In recent years, the ivory tower of higher education has become increasingly easier to climb. In 2023, the U.S. granted about 57,000 PhDs, with the vast majority being in the science and engineering fields. In 2017, women were even able to earn more PhD degrees than men, and PhD completion rates among people of color have been steadily increasing.
Even so, there remains much work to be done in higher academia. Although women have been earning roughly equal amounts of PhDs compared to men, women are often underrepresented in STEM fields and instead earn degrees in humanities fields. While the humanities are inarguably valuable, STEM fields remain difficult for women to establish themselves in, holding only 27% of PhDs.
This may be attributed to numerous factors. For one thing, women are often interrupted or ignored by men during discussions of any kind. “Mansplaining,” a phenomenon so common it has made its way into colloquial use, refers to when men assume women lack knowledge on a (often technical or scientific) subject and then proceed to explain it to them, regardless of the woman’s existing expertise. Women are also spoken about in a way that makes them seem less valuable than their male peers; even simple acts, such as excessively praising a woman who solves a problem or performs a lab correctly as if it’s a surprise that she’s able to, become extremely noticeable when one has to accept that kind of behavior every day, especially since women can simply look to see the difference in the amount of respect their male peers are afforded in comparison. These microaggressions amass and further exacerbate the imposter syndrome, or feeling that one doesn’t belong, that many academics report upon when first entering research areas. While men are able to overcome this imposter syndrome with time, women are not so lucky.
Women are also often excluded from a myriad of opportunities in academia. These include social outings that provide chances for networking or receiving research grants, which would allow the researcher to pursue a subject of their choosing. This issue of lack of grants becomes compounded with the gender pay gap, which is extremely prevalent in academia, as due to receiving less income, women would struggle to finance their own research. Through all these ways, women are routinely barred in the early stages of academia.
All of these issues are further exacerbated if one is Black. Despite being about 13% of the population, only 6% of faculty in colleges and universities are Black. As the position advances, the percentage of Black people that hold said position shrinks dramatically, with only 4% of professors being Black. Due to a shortage of Black faculty compared to Black students, Black faculty members are also often overworked with mentoring.
Black women face massive struggles in obtaining doctorates, especially in the white- and male-dominated STEM fields. The unique intersectionality of struggles endured from being both Black and a woman has been coined “misogynoir.” Because of misogynoir, Black women are some of the most likely people to report mistreatment and negative experiences at institutions and have low rates of tenure.
Other races are also disproportionately represented in academia. Hispanics and Latinos have the largest discrepancy, holding 5% of faculty positions despite comprising 17% of the population.
This proportion may be explained by the fact that about one third of Hispanics report as immigrants, and they make up 45% of all immigrants in the U.S. Immigrants overall face massive difficulties in accessing education, especially those seeking asylum or ones that have green cards.
On top of that, in recent years, anti-immigrant sentiment has been increasing in the U.S. This becomes significant after Trump’s administration has made basic necessities such as employment and food increasingly inaccessible to immigrants with his removal of DEI and SNAP benefits. Without these, many immigrants struggle to access employment and affordable food, making higher education even more difficult to access. The Trump administration has prioritized arrests and deportation by ICE, often against immigrants with no criminal record at all. The Trump administration has also rolled back the immigration statuses of about 1.6 million immigrants. The shrinking number of ways for immigrants to stay legally in the country while living in good conditions means fewer are in a position in which they can comfortably pursue education past high school, leading to underrepresentation in academia overall.
Here at Bronx Science, we’re lucky to have teachers who have worked or are currently working to get their degrees. The ones interviewed pointed out another factor in the ability to access academia: money.
Coming from a lower-income family means that even getting to university is more difficult; even with waivers of fees, they will often take on considerable debt. This is especially true considering the cost of living, such as utilities and food. Although colleges may waive tuition, students often have to earn their own necessities. Already, they need a large amount of financial support. Although the student can always work on their own, it becomes incredibly difficult to manage both schooling and working, which becomes even more of an issue considering that many scholarship programs involve maintaining a consistently high GPA in classes.
Financial means become increasingly critical as the student progresses through higher education. Students must regularly attend conventions and meetings, the majority of which are critical for their progression in the PhD program. These meetings are also the student’s biggest chance to network within the field, meaning if one doesn’t attend even the optional meetings and conventions, one misses out on valuable opportunities. Crucially, these meetings are often incredibly far from the student’s place of research; they could be anywhere from across the state to across the country. Academic institutions may not always subsidize the cost of transportation, food, or hotel accommodations, among other things. There are also a few financial aid programs that are able to aid every student who may need it with every meeting or convention.
These expenses, ultimately, come out of the student’s pocket. If the student has a family who can support them, this isn’t much of a problem. However, lower-income students suffer an inequitable financial burden. Again, students do have the option of working on their own, but it’s difficult to manage while maintaining one’s mental health and GPA, on top of added scheduling issues with frequent meetings out of town.
Assuming the student has passed this phase and obtained their PhD, they may already hit a wall in regard to their major. The teachers whom I interviewed at Bronx Science, especially in the humanities department, such as Dr. Katherine Montgomery, mentioned the difficulty of finding a job after graduation in fields such as literature. Although those with humanities degrees, such as literature or history, can find jobs teaching in higher education, there are only a limited number of jobs available, and this number is usually significantly lower than the graduating class. The Trump administration’s budget cuts also threaten STEM fields.
The vast majority of the available jobs will go to people who have the most connections in the field. The people with the most connections would be the people who have attended the most meetings; the people who have attended the most meetings would be the people who could afford to attend them. This leads to a very skewed wealth distribution among members of academia, with the majority of the most successful individuals being the ones with pre-established wealth.
Despite these barriers, statistically, more people are earning PhDs, and the number of PhD earners is increasing. However, this number can still rise further if the necessary steps are taken to eliminate existing barriers. Providing more support to academics of color, both financially and personally, directly from the research institution is one important way. This way, neither students nor professors would be as burdened by the already heavy workload of academia.
More importantly, people need to examine their own personal biases. A significant amount of the difficulty one has in thriving in academia arises not from systemic problems, but from a lack of support and exclusion from their peers. While change is needed from the top, that change starts from the bottom.
Statistically, more people are earning PhDs, and the number of PhD earners is increasing. However, this number can still rise further if the necessary steps are taken to eliminate existing barriers. Providing more support to academics of color, both financially and personally, directly from the research institution is one important way. This way, neither students nor professors would be as burdened by the already heavy workload of academia.