is extremely diverse and our faculty is pretty diverse as well. Even the grad students are pretty proportionate in numbers. But my program may be the exception.

Just from my acceptances and interviews, I think that I've been given a fair chance and if it had to do with my race, I would not have even had interviews for the programs that are predominately white (which would probably be all except Howard). 

But with that being said, in some cases, in may not even be what you know but who you know and I had a pretty good internship in NYC that may have opened doors for me because my GRE scores aren't competitive.

 

As for HBCUs not admitting POC that often, I find that hard to believe because I keep hearing that we are getting in. And even looking at Facebook pages and such, programs such as Howard's does have mostly POC in them. I mean, it's just a competitive field I guess and they can't admit EVERY POC. 

[oneshot35]

As an African American, I haven't experienced any discrimination as far as I'm concerned. At the undergrad level, my program is extremely diverse and our faculty is pretty diverse as well. Even the grad students are pretty proportionate in numbers. But my program may be the exception.

Just from my acceptances and interviews, I think that I've been given a fair chance and if it had to do with my race, I would not have even had interviews for the programs that are predominately white (which would probably be all except Howard). 

But with that being said, in some cases, in may not even be what you know but who you know and I had a pretty good internship in NYC that may have opened doors for me because my GRE scores aren't competitive.

 

As for HBCUs not admitting POC that often, I find that hard to believe because I keep hearing that we are getting in. And even looking at Facebook pages and such, programs such as Howard's does have mostly POC in them. I mean, it's just a competitive field I guess and they can't admit EVERY POC. 

I actually met with Howard at the ASHA convention this past November and one of the POC grad students admitted that POC are under-represented especially in HBCUs and she felt that if she didn't attend Howard for undergrad and make the connections with the faculty she doesn't think she would have been accepted just from her stats. It was interesting talking to her one on one because she was a POC.

[missymel17]

I actually met with Howard at the ASHA convention this past November and one of the POC grad students admitted that POC are under-represented especially in HBCUs and she felt that if she didn't attend Howard for undergrad and make the connections with the faculty she doesn't think she would have been accepted just from her stats. It was interesting talking to her one on one because she was a POC.

 Wow. That's crazy. Did she tell you what groups of people were represented in their grad program? 

Also did she tell you anything about the actual program because I'm interested in knowing what it's like over there.

[oneshot35]

 Wow. That's crazy. Did she tell you what groups of people were represented in their grad program? 

Also did she tell you anything about the actual program because I'm interested in knowing what it's like over there.

It was mostly caucasian women she didn't have anything bad to say but she said she was ready to leave the area. She said the DC area is a lot of fun...obviously the cost of living is expensive (but thats a given). She mentioned how the commoradity in the cohort was not as close as it could have been but that can change depending on the people you come in with. There are opportunities for students to do research! I'll look at my notes from ASHA when I get home and share more info with you!

[Eudonte.Gnomie]

I am not a POC but this is an important conversation to our field. Being effective in this field often means understand the background of our clients. If SLPs are overly homogenous then we are at a disadvantage.

If you are interested in specific demographic information, ASHA has a link at http://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/2013-Member-Counts-Year-End-Highlights.pdf. SLP information is on page 9.

[Madgab14]

I experience the same exact thing! People assume or judge you because of the way that you speak it blows my mind. We can't just be educated...have you seen this performance?!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tN4Zulagb8

Also has this happened to you...people in our program think they we as minorities have a better chance of getting into grad school just because we are people of color...I was shocked when I first heard that from a few of my classmates...

If anything we have to be 10x better just so we can be recognized or even mentioned in the same category

I actually took a class about this during my undergrad. It was shocking to hear the amount of people who truly believe people of color have it easier, that everything is just handed to us due to affirmative action. I could go on and on about how untrue and discriminatory that is. I'm hoping I'm able to get into an SLP program this year, but it's definitely not an easy accomplishment. I come from a predominantly white community, so it is difficult at times trying to fit in and be comfortable, but I'm hopeful that more people of color pursue graduate school and the SLP profession in the future.

[caterpillar]

Anecdotally... my husband's observations of SLP undergrads (post-bacc or otherwise) is that it draws interest from a diverse range of people. At the graduate level, however, that diversity is much less obvious.

[Arcanelady27]

Anecdotally... my husband's observations of SLP undergrads (post-bacc or otherwise) is that it draws interest from a diverse range of people. At the graduate level, however, that diversity is much less obvious.

That's what I'd like to get to the root of understanding.

[twinguy7]

I think a factor you have to take into account is the percentage of undergraduates in general who do not go on to a graduate degree in our field in general.  Whether because they tried and didn't get in or they had other things come up, I would say the percentage of undergraduate students who go onto grad school is something around 50-70%.  So when you think about it in that aspect, applicants of color will definitely seem to be significantly less in the graduate programs because of this factor alone.  

[caterpillar]

That's what I'd like to get to the root of understanding.

 

Disclaimer that I am not a POC so this is all speculative/born of what I learned from a Sociology minor, but: It could be a lot of things. As noted before, institutionalized racism is alive and well in America, and starts long before the admissions committee. There are lots of different ways that a POC can be disadvantaged prior to applying, many of them that directly impact probability of admission. And even if all other things are equal, there's still that possibility that the admissions committee can be swayed via unconscious (or conscious) racism. 

 

Twinguy also brings up a good point. 

[bindlestiff]

I was interested to see this thread because of a conversation I just had with one of my friends. She's a fellow CSD undergrad at KU and both of us are playing the waiting game, so of course grad school constantly comes up.

 

Anyway, she said something like, "Being named [her distinctly Indonesian full-name] better score me some points, otherwise my parents might as well have named me Susie Jones or something" - she's hilarious and we were joking around, but she was definitely serious about her background being an asset. We went on to talk about our personal statements and how several SoP prompts were looking specifically for multicultural backgrounds/ cultural competencies and/or multilingual skills. 

 

I'm definitely not someone who thinks affirmative action has fixed things for POC in the US -- you would have to be living in a bunker to think that with everything that's bubbling to the surface the past year or so -- but I have to admit that I am under the impression that in this specific field, multiculturalism and bilingualism are huge assets.

 

If anyone reads the ASHA Leader, their February 2014 issue was all about the demand for bilingual and culturally competent SLPs, which Eudonte mentioned.

 

So I'm really interested by the perspectives expressed in this thread, many of which conflict with my impressions. Possibly both things are happening at the same time, depending on the location and the program?

[CBG321]

Is it possible that there aren't a lot of POC that applied to that specific school with your stats?  Even if an undergrad program is diverse, each of those students apply to different schools, so unless we know they were turned away or refused, (knowing all their stats) can we draw a correlation?  This program is just so competitive that I would hope they aren't looking at any factors beyond a student's qualifications!

 

In saying you were the only POC at the interview, is that referencing you were the only non-caucasian person being interviewed?  If that was the case, I find that incredibly disappointing and something we all need to work to change once we move forward with our education and professional influence. 

 

This study below though, came to mind.  Although not directly related it would be easy to draw parallels if there is some "ideal" speech pathology student to Graduate committees even if it is unconscious.

 

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/04/24/study-finds-faculty-members-are-more-likely-respond-white-males-others