Make EEB financially accessible and attractive
Another key method for making PhD programs more accessible and
attractive to BIPOC scholars is through increased funding opportunities.
BIPOC students are more likely than their white peers to come from
financially disadvantaged backgrounds (Estrada et al. 2016), and
low PhD stipends may discourage promising BIPOC scholars from pursuing
graduate studies in EEB (Brazziel & Brazziel 2001). Increased funding
in the form of scholarships and grants increases access and achievement
rate of racialized students from low-income backgrounds (Ononye & Bong
2018), and is a proven strategy that has, for example, increased women
representation in STEM (Buzzetto-More et al. 2010). Importantly,
existing funding programs need to be modified to include intersectional
structures that specifically target BIPOC scholars, as, for example,
programs directed at broad inclusion can still favor white women (Huntet al. 2012).
Funding opportunities for BIPOC scholars can come from all levels of
organization of the Academy. Departments and principal investigators
should ensure their BIPOC graduate students are well-funded, both
through base stipends and by assisting students with grant applications.
Funding agencies should increase the targeted funding available to BIPOC
students to support their access to and achievement within EEB.
Societies should create BIPOC-focused awards and grants aimed at
visibility (e.g.,
Weir
2020). Last, we recommend that EEB experiences critical to the
development of successful EEB graduate students (e.g. , summer
projects, fieldwork, internships) be well-funded, rather than unpaid or
underpaid, to promote participation of BIPOC students from financially
disadvantaged backgrounds (Fournier and Bond 2015; National Academies of
Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2017).