Over the past two years, the Graduate School of Education has prepared 18 black male college students to enroll in graduate education programs. Its Grad Prep Academy sets the accepted students on the path to becoming professors, which is a fundamental way of addressing the lack of diversity among college faculty.
The problem of low minority faculty representation — especially the need for black males — plagues universities across the country, including Penn. In 2009, just 3.1 percent of all Penn professors were black. Nationwide, only 2.1 percent of all doctorates awarded in 2008 went to black men.
The popularity of the Grad Prep Academy shows that many young black men are looking to enter graduate education programs. It received more than 350 applications over two years and could only accept about 5 percent of these students.
To help meet this high demand and increase the number of black men entering the teaching profession, the Grad Prep Academy should be replicated at other universities. It is imperative that GSE Dean Andy Porter and professor Shaun Harper, who founded the initiative, continue communicating the potential that the program has to their peers at other schools.
Duplicating the initiative across the nation today is an important step toward increasing minority faculty representation in the future.
What do you think of the potential of the Grad Prep Academy? Send us a letter to the editor to share your thoughts: letters@theDP.com.
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