Is diversity getting better for black people in grad school?

I am trying to be careful about what I say because I don’t want it to be held against me. However, there are issues that are important and that we cannot brush aside because it is the safe option.

Over the past few days, I have had a few posts about diversity in academia and feeling discouraged because of that. If you want to catch up, I talked about having no black people as current students or alumni in grad school and how I feel about that.

I just attended a virtual information panel for programs I am interested in, at the school I want to attend for graduate. With having that diversity issue on my mind, I had to ask about it. I am surprised that they addressed my question, and did not skip it because we don’t always want to talk about race. But it is 2020 and nothing is really changed.

The question was “How would you describe the diversity in your programs for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour?

The general answer was that: Getting better but not good enough.

Personally, haven’t seen proof that it is getting better, but I can tell it sucks. And I am happy they admitted to themselves. Imagine having your first BIPOC in an established program for 25 years, in one of the most diverse cities. And when this individual commented that they do not get many BIPOC applicants, which made didn’t help. I am finding it hard to believe this. Now I am questioning, was he telling the truth or are racial questions held against you as an applicant?

I would love to hear opinions on this