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Yale Diversity in the Environmental Sector

Our Partners People
15 Aug 2022
Dr Dorceta Taylor
Dr Dorceta Taylor
Dr Dorceta Taylor

Dr Dorceta Taylor

Dr. Dorceta Taylor is a professor at the Yale School for the Environment. Prior to that she was a professor of environmental sociology at the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) for 27 years. She was the James E. Crowfoot Collegiate Chair and the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at SEAS. She also helds a joint appointment with the Program in the Environment. Dr. Taylor is the former Field of Studies Coordinator for SEAS’ Environmental Justice Program and a past Chair of the American Sociological Association’s Environment and Technology Section. Professor Taylor received PhD and master’s degrees from the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (now the Yale School of the Environment) and the Department of Sociology at Yale University in 1991, 1988, and 1985.

Visit Yale’s School of the Environment website.

Overview

Housed within Yale’s School of the Environment, Dr Dorceta Taylor's team runs a successful pathway programme and produces research on diversity within the environmental movement. Dr Taylor is responsible for seminal research on this topic, authoring the landmark national report, The State of Diversity in Environmental Institutions: Mainstream NGOs, Foundations, and Government Agencies.

People of colour (POC) typically face higher economic uncertainty and more barriers to entering their desired careers than their white counterparts. This was exacerbated by the pandemic. Perhaps surprisingly, the environmental sector is among the least racially diverse sectors. POC make up less than 16% of the workforce, compared with 35% in Banking, and 32% in higher education.

Intervention is required to correct some of the financial and cultural barriers that preclude POC and people from low-income backgrounds from entering and succeeding in environmental careers. Namely, the prevalence of unpaid internships in the sector, the lack of transparency on diversity in environmental institutions and the scarcity of alumni support for POC and low‐income backgrounds.

Our funding supports two key initiatives to improve outcomes for people of colour and people from low-income backgrounds in this sector:

  • continued ground-breaking research; and
  • two pathway programmes targeted at post- and undergraduates to help them forge a career.

Read more about Dr Taylor’s work: https://environment.yale.edu/profile/taylor