Graduate Training in Demography

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DESCRIPTION: The Graduate Group in Demography at the University of Pennsylvania requests funds to provide training in demography to six pre-doctoral students. The current training program, for which renewal is requested, have six approved pre-doctoral positions, of which five have been funded. The pre-doctoral program is administered by the Graduate Group in Demography, a unit of faculty members within the Population Studies Center with backgrounds in sociology, economics, and demography. The principal aim of the demography pre-doctoral program is to train independent researchers who are prepared to play leading roles in social demography and population analysis. This goal is achieved through 1) intensive instruction in the methods, theoretical approaches, and empirical substance of demography and allied disciplines, and 2) progressive incorporation of students into faculty research activities that will eventually branch into independent research. The training program reflects the Population Studies Center's emphasis on population change and health in disadvantaged groups--in the United States and in the developing world. The Graduate Group in Demography, with support from the NICHD, has demonstrated over the years that it can recruit talented, promising students and prepare them for productive careers. Over the past ten years, the Graduate Group in Demography has placed 16 Ph.D.'s in academic positions. Over the same ten years, 28 pre-doctoral students have been NICHD trainees. We show that the vast majority have started, or are on their way to, strong careers in population and health. The recruitment and training of members of underrepresented minorities--African Americans in particular--has been a point of emphasis for the Population Studies Center. We document a system of recruitment starting well before college graduation that has been in place for six years and that augurs well for the steady production of Ph.D.'s from underrepresented minorities in the years ahead.