Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities [1 ed.] 9781617358524, 9781617358517

Citation preview

Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities Trends, Experiences, and Outcomes

This page intentionally left blank.

Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities Trends, Experiences, and Outcomes edited by

Robert T. Palmer State University of New York–Binghamton

Adriel A. Hilton Upper Iowa University

Tiffany P. Fountaine Morgan State University

INFORMATION AGE PUBLISHING, INC. Charlotte, NC • www.infoagepub.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Black graduate education at historically Black colleges and universities trends, experiences, and outcomes / edited by Robert T. Palmer, Adriel A. Hilton, Tiffany P. Fountaine. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-61735-850-0 (pbk.) -- ISBN 978-1-61735-851-7 (hardcover) -ISBN 978-1-61735-852-4 (e-book) 1. African Americans--Education (Graduate) 2. African Americans--Education (Higher) 3. African American universities and colleges--Graduate work. 4. Universities and colleges--United States--Graduate work. 5. African American graduate students--Social conditions. I. Palmer, Robert T. II. Hilton, Adriel A. III. Fountaine, Tiffany P. LC2781.B462 2012 378.1’55--dc23                             2012015065

Copyright © 2012 Information Age Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America

Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................... vii 1 Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Trends, Experiences, and Outcomes.............................. 1 Robert T. Palmer, Adriel A. Hilton, and Tiffany P. Fountaine 2 A Short History of Graduate and Professional Programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities........................................ 9 Marybeth Gasman and Michael Steven Williams 3 Contributing Beyond the Baccalaureate: Graduate and Professional Degree Programs at HBCUs.......................................... 25 Valerie C. Lundy-Wagner 4 An Exploratory Study of Factors That Influence Black Students to Attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities for Graduate School................................................................................... 41 Robert T. Palmer 5 An Examination of the Participation of African American Students in Graduate Education without Public HBCUs.................. 61 John Michael Lee, Jr. 6 The Potential Benefits of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities for Black Doctoral Students..................................... 83 Ferlin G. McGaskey 7 Finding Support One Relationship at a Time: The Role of Faculty and Peers in Supporting Black Graduate Students at HBCUs............................................................................................ 105 Carmen McCallum, Dorian L. McCoy, and Rachelle Winkle-Wagner

v

vi   Contents

8 Supporting Black Millennial Graduate Students at HBCUs............119 Fred A. Bonner, II, Petra A. Robinson, and David A. Byrd 9 A Quantitative Investigation of Predictors for Engagement and Persistence at HBCUs................................................................. 133 Tiffany Patrice Fountaine 10 The Contribution of Historically Black Colleges and Universities to STEM Graduate Degree Production among Black Collegians................................................................................. 153 Terrell L. Strayhorn 11 Social Capital in HBCUs: Implications for Graduate Students in the 21st Century............................................................................. 167 Sharon L. Holmes and Doris Wright Carroll 12 Encouraging Giving among Graduate and Professional Degree Alumni at HBCUs............................................................................... 185 Noah D. Drezner 13 Labor Market Outcomes for HBCU Graduate Students................. 201 J. Luke Wood 14 On a Wing and a Prayer: The Future of Graduate Education at HBCUs............................................................................................ 223 Maurice C. Taylor About the Editors............................................................................... 253 About the Contributors...................................................................... 255 Index................................................................................................... 265

Acknowledgements Collectively, we would like to dedicate this book to Dr. Howard L. Simmons, who created the PhD program in higher education administration at Morgan State University. This program provided us with a quality education, supportive, encouraging, and nourishing faculty, and positive role models, all of which played an important role in our ability to receive the “three magic letters.” Indeed, because of Dr. Simmons’ foresight and leadership, we realize the importance of graduate education at HBCUs. As such, we were inspired to conceptualize this edited volume to provide context and insight into this important, but often ignored topic in higher education. Robert T. Palmer—first and foremost, I would like to thank all of the contributors, who worked assiduously to meet deadlines and helped to bring this volume to fruition. I would also like to thank Tiffany P. Fountaine and Adriel A. Hilton for being wonderful colleagues, friends, mentors, and great collaborative partners. I am so happy that we, three Morgan State University PhD graduates, were able to conceptualize and bring this vision to fruition. Finally, I would like to thank Marybeth Gasman, Terrell Strayhorn, James Earl Davis, T. Elon Dancy, and J. Luke Wood for their mentorship, friendship, support, and guidance. Tiffany Patrice Fountaine—would like to acknowledge Robert T. Palmer for his vision and leadership on this project and Adriel A. Hilton for being a wonderful collaborative partner. Rob and Adriel, thank you for including me; I look forward to working with you in the future. I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to several supporters who have and continue to support my professional development. Rosemary Gillett-Karam, Sylvester McKay, and Brenda James—thank you for your mentorship and support.

Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, pages vii–viii Copyright © 2012 by Information Age Publishing All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

vii

viii   Acknowledgements

This book is dedicated to Deborah Diane Franklin and Aram C. Boykin. Thank you for remaining certain, even in the times when I wasn’t so sure. Adriel A. Hilton would like to thank Robert T. Palmer and Tiffany P. Fountaine for their leadership and support while working on this project. He would also like to thank the contributors for working diligently to meet the many deadlines for this project.

Chapter 1

Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities Trends, Experiences, and Outcomes Robert T. Palmer State University of New York–Binghamton Adriel A. Hilton Upper Iowa University Tiffany P. Fountaine Morgan State University

Numerous studies on historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have focused on comparing the experiences and outcomes of Black undergraduate students attending HBCUs to those attending predominantly White institutions [PWIs] (Bohr, Pascarella, Nora, & Terenzini, 1995; Flem-

Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, pages 1–8 Copyright © 2012 by Information Age Publishing All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

