Dominic Arreola started taking classes in Chinese in community college. He quickly gained a passion for the language and the culture, and by the time he transferred CSU Long Beach he was steeped in the history and tensions between China and the United States. He worried more and more about the potential for war. 

“We need to make sure that we have a diplomatic solution to it,” said Arreola, an economics major at CSU Long Beach. “I started to see all these stories in the media like this Chinese fighter jet almost crashing with a United States fighter jet or trade restrictions and I felt like all these things keep escalating.”

At UC Davis this summer, Arreola learned how to study these challenges with economics as part of the Broadening Participation in Social Inequality Research program hosted by the Center for Poverty and Inequality Research. The program provides up to two years of mentorship and training in research for undergraduates from Hispanic Serving Institutions across California. The experience is designed to clear a pathway to graduate school.

“I didn't see graduate school as a possibility before going to this program,” said Arreola. “Now that I see that there's a lot of opportunity especially for first-generation college students like me.”

Increasing faculty diversity begins early

Increasing diversity among faculty in higher education has become a major priority within the University of California. In recent years, the UC system has supported programs at UC campuses to build faculty diversity from the ground up, starting with undergrads who haven’t even considered graduate school. 

“We’ve known that you have to be proactive when it comes to increasing diversity among faculty in higher education,” said Jacob Hibel, an associate professor of sociology and co-director of the Center for Poverty and Inequality Research. “What we have learned is that you have to you have to go pretty far upstream in order to do that.”

The Broadening Participation in Social Inequality Research program is supported by the University of California Office of the President’s UC-HSI Doctoral Diversity Initiative. The program also receives support from the College of Letters & Science Dean’s Office and the UC Davis Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Since 2022, the program has hosted one cohort of students who attend entirely remotely for the summer. In its second year, the program began hosting a second, small cohort of students drawn from applications who attended online the year before to join in-person at UC Davis. This year, the program hosted 62 students online and five students in residence at UC Davis from across 14 California State University campuses.   

For all students, the program provides comprehensive and practical information about how and why to apply to graduate school. Second-year students stay on campus at UC Davis for eight weeks with a $4,500 stipend to work as a research assistant. They also receive mentorship on developing their own research project that they can take back to their own campus to develop as a senior or honors thesis. 

“Students learn that there are no two people who take the same pathway to and through graduate school, and there is no single type of person who should do it,” said Hibel. “Students learn that it’s an option to them even if they haven’t considered it in the past.”

Clearing the path to graduate school and research

Among the five students in this year’s cohort in residency, the research projects were diverse and dynamic. One student is studying how the representation of Latinx/Chicanx characters in children’s literature affects how children see themselves and each other. Another student is studying how local school funding affects education outcomes. Each received mentoring from a UC Davis faculty member in moving their research forward.

Katheryn Russ, professor and chair of economics, was one of the UC Davis faculty mentors for this year’s students in residence. She mentored Arreola in his project related to conflict and trade in the South China Sea.

“He's basically a savant,” said Russ. “His interests are so wide-ranging, so to help him zero in on what topic really gets him excited was a really fun process,” said Russ.

The students also received mentorship from Isabella Cantu, a Ph.D. student in sociology and the program’s graduate student representative for the summer. Just a few years ago, Cantu herself was an undergraduate in a very similar program. As a student at Cal State San Bernardino, she participated in the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program. Today, she studies how programs like these create pathways from kindergarten through graduate school.

“Honestly, I wouldn't have done it without that summer program when I realized, like, ‘Yeah, I am worthy. I can do this,’” said Cantu.

Cantu led the weekly statistical computing workshops and helped to moderate panels of guest speakers. She provided advice about what it’s really like to go to graduate school. She said there is a lot of information about graduate school that isn't common knowledge for undergraduate students. For example, you don't necessarily have to major in sociology to pursue a doctorate degree in the field and you can still support your family while in graduate school.

“I showed them what my TA offer letter looks like with duties that I signed for the professor every quarter,” said Cantu. “I want them to see it. It’s like, we discussed it in meetings but here's what it actually looks like and here, you can have a copy of it.”

Expanding connections between UC Davis and CSUs

The Broadening Participation in Social Inequality Research program will continue next summer. First-year students who participated online are eligible to apply for a residency at UC Davis next year. Hibel said he expects the program to build even broader connections in the future.

“One of the program’s major goals is to strengthen connections between faculty at our partner CSU campuses to build more permanent pipelines for students to come to UC Davis for grad school,” said Hibel. 

Russ said that even beyond academia, it’s valuable to increase representation in other research-focused roles in government, non-profits and the private sector. Research in the social sciences touches a wide diversity of topics, like inequality, foreign relations and climate change, among many others. 

“We need the best and the brightest,” said Russ, “and if there's anything that we can do as faculty to help more students see the possibilities for them in research, this can only aid the future of our country.”