Minority PhDs (and prospective PhDs): Who Mentored You?

I am one of the first people throughout my family to have earned a Bachelor’s degree – and I do not believe that many in my family would consider earning two Master’s degrees (and they shouldn’t!).  And, to be sure, no one in my family explained to me the significance of obtaining a PhD from a top 25 department – so I did not either.  Rather than focusing on attending a top twenty-five department, I simply wanted to attend a program that was not too far from my home and did not give rise to me fighting through traffic.  The idea, moreover, of leaving New Jersey to work on a PhD never entered my mind.  Now, however, as I am barreling toward comprehensive examinations, dissertation proposals, and writing a dissertation, the significance of earning a “designer degree” is omnipresent.

My family history is probably not too much different from many minority Phd students who are between the ages of 26 and 35.  Hence, I wonder who (when and where is also welcome) encouraged them to apply for a PhD?  What is more, was the prestige of the program the most robust variable that influenced where you applied?  I would really like for the Mathematics BA holder, University of Chicago trained, and University of Indiana sociologist, Fabio Rojas, to share some of his autobiographical information.

Brian A. Pitt