1

2   R. T. PALMER, A. A. HILTON, and T. P. FOUNTAINE

ing, 1984; Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). This research has consistently shown that compared to PWIs, HBCUs provide better learning environments and are nurturing, supportive, and family oriented (Palmer & Gasman, 2008). Further, other studies on HBCUs have focused on the experiences of White students (Closson & Henry, 2008; Peterson & Hamrick, 2009); students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [STEM] (Perna et al., 2009); the experiences of Black men (Harper & Gasman, 2008; Kimbrough & Harper, 2006; Palmer, Davis, & Hilton, 2009; Palmer, Davis, & Maramba, 2011; Palmer & Gasman, 2008; Palmer & Strayhorn, 2008; Palmer & Wood, 2012; Palmer & Young, 2009); faculty governance (Gasman & Hilton, 2010; Minor, 2005); school choice (Freeman, 1999); desegregation (Brown, 2001; Minor, 2008; Palmer, Davis, & Gasman, 2011); resources disparities with PWIs (Palmer & Griffin, 2009); student engagement (Harper, Carini, Bridges, & Hayek, 2004), specifically among Black men (Palmer & Young, 2009); and advocating for their continued relevance (Brown & Davis, 2001; Outcalt & Skewes-Cox, 2002). Despite the important contribution of these studies, research about the experiences of graduate students at HBCUs is basically nonexistent. In fact, many scholars in the higher education community may have assumed that the research on undergraduate students at HBCUs defined the experiences of Black graduate students. Such an assumption cannot be farther from the truth. For example, in his theory of student departure, Tinto (1993) discussed the importance of undergraduate students becoming academically and socially integrated into the university to facilitate retention and persistence. Because graduate students have different needs, obligations, experiences, and expectations than undergraduate students (Bean & Metzner, 1985; Ogren, 2003; Tinto, 1993), certain aspects of his theory may be less applicable to graduate students (Lovitts, 2001). In fact, Tinto (1993) acknowledged this and subsequently proposed a theory of doctoral persistence, which emphasizes graduate students’ social membership within their academic program and their interactions with faculty as important to persistence. While his theory is noteworthy, it does not consider the unique experiences of graduate students attending HBCUs. Further, the need to investigate the experiences of Black graduate students at HBCUs is necessitated by articles in local and national newspapers (e.g., Abdullah, 2008; Dechter, 2008; Thernstrom & Thernstrom, 2007) that continue to question the need for HBCUs and frequently discuss the inferiority of their education. For example, an article that Riley (2010) recently published in the Wall Street Journal criticized the Obama administration’s decision to invest $850 million in HBCUs over the next decade. Although not explicitly stated, the article suggested that providing such resources to HBCUs might not be a wise decision because they are obsolete, lack academic quality, and are grappling with low graduation rates,

Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities    3

and graduates of HBCUs are not financially compensated equally with their peers who graduate from PWIs. Despite the negative perceptions that critics may harbor about HBCUs, very little, if any research has investigated how such criticism affects students’ decisions to enroll in HBCUs for graduate school or assessed their perception of how well HBCUs have prepared them to compete with their counterparts from PWIs. Given these and other queries, the aim of this book is to provide context about the experiences of Black graduate students attending HBCUs. Indeed, this research is important, particularly since HBCUs play a significant role in the number of Blacks who earn doctorates, especially in science and engineering (Redd, 2008). In fact, according to Redd (2008) and Minor (2008), the role of HBCUs in graduate education will become even more significant as more seek to offer graduate and professional programs, particularly at the doctoral level. This book will focus on the historical nature of graduate education at HBCUs and the programs’ impact on society. Further, it will provide contexts about the experiences of students who have attended these institutions for their post-baccalaureate pursuits. In particular, insight into students’ perceptions of the quality of their education and how employers perceived their academic credentials will be provided. Moreover, information will be offered about students’ relationships with faculty, research opportunities, professional growth, personal enrichment, and institutional support. Finally, the book will address the future of graduate education at HBCUs and what fundamental aspects are needed to ensure its survival, competitiveness, and growth. Synopsis of the Book Chapters In Chapter 2 of this edited volume, Marybeth Gasman and Michael Stevens Williams provide context on graduate education at HBCUs. More specifically, they provide a short historical view of graduate and professional education at HBCUs. While their discussion is largely historical, they also give insight into how the graduate and professional programs at HBCUs have profoundly impacted society. In Chapter 3, Valerie Lundy-Wagner delineates the relevance of graduate and professional education at HBCUs. Specifically, she uses extant literature to discuss their historical and present contribution to American society in general and the Black community specifically. Her chapter concludes with a discussion of the ways researchers might think about expanding research on graduate education at HBCUs. In Chapter 4, using the voices of eight participants who earned their doctoral degrees from HBCUs, Robert T. Palmer explores factors that influenced Black students to consider and attend HBCUs for graduate edu-

4   R. T. PALMER, A. A. HILTON, and T. P. FOUNTAINE

cation. Similar to their undergraduate counterparts, a prominent theme that emerged from these data was the supportive nature of HBCUs, which primarily emanated from students’ relationships with faculty. However, participants expressed concerns about treatment from campus administrators, the lack of customer service, and not having resources tantamount to their graduate peers at PWIs. Despite these aspects, participants indicated they would attend an HBCU again for graduate school and would even recommend their schools to other students. In Chapter 5, John Michael Lee Jr., explores the significant contribution that public HBCUs have on the participation of Black graduate education by discussing how the elimination or merger of these institutions would hinder growth among Black students in graduate and professionals schools. In Chapter 6, Ferlin McGaskey provides a review of literature on graduate education, including graduate students at PWIs and HBCUs, to better understand the potential benefits Black students receive as a result of attending HBCUs for graduate education. In Chapter 7, Carmen McCallum, Dorian McCoy, and Rachelle Winkle-Wagner uses extant literature on graduate education and graduate students, integrated within the context of HBCUs, to provide salient information and insight into how campus administrators at HBCUs can better support the retention and persistence of graduate students. They also strongly advocate for researchers to be more attentive to examining the experiences of Black graduate students at HBCUs. While McCallum and colleagues consider how HBCUs could support Black graduate students, in Chapter 8, Fred Bonner, Petra Robinson, and David Byrd provide insight into how HBCUs officials can better understand and support millennial students in their pursuit of graduate education. They also call upon researchers to focus more on millennial students of color within diverse institutional communities, such as HBCUs. In Chapter 9, Tiffany P. Fountaine employs quantitative methodology to examine salience of pre-entry experience, faculty agency, and peer agency to the success of Black doctoral students at HBCUs. Indeed, her results revealed that these factors were extricable to the persistence of Black doctoral students. Her chapter concludes by offering critical recommendations to help increase the success of Black doctoral students at HBCUs. In Chapter 10, Terrell L. Strayhorn drew upon data from a mixed methods study to delineate the experiences of Black graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at HBCUs. While the literature is replete about the significance of HBCUs to the production of Blacks in STEM, little is known about the experiences of Black students who attend HBCUs for their graduate work in STEM. This chapter concludes with important recommendations for institutional administrators at HBCUs to help increase their efficacy in recruiting and retaining graduate students in STEM disciplines at HBCUs.

Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities    5

In Chapter 11, using extant literature, Sharon L. Holmes and Doris Wright Carroll make a compelling argument about HBCUs being replete with social capital. In fact, they argue that social capital is the “life blood of the institution.” Given this, they discuss how HBCUs can be enormously beneficial to African Americans as they engage their graduate studies at these institutions. They conclude with significant implications for institutional practice aimed at helping students to be intentional about using this social capital to facilitate their retention and persistence to degree completion. In Chapter 12, using data from the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study, J. Luke Wood explores labor outcomes among Black college and non-Black college graduates. Some of the significant findings discussed in this chapter indicate that a wage gap does exist for HBCU compared to non-HBCUs graduates. However, when controlling for extraneous factors (e.g., gender and total hours worked per week), the significance of this gap was eliminated. Another compelling finding revealed that HBCU graduates are equally content with their job compared to non-HBCU graduates. Largely, this chapter indicates that HBCU graduates are not penalized for having a degree from an HBCU compared to non-HBCU graduates. This chapter concludes with a discussion on future research. In Chapter 13, Noah Drezner focuses on alumni giving within the context of HBCUs. While most research on this topic considers how institutions can be more proactive in engaging baccalaureate recipients, Drezner explores alumni giving among graduate and professional alumni at HBCUs. His chapter concludes with practical recommendations for HBCU officials to help increase their effectiveness in reaching out to alumni for financial support. In the final chapter, 14, Maurice Taylor provides a compelling perspective of what HBCUs need to do to ensure the growth and competitiveness of their graduate programs. In particular, he argues that while many HBCUs have been successful in graduating a disproportionate number of Black doctoral students, several factors constrain the development of graduate education, specifically doctoral education at HBCUs. He delineates these factors, which include degree selection patterns among Black students, federal and state funding patterns, and the continuing legacy of discrimination, and offers critical insight into what HBCUs should do to continue to ensure the growth, development, and competitiveness of graduate education at HBCUs. References Abdullah, H. (2008, March, 13). Historically Black colleges are struggling, educators tell Congress. The Kansas City Star. Retrieved from http://www.kansascity. com/440/story/530200.html

6   R. T. PALMER, A. A. HILTON, and T. P. FOUNTAINE Bean, J. P., & Metzner, B. S. (1985). A conceptual model of nontraditional undergraduate student attrition. Review of Educational Research, 55(4), 485–540. Bohr, L., Pascarella, E. T., Nora, A., & Terenzini, P. T. (1995). Do Black students learn more at historically Black or predominantly White colleges? Journal of College Student Development, 36(1), 75–85. Brown, C. M. (2001). Collegiate desegregation and the public Black college: A new policy mandate. Journal of Higher Education, 72(1), 46–62. Brown, C. M., & Davis, J. E. (2001). The historically Black college as social contract, social capital, and social equalizer. Peabody Journal of Education, 76(1), 31–49. Closson, R. B., & Henry, W. J. (2008). The social adjustment of undergraduate White students in the minority on an historically Black college campus. Journal of College Student Development, 49(6), 517–534. Dechter, G. (2008, January, 6). Addressing the divide: Black colleges struggle to reach goals in face of low graduation rates. Baltimore Sun. Retrieved from http://www.baltimoresun.com. Fleming, J. (1984). Blacks in college: A comparative study of student success in Black and White institutions. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Freeman, K. (1999). HBCUs or PWIs? African American high schools’ consideration of higher education institution types. Review of Higher Education, 23(1), 91–106. Fries-Britt, S., & Turner, B. (2002). Uneven stories: Successful Black collegians at a Black and a White campus. Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 315–330. Gasman, M., & Hilton, A.A. (2010). A 25-year history of the American Association of University Professors’ perspective on shared governance at historically Black colleges and universities. Journal of Research in Education, 20(1), 53–60. Harper, S. R., Carini, R. M, Bridges, B. K., & Hayek, J. (2004). Gender differences in student engagement among African American undergraduates at historically Black colleges and universities. Journal of College Student Development, 45(3), 271–284. Harper, S. R., & Gasman, M. (2008). Consequences of conservatism: Black male undergraduates and the politics of historically Black colleges and universities. Journal of Negro Education, 77(4), 336–351. Kimbrough, W. M., & Harper, S. R. (2006). African American men at historically Black colleges and universities: Different environments, similar challenges. In M. J. Cuyjet (Ed.), African American men in college (pp. 189–209). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Lovitts, B. E. (2001). Leaving the ivory tower: The causes and consequences of departure from doctoral study. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Minor, J. T. (2005). Discerning facts about faculty governance at HBCUs. Academe, 91(3), 34–38. Minor, T. J. (2008). Contemporary HBCUs: Considering institutional capacities and state priorities. A recent report. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, College of Education, Department of Educational Administration. Ogren C. (2003). Rethinking the ‘nontraditional’ student from a historical perspective: State normal schools in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Journal of Higher Education, 74(6), 640–664.

Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities    7 Outcalt, C. L., & Skewes-Cox, T. E., (2002). Involvement, interaction, and satisfaction: The human environment at HBCUs. Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 331–347. Palmer, R.T., Davis, R. J., & Gasman, M. (2011). A matter of diversity, equity and necessity: The tension between Maryland’s higher education system and its historically Black institutions over the OCR agreement. Journal of Negro Education, 80(2), 121–133. Palmer, R, T., & Davis, R. J. (2012). “Diamond in the rough”: The impact of a remedial program on college access and opportunity for Black males at an historically Black institution. Journal of College Student Retention, 13(4), 407–430. Palmer, R. T., Davis, R. J., & Hilton, A. A. (2009). Exploring challenges that threaten to impede the academic success of academically underprepared Black males at an HBCU. Journal of College Student Development, 50(4), 429–445. Palmer, R. T., Davis, R. T., & Maramba, C. (2011). The impact of family support for African American males at an historically Black university: Affirming the revision of Tinto’s theory. Journal of College Student Development, 52(5), 577–593. Palmer, R. T., & Gasman, M. (2008). ‘It takes a village to raise a child’: The role of social capital in promoting academic success for African American men at a Black college. Journal of College Student Development, 49, 52–70. Palmer, R. T., & Griffin, K. (2009). Desegregation policy and disparities in faculty salary and workload: Maryland’s historically Black and predominantly White institutions. Negro Educational Review, 60(1/4), 7–21. Palmer, R. T., & Strayhorn, T. L. (2008). Mastering one’s own fate: Non-cognitive factors with the success of African American males at an HBCU. National Association of Student Affairs Professionals Journal 11(1), 126–143. Palmer, R. T., & Wood, J. L. (2012). Black men in college: Implications for HBCUs and beyond. New York: Routledge. Palmer, R. T., & Young E. M. (2009). Determined to succeed: Salient factors that foster academic success for academically unprepared Black males at a Black college. Journal of College Student Retention, 10(4), 465–482. Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How college affects students: A third decade of research (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Perna, L., Lundy-Wagner, V., Drezner, N. D., Gasman, M., Yoon, S., Bose, E., & Gary. S. (2009). The contribution of HBCUs to the preparation of African American women for STEM careers: A case study. Research Higher Education, 50(1), 1–23. Peterson, R. D., & Hamrick, F. A. (2009). White, male, and “minority”: Racial consciousness among White male undergraduates attending a historically Black university. Journal of Higher Education, 80(1), 34–58. Redd, K.E. (2008). Data Sources: Trends in graduate enrollment and doctoral degrees at historically Black colleges and universities, 1996 to 2006. CGSnet.org. Washington, DC: Council of Graduate Schools. Riley, J. L. (2010, September, 28). Black colleges need a new mission. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870 4654004575517822124077834.html

