An assessment of barriers and strategies for recruitment and retention of a diverse graduate student population

College Student Journal, Dec, 2008 by Jerome Quarterman

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative investigation was to: a) describe the barriers of recruitment and retention of diverse-graduate student population at one of the predominantly white universities (PWUs) in the Midwestern US as perceived by the program coordinators and directors and b) identify successful strategies for improving the recruitment and retention as perceived by such administrators. Of 100 administrators surveyed, 51 (51.0%) responded, the most dominant themes to emerge as barriers to recruitment were the need for planned recruitment and retention programs, the lack of financial resources and an insufficient pool of eligible students. The most dominant themes to emerge as strategies for recruitment were facilitating personal contact through visits, the need for recruitment fairs and career days at HBCUs and availability of financial resources. The student is feeling of alienation, isolation, and loneliness, and the perceptions of a non-supportive environment emerged as the most dominant barriers for the retention of a diverse student population. And finally, the most prelevant themes to emerge as strategies for retention of a diverse graduate student population were the availability of faculty to serve as role models and mentors, adequate financial resources, and ways to ensure that such students attain mastery of rudimentary subject matter. The findings of this investigation have implications for graduate faculty and administrators who seek to better understand the barriers and strategies of recruitment and retention of a diverse graduate student population at PWUs.

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The Perceptions of Barriers and Strategies for the Recruitment and Retention of a Diverse Graduate Student Population College and university administrators and others who are responsible for recruitment and retention of the graduate student population are critical players for creating changes in higher education during the 21st century. The minority population of the US is currently more than 75 million and it continues to increase. The latest count by the Census Bureau tells us that one in four individuals living in the U.S. are now African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, or Native Americans. According to data in the Healthy People 2010 document racial and ethnic minority currently constitute 25% of the total US population (US Department of Health and Human Services).

By the year of 2010, it is predicted that minorities will make up one third of the US population. In 1999, 71.7% of the US population was European American, 12.2% was African American, 11.6% was Hispanic American, 3.8% was Asian and Pacific Islander and 0.7% was Native Americans (US Bureau of the Census 1999c).

Such demographic changes will be reflected in the graduate student population. Administrators of such program will need to be comfortable enough with themselves and others to openly take action and make decisions regarding ethnic and cultural diversity. These leaders must be willing and able to embrace a critical mass of ethnic and cultural diverse populations of students. They must also be able to lead on issues and challenges regarding diversity. If not, the higher education enterprise will suffer from their incompetence and lack of will.

Students of underrepresented groups entering graduate programs of dominantly white colleges and universities many times present a unique challenge to the faculty and administrators. These students often have been victims of long-term educational disadvantage, which make than likely to be unprepared for the region of college studies. Statistical information on the admission and graduation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian-Americans, Native Americans and members of other minority groups support the premise the recruitment and retention of minority students is a prevalent problem in graduate colleges and universities (Bargar & Mayo- Chamberlin 1983; Berger 1992; Wong, Selke & Thomas 1995). Academic deans, chairpersons, coordinators, faculty, and staff of such programs will need to become more actively involved in efforts to recruit and retain minority students. They will need to be students in developing and implementing recruitment and retention strategies that will address the academic and non-academic barriers that will impact the success of minority students in graduate degree programs. After a comprehensive literature review, no studies were reported on how graduate program coordinators and chairs of predominantly white institutions perceived the barriers and strategies for the recruitment and retention of a diverse student population. This is important because a large amount of students from diverse backgrounds attend predominantly White Colleges and Universities (PWUs hereafter). Since the 1980's the elimination de-jure segregation in higher education has resulted in a surge of minority enrollment in PWUs. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are not large enough to accommodate the majority of African Americans in graduate degree programs (Allen 1988; Hurtado 1992; Taylor & Olswang 1997).