Graduate Student Diversity on the Rise

The diversity of graduate students continues to increase as more students from historically black colleges and universities are choosing the University of Arkansas for graduate school.

The percentage of ethnic minorities enrolled in graduate programs is on the rise, with that population comprising nearly 20 percent of the graduate student body.

Doctoral student Nasya Sturdivant was being pursued by a number of top tier research institutions after completing her undergraduate work at North Carolina A&T University. However, she said choosing to pursue a biomedical engineering degree at the University of Arkansas ended up being an easy decision.

"The available research facilities at the University of Arkansas are state-of-the-art, and the faculty are very personable and have incredibly impressive credentials," Sturdivant said. "I had other offers that provided comparable funding, but it was the department's atmosphere that made me choose the U of A."

Korey Pough, a student in the civil engineering graduate program, chose the U of A for similar reasons. Like Sturdivant, he completed his undergraduate studies at North Carolina A&T University. He received offers from the graduate school at the University of Michigan, but declined them in favor of the U of A.

"I had great interactions with everyone I connected with at the University of Arkansas," he said. "The faculty were very inviting."

The percentage of graduate student ethnic minorities in the College of Engineering is at an all-time high of 23.6 percent. Bryan Hill, assistant dean for student recruitment and diversity in the College of Engineering, said increasing graduate student diversity plays a significant role in the college's strategic plan.

"There is a critical need in Arkansas and the United States to produce more engineering graduates," Hill said. "To do this we must diversify the pipeline of students coming into the engineering programs. In addition, diversity in the classroom and workplace is especially important as it brings divergent ideas and thoughts together to solve the world's problems."

Sturdivant, who is a University of Arkansas Doctoral Academy Fellow and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, is already doing her part to help solve the world's problems. Her research is focused on studying traumatic brain injury as it relates to the blood brain barrier.

The blood brain barrier separates circulating blood from the central nervous system, protecting the brain from many toxins. However, it also blocks many potentially useful drugs from getting to the brain. Sturdivant is working to develop a synthetic blood brain barrier on a chip, in order to characterize the effect of traumatic brain injury on the blood brain barrier's structure, function and biology.

Sturdivant said the resources available at the University of Arkansas have made all the difference in her ability to move forward in her research.

"There are a lot of opportunities to collaborate with other labs, and the professors are great," she said. "My adviser [Kartik Balachandran] provides me with excellent guidance while still giving me room to grow and be creative and innovative."

Alfred Dowe, assistant director of graduate recruitment and community outreach, said Sturdivant's experience is one of many examples of how students from historically black colleges and universities are enriching the U of A campus.

"We are very fortunate to have several gifted students from historically black colleges and universities, especially North Carolina A&T University, attending graduate school at the University of Arkansas," Dowe said. "The research opportunities here and the amenities this region has to offer are key in attracting some of the nation's top graduate scholars to our campus."