While nearly half (40%) of Black students leave STEM disciplines, and racialized and gendered social and environmental factors play a role in STEM pathways of Black women, less known is how relationships and critical social capital facilitate undergraduate STEM success. Using a critical narrative approach, we explored how strong relationships at…

Critical Race Theory contends that institutions codify and sustain racial inequalities even absent explicitly racist motives or actions. College ranking systems perpetuate such institutional racism by socially constructing minority-serving institutions (MSIs) as less valuable and prestigious. By assigning greater worth to criteria favoring more…

Women and underrepresented minorities in traditionally White and male-dominated disciplines tend to report lower learning outcomes than their White peers. Adopting a feminist intersectionality framework, this study looks at the intersections of gender and race to investigate differences in self-assessed learning outcomes in engineering…

This paper analyzes whether ethnocentric curricula, defined as courses that focus exclusively on particular racial/ethnic groups, are more prevalent at minority-serving colleges than at mainstream institutions. Using original curricular data for a sample of tribal, Black, Hispanic, and mainstream colleges, the author found that ethnocentric…

Surveys the history of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) from their beginnings in the late 19th century to the present; identifies challenges facing their future; and examines their role in providing not only educational opportunities but also social, political, and economic development to the African American community within…

Explored the faculty socialization process at Black colleges, reporting how faculty perceive the tenure process and working conditions, how they learn what is necessary for success in the promotion and tenure process, and the barriers they encounter. (EV)

Using 1993 and 1997 Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) data, investigated the relationship between involvement, interaction, and satisfaction for African American students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Found that HBCU enrollment had a significant positive effect…

Investigated the relationship of collegiate desegregation policy to institutional enrollment, examining the nexus between transdemography and tipping-point theory in an effort to conceptualize what happens to the culture of one historically Black college in West Virginia as non-Black students enroll in increasing numbers. (EV)

Analyses found that: (1) the SAT predicts academic success more accurately for Black students in predominantly Black rather than White colleges; (3) the SAT predicts best for Black males in Black colleges but worst for Black males in White colleges; and (4) the SAT-GPA correlation is strongest for high-achieving Black students who focus on…

Examined the characteristics of and influences on African American high school students who currently choose to attend historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Found that parental socioeconomic status and education are not the major predictors of African American students' choice patterns; they are also influenced by the type of high…

Using national longitudinal data, compared the academic development among African American students attending historically Black and White institutions of higher education. Found no significant differences on self-reported academic ability, writing, and mathematics. However, students at Black institutions tend to be more socio-economically…

Extensive interviews with academically successful Black students attending a traditionally White and a historically Black institution produced two themes. The first concerns differences in support and campus involvement, and the second reveals how the energy of Black students is either cultivated by their connections with peers and faculty or…

Students at Black colleges buy psychological well-being and spiritual affinity while getting less favorable physical circumstances. Black students on White campuses get a better physical environment but less satisfying personal relationships and less peace of mind. Colleges must combine the best of both environments to spare students that choice.…

The disproportionate flow of federal money to white institutions has added to inequities of state funding, and reduced federal appropriations now threaten further desegregation efforts. Past interaction between college desegregation and federal aid can provide clues to future legislative and judicial strategies for maximizing educational choice.…