{"id":12673,"date":"2021-12-13T10:07:41","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T15:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/?p=12673"},"modified":"2022-01-19T11:50:18","modified_gmt":"2022-01-19T16:50:18","slug":"president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/","title":{"rendered":"President Becerra calls on doctoral fellows to overcome obstacles, diversify academia"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI owe all of my career success to higher education. It is the \u2018great equalizer,\u2019 and offered a pathway to the American Dream for this Cuban refugee. That\u2019s why I\u2019m so passionate about increasing higher education access for all \u2013 because it can also offer you that same pathway today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marymount University President Irma Becerra served as the keynote speaker for the 37th<\/sup> annual McKnight Doctoral Fellows Meeting and Graduate School Conference<\/a> on November 12 in Tampa, Fla. Speaking to an audience of hundreds of current doctoral students, Ph.D. graduates and higher education administrators and faculty, she emphasized the critical need for diversity and equity across all levels of academia.<\/p>\n

The Florida Education Fund\u2019s McKnight Doctoral Fellowship Program<\/a> aims to increase the number of Black and Hispanic students earning doctoral degrees, while also producing graduates whose research will address issues impacting local, national and international communities.<\/p>\n

According to an American Council on Education report<\/a>, Black students make up 10.4 percent of master\u2019s degree recipients, while Hispanics make up 7.4 percent \u2013 both statistics far lower than the percentage that these racial groups hold among the general population. The numbers are even lower for doctoral and professional degrees \u2013 seven percent of recipients are Black, while 6.2 percent are Hispanic.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor America to succeed and our economy to succeed, our higher education system and the results of that system must reflect who we are as a society,\u201d Dr. Becerra said. \u201cThe COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated, now more than ever, the importance of increasing access to higher education for members of underprivileged groups so they can earn degrees that secure their future and their family\u2019s future from the effects of the next pandemic, or times of social upheaval in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her remarks at the Conference, which featured the theme of \u201cOn the Cutting Edge: Conducting Research that Serves the Global Community,\u201d Dr. Becerra reflected on her personal background<\/a> \u2013 from her family escaping Cuba when she was eight months old, to growing up in Puerto Rico and eventually becoming the first woman to ever earn a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Florida International University (FIU). She overcame adversity at various turns during her journey, and sought to use her story to inspire her audience \u2013 telling them that every difficulty they have overcome in their lives has prepared them to be great leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to tell all of the students in the audience, at any level, to never let anyone tell you that you can\u2019t do something,\u201d Dr. Becerra explained. \u201cI can look back on many times in my life where I didn\u2019t fit the mold \u2013 as a Hispanic woman, striving for success when there weren\u2019t many role models who looked like me at that time. But I did the work, and focused on preparation and persistence. The same can work for you now \u2013 if you are prepared for what\u2019s next and take the steps you need to take, you will be ready and you will be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident\u2019s Becerra\u2019s speech was not only inspiring and insightful, but also captivating. Extrapolating best practices learned from personal challenges resonated with the McKnight Fellows because many of them are now having similar experiences,\u201d said Dr. Lawrence Morehouse, President and CEO of the Florida Education Fund<\/a>. \u201cPresident Becerra provided them a roadmap for setting goals as well as preserving and determining their own destiny. Her success as a researcher, writer and now a university president demonstrates the range of possibilities they can achieve, even in a male-dominated profession.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since 1987, 869 McKnight Fellows have graduated with Ph.D.\u2019s, contributing to a success rate of 89 percent. Doctoral Fellows associated with the Florida Education Fund also complete their Ph.D.\u2019s in an average of 5.5 years, on a pace faster than the national average<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The annual Conference, part of the McKnight support system, promotes scholarship, networking and collaboration by providing opportunities through formal presentations, workshops, book signing sessions and organized receptions for Fellows to meet and interact with accomplished professors, administrators and other scholars. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  \u201cI owe all of my career success to higher education. It is the \u2018great equalizer,\u2019 and offered a pathway to the American Dream for this Cuban refugee. That\u2019s why I\u2019m so passionate about increasing higher education access for all \u2013 because it can also offer you that same pathway today.\u201d Marymount University President Irma […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":12674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"no","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1026,1025,1029,362,42,14,15,1028,1027,336],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPresident Becerra calls on doctoral fellows to overcome obstacles, diversify academia - MU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Marymount's President emphasized the critical need for diversity and equity at the McKnight Doctoral Fellows Meeting and Graduate School Conference.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President Becerra calls on doctoral fellows to overcome obstacles, diversify academia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Marymount's President emphasized the critical need for diversity and equity at the McKnight Doctoral Fellows Meeting and Graduate School Conference.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Marymount University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-13T15:07:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-19T16:50:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Picture.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"nmunson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"nmunson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/\",\"name\":\"President Becerra calls on doctoral fellows to overcome obstacles, diversify academia - MU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Picture.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-13T15:07:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-19T16:50:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/2266f7e97a39aa87b435294a30d03814\"},\"description\":\"Marymount's President emphasized the critical need for diversity and equity at the McKnight Doctoral Fellows Meeting and Graduate School Conference.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Picture.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Picture.jpg\",\"width\":700,\"height\":420,\"caption\":\"President Becerra calls on doctoral fellows to overcome obstacles, diversify academia\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"President Becerra calls on doctoral fellows to overcome obstacles, diversify academia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/\",\"name\":\"Marymount University\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/2266f7e97a39aa87b435294a30d03814\",\"name\":\"nmunson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/38df618b1f7e8b4885474e1b4e965541?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/38df618b1f7e8b4885474e1b4e965541?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"nmunson\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/author\/nmunson\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"President Becerra calls on doctoral fellows to overcome obstacles, diversify academia - MU News","description":"Marymount's President emphasized the critical need for diversity and equity at the McKnight Doctoral Fellows Meeting and Graduate School Conference.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"President Becerra calls on doctoral fellows to overcome obstacles, diversify academia","og_description":"Marymount's President emphasized the critical need for diversity and equity at the McKnight Doctoral Fellows Meeting and Graduate School Conference.","og_url":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/","og_site_name":"Marymount University","article_published_time":"2021-12-13T15:07:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-01-19T16:50:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":420,"url":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Picture.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"nmunson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"nmunson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/","url":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/","name":"President Becerra calls on doctoral fellows to overcome obstacles, diversify academia - MU News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Picture.jpg","datePublished":"2021-12-13T15:07:41+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-19T16:50:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/2266f7e97a39aa87b435294a30d03814"},"description":"Marymount's President emphasized the critical need for diversity and equity at the McKnight Doctoral Fellows Meeting and Graduate School Conference.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Picture.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Picture.jpg","width":700,"height":420,"caption":"President Becerra calls on doctoral fellows to overcome obstacles, diversify academia"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/president-becerra-calls-on-doctoral-fellows-to-overcome-obstacles-diversify-academia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"President Becerra calls on doctoral fellows to overcome obstacles, diversify academia"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/","name":"Marymount University","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/2266f7e97a39aa87b435294a30d03814","name":"nmunson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/38df618b1f7e8b4885474e1b4e965541?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/38df618b1f7e8b4885474e1b4e965541?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"nmunson"},"url":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/blog\/author\/nmunson\/"}]}},"modified_by":"marymountuser","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12673"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12673"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12675,"href":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12673\/revisions\/12675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marymount.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}