Research & Studies

Heterodox Academy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocates for increasing “viewpoint diversity” on college campuses, has examined more than 10,000 faculty job ads to analyze the prevalence of requests to include DEI-related materials in faculty applications.

“Across all institution types, [stakeholders] need high-quality data about how students across all racial groups are appraising and experiencing classrooms and out-of-class environments,” the authors write. “Simply conducting climate assessments and having the data are not enough – practitioners must use what they learn to strategically inform policymaking, practice, and curriculum.”

In the years immediately following the Civil War, many Black Americans gained access to education for the first time. Although many of these new opportunities were systemically dismantled by the end of Reconstruction, Black children who were exposed to these brief educational benefits had better economic opportunities in adulthood, and passed those benefits on to their children.

Compared to the mean of medical school matriculants from 2019 to 2023, there was a significant decline in the share of matriculants from racial backgrounds underrepresented in medicine compared to their White and Asian peers. Notably, declines were most pronounced at institutions located in states without prior state-level affirmative action bans.

Today, 64 percent of all U.S. adults think racism against Black Americans is widespread. Black adults are the most likely racial group to agree, with 83 percent holding this sentiment. In comparison, 64 percent of Hispanic adults and 61 percent of White adults say the same.

People who live in historically redlined neighborhoods, which have lower shares of White residents and higher shares of Black residents, are less likely to live within five minutes of an emergency medical services station - the national benchmark for critical call response time.

Although no HBCUs were included in a new LinkedIn report regarding the top colleges for alumni career outcomes, the networking website released a supplemental ranking list of the top HBCUs for long-term career success, with Howard University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College receiving the best evaluations.

If agencies and institutions use current reporting standards that group all multiracial students into a single category, Black students' reported representation of U.S college students would reflect about 13 percent. However, if multiracial students were counted within each race category they identified with, Black students' representation would jump to 19.7 percent.

After the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, there was a major increase in investment for Black-owned businesses, particularly from investors who had never previously invested in a single Black entrepreneur, according to a study led by researchers at Cornell University. However, investment in Black-founded startups was short-lived, returning to prior levels within two years.

Black first-year student applications submitted via Common App grew by 12 percent over the past year. During the 2024-2025 season, Black students represented 14.8 percent of the total applicant pool - a 0.8 percentage point increase from 2023-2024.

Colleges and universities that have eliminated test score requirements for admissions have generally increased their overall student diversity. However, those that have experienced institutional hardships and those that continue to prioritize test scores despite their optional policy have not seen a significant increase in their enrollment of students from underrepresented racial backgrounds.

“Our hope is that this policy agenda will serve as a rallying point to increase momentum for positive, holistic change,” write the authors of the report from the Congressional Black Caucus and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. “These challenges are not new, and we remain resolute and hopeful that change can and will be achieved.”

Using data from a U.S. university with one of the largest undergraduate populations, scholars from New York University and Princeton University have found that although students of color visit academic advisors more often than their White peers, they do not receive the same academic benefits.

The representation of Black speaking characters in the top 100 films of 2024 is roughly on par with Black Americans' share of the overall U.S. population. However, Black directors remain vasty underrepresented in their field; only 3 of last year's highest-grossing films were made by a Black director.

“Policies aimed at reducing healthcare disparities must prioritize racial justice, addressing digital redlining, technological exclusion, and the economic marginalization of Black communities,” write the study authors. “By leveraging health technology effectively, healthcare systems can work towards reducing disparities, enhancing patient engagement, and improving health outcomes for all populations.”

"This report is both a celebration of our progress and a call to action," said Glynda Carr, president and CEO of the Higher Heights Leadership Fund. "We cannot rest until Black women’s representation truly reflects our power in this democracy."

New research led by scholars at the University of the District of Columbia has found Black immigrants have higher quality diets than Black Americans, regardless of how long they have lived in the U.S.

According to a new study led by Cornell University, Black Americans and other Americans of color are the more willing than White Americans to engage in efforts to mitigate COVID-19 health disparities, even though they are underrepresented in scientific efforts to do so.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies has released a new report analyzing the Senate Democratic Caucus' latest information on the demographic data of staff members in 2025. Information on the demographics of staff employed in the offices of Republican senators is currently unavailable.

The ACLU has found Black Americans' higher likelihood of opposing the death penalty has led to their disproportionate exclusion from serving on capital trial juries, thereby increasing discrimination in the form of nonrepresentative and biased juror pools.