Statement on Diversity

Diversity Defined
Diversity is defined in terms of differences between groups of people with respect to structural disadvantage and systemic marginalization. These differences are related to such factors as gender, sexual identity, social class, ethnicity, race, religion, spirituality, age, health/ability, immigrant status, etc.

“In the MFT program, we value diversity of background and experience, as well as ethnic and cultural diversity, and we infuse teaching about diversity into each of our courses.” — Dr. Kevin Lyness, Director, MFT Program

Diversity at Antioch University
Antioch University as a system is committed to issues of social justice and diversity. To this end, we work to support diversity in as many ways as we can within the program. However, Antioch University New England is located in an area with very little racial diversity (New Hampshire is 96% White and Keene is nearly 98% White). As a result, our faculty, supervisors, and students largely represent the area demographics in terms of racial diversity. However, because our clinical sites are located all over New England, many of our students work with families from a wide range of socio-economic statuses and religious backgrounds, and in some of the urban areas, immigrant groups.

Our core faculty includes two female and two male permanent faculty and a teaching intern (year to year position). Three of the core faculty are White and two are African American.

Our field supervisors are fairly evenly split in terms of gender and are mostly White, with one or two Latino supervisors, depending upon the yearly distribution of clinical sites.

Our student body in the master's program is predominantly female (about 85%) and White at this time, but again it reflects a diversity of socio-economic backgrounds, religious backgrounds, and sexual orientations. One aspect of diversity in our student population is age diversity, which has run from 22 to 68 years old. Our doctoral program student body is currently very diverse and includes African American, Vietnamese American, Iranian American, and Turkish students.

Last Updated: 9/25/09