The Council of Graduate Schools has reported that from 1996 to 2005, the typical seven-year Ph.D completion rates in STEM fields for minority Ph.D candidates has risen by five percent.
Though it is not clear what is causing this increase, the report, "The Doctoral Initiative on Minority Attrition and Completion," makes recommendations on ways school can continue improving the rates, including "providing interventions throughout the doctoral process, not just at the beginning, and building a culture of diversity and inclusion on campuses and within programs."
Various schools have been implementing some of the report's suggestions. The Dean of the Graduate School at Loyola University created "dissertation boot camps" for the candidates to assist them in getting started with their proposals. He has also set aside funds for students close to being done with their dissertations but running low on funds. The University of California at Irvine created the Diverse Educational Community and Doctoral Experience, a program meant to create a community for minority Ph.D candidates and help with their professional development.
Read the full report at The Chronicle of Higher Education.
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