FAQ

General Questions

What is The Women+ of Color Project?

The Women+ of Color Project (W+OCP) aims to improve the pipeline of under-represented racial minority women+ (URRM women+) who pursue graduate school in STEM by increasing the accessibility of graduate school applications for all. We hope our efforts will ultimately increase representation from this demographic by focusing on this vital step toward academic and professional success in STEM.

Why have we decided to help this specific demographic?

The Women+ of Color Project was originally founded to end the under-representation of women+ of color in physics, and since then our mission has extended to W+OC in STEM. Of 55,000 physics PhDs currently held, fewer than 100 of them are held by black women. This is less than one thousandth of a percent of PhDs in the country, even though black women make about 6% of the US population. For other racial minorities, the situation is even worse. While we realize that targeting our very specific demographic does not directly serve other minorities, we also need to highlight that broader diversity efforts often fail at forwarding URRM women+. In order to address this issue, the W+OCP helps provide resources to students at the intersection of both racial and gender minorities. This is, of course, a compromise in a larger fight, but we believe that we can use our limited resources most effectively by making a significant impact within this specific demographic. We proudly support any effort dedicated to equity in STEM, and we make as many of our resources available to the public as we can.

I identify as a trans woman or a nonbinary person. Can I participate in the W+OCP community?

Yes! We welcome trans women as well as gender minorities and anyone who identifies as gender-nonconforming. (In particular, we welcome your application and participation in our workshops!) Our events, community, and mission intentionally include people of any marginalized gender identities, not just women in the “traditional” sense.

Graduate Applications Workshop & Eligibility

When do applications for the workshop open?

We typically open applications in mid-late summer before the workshop. Details will be available on our website and through our social media channels!

Who is eligible to apply for the workshop?

The Women+ of Color Project is open to rising undergraduate juniors and seniors, as well as post-baccalaureates worldwide who are interested in applying to a STEM graduate program in the United States or on the United States territories. While the application is open to everyone, please note that priority will be given to competitive Black, Native American/Indigenous, and LatinX women+.

Is this workshop only open to students interested in applying for graduate schools in STEM fields?

Yes. This application is open to students interested in graduate degrees in STEM research. Students who are not interested in applying to graduate programs in STEM should not apply, but may still benefit from our public content available on our website, Youtube channel, and other social media pages.

I'm applying to grad school next fall. Can I still apply for this fall’s workshop, or should I apply next year?

Yes, you are still eligible to apply this year.

What should I do if I have more questions?

For additional questions, feel free to contact us via our contact form or at wocp@thewocproject.org.

What happens if my application gets denied?

You are always welcome to apply again next year, and to check out our extensive video recordings from previous workshops that cover all aspects of the graduate application in depth with current graduate students, postdocs, and faculty as well as other successful professionals in STEM.

When I go to fill out the application form, I receive the error “Uploading files is not permitted when data loss prevention is enabled for your domain”. How can I fix this?

This is an issue with the organization that runs the Google account you are using to fill out the form. Please try using another Google account if you have one. If you don’t have another Google account or the error persists, please contact us at wocp@thewocproject.org so we can help you directly.

Am I eligible for application fee waivers through participation in W+OCP events?

Through generous sponsorships from universities across the United States, the W+OCP is able to offer fee waivers to select students who applied for and actively participated in specific workshops. Eligible students will be individually sent instructions for application fee waivers for partnering departments. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer W+OCP-affiliated application fee waivers with partnering institutions to other students at this time. However, we encourage student applicants with financial need to ask graduate departments they apply to for individual application fee waivers.