8   R. T. PALMER, A. A. HILTON, and T. P. FOUNTAINE Thernstrom, A., & Thernstrom, S. (2007, November 30). Separation anxiety. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.manhattan-institue.org/htm/_ separation_anxiety.htm Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and curses of student attrition (2nd edition). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Chapter 2

A Short History of Graduate and Professional Programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities Marybeth Gasman University of Pennsylvania Michael Steven Williams The Ohio State University

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are known for their undergraduate curricula and supportive environment, which propel Black students into graduate programs at large research institutions. In this regard, they have made remarkable strides, outshining their predominantly White counterparts despite fewer resources. However, far less is known about HBCU graduate programs beyond descriptive statistics. In this chapter, we provide a short history of graduate and professional programs at HBCUs, focusing on medical schools, law schools, and PhD programs. We also make recommendations for future research related to this topic. Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, pages 9–23 Copyright © 2012 by Information Age Publishing All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

9

10    M. GASMAN and M. S. WILLIAMS

Medical Schools at Historically Black Institutions Early Black colleges provided both a classical liberal arts education and a practical education that focused on learning a skill and preparing to enter the workforce. They also emphasized religion, as the White missionaries worried that the newly freed Blacks would become a menace to society without strict religious instruction (Anderson, 1988; Gasman, 2007). Interestingly, a few of these pioneer institutions included medical education in their curricula, suggesting that their founders sensed a need for Black physicians to serve the Black population (Savitt, 2007). Only a few predominantly White institutions (PWIs) in the North would, on occasion, take Black medical students, but those in the South refused Blacks entry as a rule. Blacks, therefore, had to create their own medical programs (Savitt, 2007). Notably, Howard University in Washington, DC established a medical school in 1868; it was the first medical school below the Mason-Dixon Line to enroll Blacks (Logan, 2004; Watson, 1998). Howard accepted both Black and White students in its medical school, as did most Black colleges (unless forbidden by state law). Unlike White medical schools, Howard’s medical school also accepted women (Logan, 2004; Watson, 1998). According to Savitt (2007), in his seminal history Race & Medicine in Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century America, a few of the Black colleges in the South added medical programs, although these programs were short lived. In 1873, for example, Joseph W. Healy established a program at Straight University in New Orleans. Although some scholars have claimed that this medical program was highly successful, it operated for only a few years, “graduated no physicians, employed a teaching faculty of one, and had quite poor instructional facilities” (Savitt, 2007, p. 140). The program was eventually closed in 1877, because of both a fire that destroyed Straight’s main campus and a lack of financial resources. In 1876, George W. Hubbard created a medical department at Central Tennessee College in Nashville. This program, funded by the Freedmen’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, would eventually become Meharry Medical College (Reitzes, 1958; Savitt, 2007). In 1882, the American Baptist Home Mission Society, under the leadership of Henry M. Tupper, opened Leonard Medical School of Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina (Hine, 1985; Savitt, 2007). Over the course of its existence, the medical school trained over 400 Black doctors, who performed well on state board exams and had successful practices in their local communities. In spite of the medical school’s success, Shaw University reduced Leonard to a two-year program in 1914 and closed it in 1918 (Savitt, 2007). Part of the problem for Leonard Medical School was financial; without a substan-

A Short History of Graduate and Professional Programs    11

tial endowment and with few donations from Northern philanthropists and successful alumni, the institution was bound to fail (Savitt, 2007). White-led missionary groups established the medical department at Knoxville College in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1895 and Flint Medical School in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1899 (Savitt, 2007). A medical department established in 1870 for Blacks in the North, at Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University, lasted only six years. Because of its remote location, nearly 30 miles from Philadelphia, and a lack of financial support, Lincoln could not afford to maintain the program. Over the course of its existence, Lincoln University’s medical department produced only six graduates (Savitt, 1985). A few Black doctors who were graduates of these early programs opened their own proprietary medical schools, just as many White doctors were doing. These Black schools included Louisville National Medical College (1888), Hannibal Medical College (1889), Chattanooga National Medical College (1889), Knoxville Medical College (1900), and the University of West Tennessee College of Medicine and Surgery [1907] (Savitt, 2007). Unlike their missionary-sponsored counterparts, which were affiliated with colleges and universities, Black proprietary medical schools did not have an institution to fall back on in times of need (Savitt, 2000). Not only did they lack buildings, libraries, and other campus resources, they were less appealing to students’ parents in another way. According to Savitt (2007), at college- and university-sponsored medical schools, “students were able to live and study in the controlled setting of a college environment, a feature that parents, especially those from rural areas who were distrustful of the supposed bad influences of cities and concerned about their children’s safety, liked” (p. 190). Parents, in particular, were grateful that missionary schools combined moral and religious education with medical school education. Although most medical publications reported on the successes and the needs of mainstream Black medical schools, proprietary schools received no coverage. Similarly, funders such as the Slater Fund, the Carnegie Foundation, and the Rockefeller-sponsored General Education Board ignored the proprietary schools and focused on missionary-sponsored institutions instead (Savitt, 2007). And some proprietary schools, both Black and White, were basically diploma mills; the reputation of the legitimate proprietary schools suffered as a result. Most funders lumped all proprietary schools into the same negative category. Proprietary schools in general, regardless of racial makeup, provided medical services to poorer communities; they also offered opportunities for poor young people to enter the medical profession. A credential from one of these institutions, however, was not wholly respected in either the Black or the White community. By 1920, Black proprietary schools had fallen by the wayside, unable to keep up with their university-sponsored counterparts. They were also hamstrung by a lack of confidence (often justified)

