YOU CAN’T BE WHAT YOU CAN’T SEE.
Research shows that students of color have better academic outcomes when they have race and gender-concordant mentorship.
But only 2% of full professors in the United States are Black women.
So it is no surprise that lack of mentorship is the most commonly reported barrier to success for Black women pursuing doctoral studies.
SO WE CREATED THE
SISTA CIRCLE
MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
A virtual small-group mentorship program that matches historically underrepresented women and gender non-conforming doctoral students with peer and professional mentors in their academic discipline.
To date, we’ve mentored 130 doctoral students and applicants, with a 97% doctoral program retention or completion rate amongst doctoral students.
Enrollment for the 2024-2025 Sista Circle Mentorship Program closes on August 25, 2024.
Meet Jabreel, an incoming PhD student at Virginia Tech
Watch her story to see the impact of the Sista Circle Mentorship Program and how it transformed her doctoral journey.
Support more scholars like Jabreel by sponsoring a doctoral student.
Research-backed and evidence-driven
89%
of mentees reported their relationship with their mentor made them feel more confident about their doctoral journey
91%
of mentees found their monthly Sista Circle group meetings helpful
74%
of mentees felt more supported in their doctoral journey after participating in the program
Some of our Past Mentors
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Dr. Dialika Sall
Ph.D., Sociology
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
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Dr. Beatrice Ncho
Ph.D., Chemical/Biomedical Engineering
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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The Sista Circle Mentorship Program is open to historically underrepresented women and nonbinary doctoral students enrolled at accredited institutions in the United States.
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We match participants primarily by academic discipline, as well as by special circumstances (e.g., students completing doctoral programs online may be matched with a mentor who also completed their doctorate online). Our mentoring software uses an algorithm to make the matching process easier, but all matches are reviewed by the Cohort Sistas team before being finalized.
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The Sista Circle Mentorship Program is 100% virtual. This allows us to serve more scholars!
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Research shows that peer support is also critical to graduate program success, so we designed the Sista Circle Mentorship Program to include both vertical and horizontal mentorship. Our hope is that the mentees in each Circle become your colleagues, accountability partners, and collaborators beyond the program.
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The Sista Circle Mentorship Program runs during the academic year, with enrollment beginning in August/September and the program concluding in May.
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We will be announcing enrollment details for the 2024-2025 program in the summer. Please email us with additional questions, and we’ll be happy to help!
