In an effort to increase participation and success of underrepresented groups in graduate education, CGS strives to ensure that inclusiveness is advanced across all CGS programs and activities. The programs and publications listed below have a specific focus on issues of diversity and inclusiveness.

Investigating Challenges to Matriculation and Completion for Underrepresented STEM Graduate Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic presents new obstacles to the matriculation, persistence and completion of U.S. graduate students, with those who are first-generation, low-income, racially and ethnically underrepresented (URM) at greatest risk for educational disruptions. With funding from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF #2037360) Rapid Response Research (RAPID) program, CGS will collaborate with the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) and the Council of Historically Black Graduate Schools (CHBGS) to understand challenges currently faced by URM and first-generation students and to provide just-in-time information that will help support their success.

Hispanic Serving Institutions: A Critical Pipeline to Graduate School for Latinx Students

“Hispanic Serving Institutions: A Critical Pipeline to Graduate School for Latinx Students” is an information brief and interactive toolkit designed to help close the gap in graduate degree attainment for Latinx students. The project was led by JoAnn Canales, CGS’s Dean-In-Residence from 2018 through 2019.

Doctoral Initiative on Minority Attrition and Completion (DIMAC)

The National Science Foundation’s Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program aims to address this problem by providing supports that can help underrepresented minorities complete their doctoral studies and find employment as faculty at American institutions of higher education. Evaluations of the AGEP program indicate that the numbers of underrepresented minority students enrolling in STEM doctoral programs have increased over time, but the research conducted to date has not tied the activities and initiatives of the AGEP institutions to student success, particularly completion rates.

Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program

The Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program prepares low-income, first-generation in college, and minority students to pursue doctoral degrees and careers in college teaching.

The Ph.D. Completion Project

The underrepresentation of women and minority graduates at all education levels is among growing concerns over workforce issues that relate to the vitality and competitiveness of the U.S. economy. Improving completion rates for all doctoral students, and particularly for those from underrepresented groups, is vital to meeting our nation's present and future workforce needs. The Ph.D. Completion Project is a seven-year, grant-funded project that addresses the issues surrounding Ph.D. completion and attrition, including issues faced by underrepresented students.

ETS/CGS Award for Innovation in Promoting Success in Graduate Education: From Admission through Completion

This program recognizes promising efforts in initiating or scaling up innovations in graduate education that occur from admission through successful completion of a degree program. It is designed to link innovative admissions practices with other institutional practices including, but not limited to, mentoring, support programs, intellectual enrichment, and social support, that will improve student success once students are enrolled in their graduate programs. This award program is especially interested in encouraging innovations that promise to improve the success of a diverse and inclusive student population.

Broadening Participation in Graduate Education

This report highlights programs that been able to successfully enhance diversity and inclusiveness in graduate education, including policy recommendations aimed at identifying and cultivating talent from traditionally underrepresented groups.

Building a Diverse, Equitable, Accessible, and Inclusive Graduate Community: A Statement of Principles

This statement of principles outlines the Council's position on values and practices that are essential to building an inclusive graduate community.

CGS Occasional Paper Series

The CGS Occasional Paper Series includes case studies highlighting the achievements, best practices, and lessons learned of CGS awardees and grant recipients in ensuring success in graduate education, focusing specifically on inclusiveness and diversity in graduate education.