12    M. GASMAN and M. S. WILLIAMS

on the part of the public. Black medical schools in general faced an extra obstacle, as many Whites in the medical profession doubted the ability of these graduates to pass the licensing exam. Regardless of type, all Black medical institutions would soon confront a nearly insurmountable struggle as the quest for uniform standards in medical education emerged. In 1904, the American Medical Association established the Council on Medical Education, which began promoting higher standards in medical education. These included a minimum standard for physicians, including four years of high school, an equal period of medical training, and passage of a licensing test. Many Black colleges complied with the council’s policies and recommendations, “lengthening their terms, improving hospital and laboratory facilities, and at least in written documents, toughening entrance and graduation requirements” (Savitt, 2006, p. 1417). Black medical school leaders knew that they would need to make changes to survive in an increasingly technologically advanced society. But before long, another layer of requirements and standards would appear that were too stringent for most of these institutions to meet. Henry Pritchett, the president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, hired Abraham Flexner in 1908, and this decision would forever change medical education, especially at Black colleges. Pritchett was looking for someone to lead a series of evaluations of professional education. Although Flexner had never studied medicine or visited a medical school, he was Pritchett’s top choice to lead an examination of American medical education, based on his educational background and his interest in critiquing American higher education. In 1910, working on behalf of the foundation and the American Medical Association, Flexner issued a report on the state of American medical education that led to vast reforms in the way doctors were trained. According to Flexner, the model medical school, in terms of curriculum and pedagogy, was Johns Hopkins. He wanted to see all American medical schools adopt its model, which included, among other things, a four-year program and an admissions requirement of a high school diploma and two years of college. The Flexner report, based on visits to 155 medical schools in the United States and Canada, led to the closing of most rural medical schools, proprietary schools, and all but two of the nation’s seven Black medical colleges. Although they tried to adapt to increasingly stringent standards, Black medical schools had little capacity for large-scale change. The proprietary schools had only student tuition and the occasional small, local investor as sources of income. Philanthropists were not interested in giving their money or support to what seemed to them to be diploma mills. Though missionary-sponsored schools had slightly more access to capital, in reality their finances were still precarious. Because Black college students, for

A Short History of Graduate and Professional Programs    13

the most part, came from poor families that had immense difficulty paying tuition and fees, Black medical schools could expect scant funds from them (Savitt, 2007). Having no steady source of income meant that the schools had to skimp on the delivery of education, making it difficult to offer a robust program. Flexner’s report, which dedicated only a few pages to Black medical schools, called for the closure of five of the remaining seven institutions (at a high point there had been 14 of them). Flexner found Meharry and Howard medical schools to be acceptable. These two institutions would be left to educate enough doctors to serve a population of 12 million Blacks in a segregated society at the beginning of the 20th century. And even these two institutions were almost forced to close (Savitt, 2007). In the early 20th century, Meharry and Howard medical schools together produced more than 100 graduates annually (Johnson, 1949). However, even this small number could not find suitable internships in a segregated society. Only a few Blacks, fewer than ten a year, graduated from the nation’s other medical colleges. The vast majority of schools accepted no Blacks. Beginning in the 1930s, some Southern states provided out-of-state scholarships to Black citizens wanting to attend graduate school, including medical school—but only as a way to prevent these individuals from attending in-state graduate programs. The limited production of Black doctors was a significant problem for the Black community. Given the pervasive discrimination against Blacks in the medical profession and in the provision of medical care, it is not surprising that Blacks sought to create nother medical schools. Of the 47 new medical schools established during the second half of the twentieth century, Morehouse School of Medicine is the only four-year, accredited medical school whose student body is predominantly Black. As a leader in both research and clinical practice, Morehouse School of Medicine is significant in the way it connects Black students to the sciences. A number of factors have alienated Blacks from the physical sciences, biology, and medicine—fields that are a critical part of our technologically based society. First, a lack of educational opportunity has limited Blacks’ access to these fields, which require many years of study to master. Equally important is the lack of trust many Blacks feel toward the systems that promote medical science and technology. Incidents like the notorious Tuskegee experiment have tainted science in the minds of Blacks, giving them the impression that it is another tool for racial exploitation (Savitt, 2007). Black college medical schools, however, bring Black Americans back to the center of scientific exploration and practice, making them aware of its benefits and their role in moving it forward. One could argue that establishing a predominantly Black medical school allows existing White medical schools to shirk their responsibilities

14    M. GASMAN and M. S. WILLIAMS

in terms of educating Black doctors and reaching out to urban and rural Black communities. However, supporters of Black medical schools argue that the need for Black doctors cannot be met by Black medical schools alone. Predominantly White medical schools still need to provide more access to Black students. For instance, in the first decade of this century, some 1,500 Blacks entered medical school every year, yet Black medical schools have had enough space for only about 300 of these students. The majority of Black students go to PWIs. Black college medical schools offer a choice for Black students. Some students may desire a research-oriented education, whereas others want to pursue a career in primary care. The beauty of medical education in the United States is that schools of medicine are not cookie-cutter images of each other. Schools of Law at Historically Black Institutions Lawyers have played an important leadership role in the United States since this country’s inception. Nearly half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were lawyers (Barthelmas, 1997). Eight of the first ten United States presidents were lawyers (Kane & Podell, 2009). Even our current Commander in Chief, Barack Obama—the first Black to occupy our highest legislative post—was a lawyer by training and trade before assuming leadership of the country. The importance of jurisprudence to the founding, operation, maintenance, and evolution of this country cannot be understated, especially in the realm of educational opportunity for Blacks. Landmark decisions like Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which overturned the de jure racial segregation supported by the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) decision, simultaneously made educational inroads for Blacks and paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement. This makes the fact that law remains one of the least integrated branches of professional education in the United States especially troubling. While Blacks constitute more than 12% of the population, they only accounted for 7% of law degree recipients in 2009 (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). Notwithstanding, historically Black colleges and universities have played an important role in the education of Black legal professionals. About 50% of Black lawyers and 80% of Black judges in the United States received their undergraduate and/or law degrees from HBCUs (Ehrenberg, 1996). However, the majority of recent scholarship on HBCUs focuses on the attributes and outcomes of undergraduate students who attend these institutions (Abelman & Dalessandro, 2009; Allen & Jewell, 2002; Freeman & Thomas, 2002; Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002; Fryer & Greenstone, 2007; Greer, 2008; Kim, 2002; Palmer, 2010). Only a small set of extant literature attends

