Racial Gap

“When funding disruptions disproportionately affect researchers who focus on health disparities, the consequences go far beyond individual careers,” said Rebecca Fielding-Miller, associate professor at the University of California, San Diego. “They also shape which scientific questions get asked, and whose health ultimately receives attention.”

A team of scholars at Stanford University asked four AI chatbots to provide feedback on essays by middle school students of different races. Essays by Black students were given more praise, while White students' essays received more constructive criticism to improve their writing skills.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have found three key physiological processes linked to pregnancy complications that are more prevalent in Black women than White women. Notably, these processes cannot be explained by genetic differences, suggesting these outcomes are likely driven by socio-environmental stressors.

Using 20-years-worth of data from blood draws, surveys, and retrospective reports of childhood experiences, a study from scholars at Washington University revealed Black participants experienced more stress throughout the lifetime and had higher levels of inflammation compared to White participants, which may explain Black-White disparities in mortality risk.

From 2019–2020 to 2023–2024, Black representation among California administrators rose from 7.62 percent to 8.04 percent. Notably, there is a greater representation of Black administrators compared to the share of Black students and Black teachers across the state.

In the two-year period following the onset of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, foundation funding to Black-led nonprofits increased; however, the majority of that funding went to a small group of large organizations, while funding to smaller nonprofits remained unchanged. By 2023, overall foundation funding at Black-led nonprofits declined.

According to a new report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Black women are among the most active participants in the U.S. labor force. However, there are still significant disparities in educational attainment, income, and wealth compared to White and Asian women.

“If you’re developing cures for cancer, but it’s not getting into the hands of everybody who needs it, then you haven’t succeeded,” said lead author Olivia Lynch, postdoctoral research fellow at the Yale School of Medicine.

Effective July 1, there will be new annual and aggregate borrowing limits on federal loans used for graduate programs. According to a new analysis from the Century Foundation, these limits are far below the median cost of attending both public and private medical institutions, which suggests many students will need to take on private loans or choose not to attend medical school at all.

In a focus-group study of Black alumni from undergraduate and graduate programs at for-profit colleges and universities, nearly all participants said they would not choose to attend the same school in hindsight.

Using survey data on a range on industries, occupations, and unions in the South, the study discusses the challenges facing Black workers and their viewpoints on unions.

In 2024 African Americans made up 12.3 percent of all work-related fatalities due to injury, down from 13.4 percent in 2022. But Black workers made up 25 percent of all worker deaths by homicide or suicide.

“This isn’t just a program; it’s a movement to ensure every Black student has the resources, connections and support system not just to survive but absolutely thrive,” said Yvette McCutchen, head of the new African American Student Retention Initiative at Davenport University.

Although HBCUs are significantly more likely to enroll students from low-income households, there is virtually no difference in the share of students who receive state grant aid at HBCUs and non-HBCUs, according to a new analysis from the Century Foundation.

“A survivor’s access to support shouldn’t be dictated by race, bureaucracy or geography,” said Jermey Levine of the University of Michigan. “Until we remove these administrative gatekeepers — starting with police verification — the system will continue to fail the people it was built to protect.”

In 2025, 11.3 percent of African American workers were members of labor unions compared to 9.9 percent of White workers. African Americans nonunion workers made only 83.6 percent of the wages of African American union members.

After adjusting for inflation, the median household income for Black households has increased in 38 states and the District of Columbia since 2009. Only one state (Nevada) experienced a decline in Black households' median income, while 11 states and Puerto Rico had no significant change.

“These disparities reflect decades of structural and environmental inequities,” said senior author Kai Chen, associate professor of environmental health sciences at the Yale School of Public Health. “Communities of color are more likely to live near highways, industrial facilities, and other pollution sources, resulting in disproportionately higher exposure to air pollution.”

In 2025, Black women with a bachelor's degree as their highest level of education experienced a 3.5 percent drop in their employment rate, largely due to sweeping federal layoffs and buyouts over the past year.

“These disparities are important because later-life living situations shape people’s social and financial security, and policies intended to support older Americans are often structured around traditional assumptions about marriage that most closely fit the experiences of White Americans,” said senior author Emma Zang of Yale University.