A Short History of Graduate and Professional Programs    15

specifically to the historical development of historically Black law schools (Dark, 2004; Glenn, 2001; Tollett, 1970). Scholarship investigating the contemporary appeal and importance of historically Black law schools is scarce (Ehrenberg, 1996; Rosin, 2011). Studies providing insight into student experiences while enrolled at historically Black law schools or illuminating motivations for students who choose to attend these institutions rather than more prestigious predominately White law schools is virtually nonexistent. This conspicuous gap in the literature is problematic for a number of reasons. First, historically Black law schools played a unique and critical role in the education of Black legal professionals. Next, they provided a vital group of socially conscious leaders who helped to advance Black issues. Finally, these spaces continue to provide meaningful access to quality legal education for many who would otherwise not have the opportunity. There are currently six American Bar Association-approved law schools at historically Black colleges and universities: Howard University School of Law, North Carolina Central University School of Law, Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University, Southern University Law Center at Southern University, David A. Clarke School of Law at the University of the District of Columbia, and Florida A&M University School of Law. The Howard University School of Law is the oldest, most well-known, and arguably most important of these institutions. Since it opened in 1869, it has nurtured some of the most talented and significant Black legal minds this country has known. Renowned alumni include: Charlotte E. Ray (1872), the first Black woman lawyer and the first Black woman to practice law in the District of Columbia; Douglas Wilder (1959), the first Black governor of Virginia; and of course, Thurgood Marshall (1933), the first Black appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court (Glenn, 2001). Interestingly, the contributions of faculty and administrators at the Howard School of Law are just as important. James Narbit, Jr., a Howard law professor and later president of Howard University, developed the first civil rights law class in an American law school (Dark, 2004; Glenn, 2001). Narbit, along with Thurgood Marshall, was also an important part of the legal team that argued Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Though Narbit and Marshall were both famous civil rights lawyers and advocates in their own right, perhaps no Howard Law School affiliate deserves as much credit for the Brown decision as their mentor Charles Hamilton Houston. Houston, a 1922 graduate of Harvard Law School and the first Black editor on the Harvard Law Review, served as Vice-Dean of the Howard University Law School from 1929–1935. His work was essential to Howard’s accreditation by the American Bar Association in 1931 (McNeil, 1983), and during his administration, Howard provided instruction to nearly 25% of the nation’s Black law students. He is credited with raising the admissions standards, formalizing the law curriculum and recruiting top-notch faculty

16    M. GASMAN and M. S. WILLIAMS

focused on imbuing students with practical professional skills (Dark, 2004; McNeil, 1983; James, 2010). He was the first Black to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court (Glenn, 2001), and because of his involvement in almost every civil rights case before the Supreme Court between 1930 and his death in 1950, he is affectionately regarded as “The Man Who Killed Jim Crow” (Zimmerman, 2005). Though he did not live to see the decision or its consequences, he was the architect of the legal strategy that led to victory in the breakthrough Brown v. Board of Education case. Setting important precedents with a number of other cases he saw through to decision, he laid the foundation for his legal team’s success. He is also one of the reasons that Howard Law School had a central role in the development of these cases (Dark, 2004; James, 2010; McNeil, 1983). Today, though the majority of Black lawyers are educated at PWIs, historically Black law schools still play an important role in providing access to Black legal education. On balance, historically Black law schools are less expensive than PWI law schools. Further, they are a viable option for students with LSAT scores that might unfairly bar them from other institutions that weight the LSAT score too heavily in admissions decisions (Ehrenberg, 1996; JBHE Foundation, 2006). According to Rosin (2011), for fall 2005 through fall 2009, even though students at these six institutions represented only 2.0% of all students entering law classes, as a group they represented 16.3% of Black entering students. In other words, almost one of every six new Black law students began their studies at a historically Black law school over the aforementioned time period. There are, however, some surprising shifts in the demographics of historically Black law schools. Currently, Black students only constitute the majority at three of the six institutions (Mawakana, 2011). Further, the younger a Black lawyer is, the less likely he or she is to have their undergraduate or law degrees from historically Black colleges and universities (Ehrenberg, 1996). Historically Black law schools are imperative to the continued advancement of Blacks both in the legal field and society at large. Given proper resources and agency, they can continue to play a unique and critical role in the education of Black legal professionals. The sincere hope is that they produce not just lawyers, but leaders, ready to advance the cause of civil rights with the same zeal and dedication of previous generations of graduates, faculty, and administrators. As long as these spaces continue to provide meaningful access to quality legal education for many who would otherwise not have the opportunity, they are of vital importance to Blacks and the nation at large. Hopefully, the importance of these spaces will lead to the creation and expansion of scholarship regarding student motivations for attendance and student experiences while enrolled. Insights into the reasons why well-qualified Black law students apply and choose to attend these institutions could prove invaluable to future students, faculty members,

A Short History of Graduate and Professional Programs    17

and administrators interested in the advancement of Black legal scholarship and practice. Doctoral Programs at Historically Black Institutions Between 1980 and 2008, the racial/ethnic composition of the United States shifted—the White population declined from 80% of the total population to 66%; the Hispanic population increased from 6% of the total to 15%; the Black population remained at about 12%; and the Asian/Pacific Islander population increased from less than 2% of the total population to 4% (Aud, Fox, & KewalRamani, 2010). Despite this noticeable shift in demographics, Whites still represent approximately 80% of all doctoral degrees conferred in the United States (Hoffer, Hess, Welch, & Williams, 2007). Most contemporary public debates about college education tend to focus on the pursuit of education on the community college and baccalaureate level. While these spaces—and mechanisms to ensure student success at these levels—are important, the changing needs and demographic characteristics of American college students demand concomitant advances in graduate level preparation. Post-baccalaureate education is a growing enterprise in American higher education, and with regard to enrollment trends, graduate level education is growing faster than undergraduate level education (Snyder & Dillow, 2011). Unfortunately, enrollment is very different from graduation. While it has proven near impossible to get a concrete number, a number of studies alarmingly place the rate of attrition from doctor of philosophy (PhD) programs at close to 50% (Lovitts & Nelson, 2000; McAlpine & Norton, 2006; Smallwood, 2004). PhD attrition is an underreported problem that poses a great number of costs to institutions and students alike. In 2008, more females than males were enrolled in higher education across all racial and ethnic groups. The gender gap was largest for Black undergraduates, with females accounting for 64% of Black undergraduate enrollment (Aud et al., 2010). The effects of this gender gap are also seen in graduate school. In 2009, only 6.5% of all doctoral degrees conferred were awarded to Blacks (Snyder & Dillow, 2011). Of that small percentage—well below the 12% of the overall population of the United States that Blacks represent—8.3% of all doctoral degrees conferred to women were awarded to Black females, while an abysmal 4.6% of doctoral degrees conferred to males were awarded to Black males (Snyder & Dillow, 2011). Literature on the history, relevance, and impact of HBCU doctoral programs is limited. This is not a surprise however, given the small number in existence. Currently, only 27 of the over 125 public and private HBCUs

18    M. GASMAN and M. S. WILLIAMS

confer doctoral degrees (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). Compounding this issue, some of the most recognizable and historically significant Black institutions—Fisk University, Lincoln University (PA), Morehouse College, Spelman College, Wilberforce University, and Xavier University of Louisiana—do not offer doctoral level education. Possibly more surprising, none of the doctoral programs offered at HBCUs have a focus on Black Americans. Only Howard University has a PhD program that addresses issues related to the African Diaspora and that program, in African studies, does not have a domestic focus. However, some important recent expansions have been made in the development of doctoral programs at HBCUs. For example, Hampton University implemented the institution’s first PhD program in 1994. The success of that program—in physics—paved the way for the way for the development and implementation of three additional doctoral programs at Hampton in a five-year span (Hammond & Davis, 2005). In the fall of 1999, Hampton University enrolled its first class of nursing PhD students, becoming the first HBCU to fully implement a doctoral program in that field of study (Hammond & Davis, 2005). HBCUs have also been important for Black PhDs in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Solórzano (1995) found that HBCUs are the top educators of Blacks who go on to earn doctorates in STEM fields. In fact, between 1980 and 1990, 73% of Black women and 57% of Black men who earned doctorates in science and engineering fields completed their baccalaureate level studies at HBCUs. While more recent scholarship investigates Black student transitions into graduate school along the STEM pipeline (Harper, 2010; MacLachlan, 2006; Perna et al., 2009), there has been little attention paid to the experiences of Black students pursuing graduate degrees in other fields. Even with the recent expansion of interest in STEM fields, research on the experience of Black doctoral students at HBCUs is almost nonexistent. In one of the few scholarly works available specifically addressing this population, Fountaine (2008) examined the role of various factors on student experiences and persistence. Utilizing a seven-part questionnaire—Background, Preenrollment, Financing, Student–Faculty Interaction, Student–Peer Interaction, Doctoral Experience, and Time-to-Degree—she gathered data from 190 students at 13 public and private HBCUs. Her findings highlight the importance of managing doctoral student expectations before enrollment, the value of meaningful student–faculty interactions, and the significance of positive peer interactions on Black doctoral student success at HBCUs. In their book, The Three Magic Letters: Getting to PhD, Nettles and Millet (2006) report their findings from a 28-page survey administered to currently enrolled doctoral students in their second year and beyond in 11 disciplines at 21 doctorate-granting institutions in 1997. Their study had

A Short History of Graduate and Professional Programs    19

an encouraging 70% response rate, and they ended up with a large sample of 9,036 students. Their work also focused on seven areas of interest: demographics, preparation and screening, financing, socialization, research productivity, satisfaction, and rate of progress and degree completion. Although their study only included two HBCUs, they found some relevant information about Black graduate students in relation to financial support and mentoring. Because there is a high demand for Black graduate students, they are more likely to be offered fellowships than assistantships. This form of funding is deceptive, because though it offers important financial support, it also limits their access to the most productive faculty advisors and mentors (Nettles & Millet, 2006). They also found that Black students in STEM fields perceived less support from faculty than other groups. They believed this to be directly related to their lower completion rates, lower research productivity, and lower rate of overall satisfaction. Both Nettles and Millet (2006) and Fountaine (2008) make clear the importance of strong faculty and mentor relationships to Black student success in doctoral programs. Given the current state of doctoral achievement for Blacks in the U.S., it is also clear that HBCUs still have a vital role to play in educating the next generation of culturally competent and supportive faculty. Conclusion Although it could be argued that HBCUs should focus on undergraduate education given their lack of resources and relative size, it is imperative that graduate and professional programs exist. HBCU graduate and professional programs operate from the perspective that they will add immense value to the lives, knowledge, and careers of students. They do not require students to be near perfect upon entry, but instead meet them where they are and empower them to improve. In addition, many Black college graduate and professional programs infuse a sense of commitment to the larger Black community, minority communities in general, and low-income communities in their curricula. An underlying sense of social justice is palatable in the ethos of the campus. In writing this chapter, we became painfully aware of the utter lack of research available on graduate and professional programs and schools within the HBCU context. This topic has been almost completely ignored by historians, sociologists, and higher education scholars alike. There are ample areas for future exploration, and there are myriad reasons why this kind of research is important and relevant. Unfortunately, many PWIs do not meet the needs of students of color. HBCUs can offer hope and opportunity to those who perform better in an environment created on the premise that they belong and have the potential to contribute fully to society.

20    M. GASMAN and M. S. WILLIAMS

As we have suggested earlier, research related to HBCUs and graduate education is severely limited. There are ample areas for discovery. For example, although historians have captured the history of Black college medical education, we know very little about the Black doctors who attended these institutions. Discovering their career trajectory and impact would be useful to future doctors. Likewise, it would be advantageous to better understand the impact of Black college law schools on the legal profession in the United States. We also suggest more contemporary research related to graduate education at HBCUs. First, research that looks at the ways that HBCUs can align their institutional missions and curricular offerings to address the persistent achievement gap in MD, JD, and PhD production is vastly important to the future success of Blacks. Likewise, we suggest exploring the transition between undergraduate and graduate training within the HBCU setting. How are HBCU students encouraged to pursue graduate education, and how do HBCUs convey the merits of attending graduate school within the HBCU setting? Although HBCUs certainly emphasize medicine, law, business, and some social science-based PhD programs, there is little emphasis on African or African American studies. Why? Shouldn’t institutions that are deeply rooted in Black culture focus on instilling a sense of that culture at the PhD level? Lastly, we are concerned that the demographics of HBCU graduate and professional programs are changing rapidly, with many programs, especially law schools, becoming predominantly White. We acknowledge that diversity at HBCUs is important but think it is important to question the lost opportunity on the part of potential Black students. Are these students attending graduate and professional programs elsewhere, or not at all? Additional research will help us to understand how to create and sustain opportunities for Black students. References Abelman, R., & Dalessandro, A. (2009). The institutional vision of historically Black colleges and universities. Journal of Black Studies, 40(2), 105–134. Allen, W. R., & Jewell, J. O. (2002). A backward glance forward: Past, present, and future perspectives on historically Black colleges and universities. Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 241–261. Anderson, J. D. (1988). The education of Blacks in the south, 1865–1930. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. Aud, S., Fox, M., & KewalRamani, A. (2010). Status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic groups (NCES 2010-015). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

A Short History of Graduate and Professional Programs    21 Barthelmas, D. G. (1997). The signers of the Declaration of Independence: A biographical and genealogical reference. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. Brown v. Topeka Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). Dark, O. C. (2004). The role of Howard University School of Law in Brown v Board of Education. Washington History, 16(2), 83–85. Ehrenberg, R. G. (1996). Are Black colleges producing today’s Black lawyers? Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 14, 117–119. Fountaine, T. P. (2008). African American voices and doctoral education at HBCUs: Experiences, finances, and agency. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Morgan State University. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. (3314133) Freeman, K., & Thomas, G. E. (2002). Black colleges and college choice: Characteristics of students who choose HBCUs. Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 349–358. Fries-Britt, S., & Turner, B. (2002). Uneven stories: Successful Black collegians at a Black and White campus. Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 315–330. Fryer, R. G., & Greenstone, M. (2007). The causes and consequences of attending historically Black colleges and universities. Retrieved from http://www.nber. org/papers/w13036.pdf Gasman, M. (2007). Envisioning Black colleges: A history of the United Negro College Fund. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Glenn, G. (2001). Reinventing Howard’s Law School. Black Issues in Higher Education, 18(4), 24. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Greer, T. M. (2008). Racial and ethnic-related stressors as predictors of perceived stress and academic performance for Black students at historically Black college and university. Journal of Negro Education, 77(1), 60–72. Hammond, P. V., & Davis, B. L. (November/December 2005). From idea to graduation: the evolution of the first PhD program in a HBCU. The ABNF Journal: Official Journal of the Association of Black Nursing Faculty in Higher Education, 16(6), 112–117. Harper, S. R. (2010). An anti-deficit achievement framework for research on students of color in STEM. In S. R. Harper & C. B. Newman (Eds.), Students of color in STEM. New Directions for Institutional Research (No.148, pp. 63–74). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Hine, D. C. (1985). The anatomy of failure: Medical education reform and the Leonard Medical School of Shaw University, 1882–1920. Journal of Negro Education, 54(4), 512–525. Hoffer, T. B., Hess, M., Welch, V., & Williams, K. (2007). Doctorate recipients from united states universities: Summary report 2006. Chicago, IL: National Opinion Research Center. James, R. (2010). Root and branch: Charles Hamilton Houston, Thurgood Marshall, and the struggle to end segregation. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Press. Johnson, J. L. (1949). The supply of Negro health personnel—physicians. Journal of Negro Education, I(3), 346–356. The JBHE Foundation. (2006). The law schools at HBCUs are frequently the only educational alternative for aspiring Black lawyers. Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 52, 33.

22    M. GASMAN and M. S. WILLIAMS Kane, J. N., & Podell, J. (2009). Facts about the presidents: A compilation of biographical and historical information. New York, NY: H.W. Wilson Co. Kim, M. M. (2002). Historically Black institutions vs. White institutions: Academic development among Black students. Review of Higher Education, 25(4), 385– 407. Lovitts, B. E., & Nelson, C. (November 01, 2000). The hidden crisis in graduate education: Attrition from Ph.D. programs. Academe, 86(6), 44–50. Logan, R. (2004). Howard University: The first hundred years, 1867–1967. New York, NY: New York University Press. Mawakana, K. A. (2011). Historically Black college and university Law Schools: Generating multitudes of effective social engineers. Journal of Gender Race & Justice, 14(3), 679–702. MacLachlan, A. J. (2006). Developing graduate students of color for the professoriate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Berkeley, CA: UC Berkeley Center for Studies in Higher Education. McAlpine, L., & Norton, J. (2006). Reframing our approach to doctoral programs: An integrative framework for action and research. Higher Education Research & Development, 25(1), 3–17. McNeil, G. R. (1983). Groundwork: Charles Hamilton Houston and the struggle for civil rights. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. National Center for Education Statistics. (2011). Digest of Education Statistics, 2010. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Nettles, M. T., & Millett, C. M. (2006). Three magic letters: Getting to Ph.D. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Palmer, R. T. (2010). The perceived elimination of affirmative action and the strengthening of historically Black colleges and universities. Journal of Black Studies, 40(4), 762–776. Perna, L.W., Lundy-Wagner, V., Drezner, N.D., Gasman, M., Yoon, S.A., Bose, E., & Gary, S. (2009). The contribution of HBCUs to the preparation of African American women for STEM careers: A case study. Research in Higher Education, 50(1), 1–23. Plessy v. Furgeson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896). Price, G. N., Spriggs, W., & Swinton, O. H. (2011). The relative returns to graduating from a historically Black college/university: Propensity score matching estimates from the National Survey of Black Americans. Review of Black Political Economy, 38(2), 103–130. Reitzes, D. C. (1958). Negroes and medicine. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. Rosin, G. S. (2011, March 28). Endangered: Historically black law schools? Retrieved from Social Science Research Network: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1797965 Savitt, T. L. (1985). Lincoln university medical department—A forgotten 19th century Black medical school. Journal of History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 40(1), 42–46. Savitt, T. L. (2000). Four African American proprietary medical schools, 1888–1923. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 55(3), 203–255. Savitt, T. L. (2006). Abraham Flexner and the Black medical schools. Journal of the National Medical Association, 98(9), 1415–1424.

A Short History of Graduate and Professional Programs    23 Savitt, T. L. (2007). Race & medicine in nineteenth and early twentieth century America. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press. Smallwood, S. (2004). Doctor dropout: High attrition from PhD programs is sucking away time, talent and money and breaking some hearts too. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 50(19), A10. Snyder, T.D., & Dillow, S.A. (2011). Digest of Education Statistics 2010 (NCES 2011015). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. Solórzano, D. G. (1995). The doctorate production and baccalaureate origins of African Americans in the sciences and engineering. Journal of Negro Education, 64(1), 15–32. Tollett, K. S. (1970). Making it together: Texas Southern university school of law. Judicature, 53(9), 366–372. Watson, W. (1998). Against the odds: Blacks in the profession of medicine in the United States. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Press. Zimmerman, L. (January 01, 2005). Media Review: The road to Brown: The untold story of “The Man Who Killed Jim Crow.” Educational Studies. A Journal of the American Educational Studies Association, 37(1), 97–100.

This page intentionally left blank.

Chapter 3

Contributing Beyond the Baccalaureate Graduate and Professional Degree Programs at HBCUs Valerie C. Lundy-Wagner New York University

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) provided elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education to African Americans1 when predominantly White institutions (PWIs) would not because of racist ideology (Anderson, 1988; Gasman, 2008). In the years since the first HBCU was established (1837, Cheyney University in Pennsylvania), these institutions have transformed into postsecondary institutions exclusively, and with the appropriate curricula, faculty, and accreditation standards. Throughout these structural changes, HBCUs have been a source of community uplift, but more practically they have contributed significantly to the postsecondary credentialing of African Americans. In fact, nearly 80% of Black degrees conferred prior to the 1960s were from HBCUs (Allen & Jewell, 2002; Hill, 1984). In fact, more than 50 years later, HBCUs are still overrepresented

Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, pages 25–39 Copyright © 2012 by Information Age Publishing All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

25

26    V. C. LUNDY-WAGNER

when it comes to providing African Americans a postsecondary education. For example, while HBCUs comprise only 3% of postsecondary institutions, they enroll and graduate nearly 20% of African American bachelor’s degrees annually (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2011). While these data provide an important reference for individuals unfamiliar with HBCU postsecondary achievements, it implicitly focuses on the baccalaureate level. Although associate’s and bachelor’s degrees have historically been considered the first step toward significant socioeconomic mobility in the United States, graduate and professional degrees also play an important role. In fact, as the 20th century ended, various economists, sociologists, and industry leaders suggested that the bachelor’s degree is no longer sufficient for ensuring job security and mobility. The notable growth in master’s and first-professional degree enrollments since the Great Recession suggests that institutions offering these programs are a necessary element of labor market competitiveness (NCES, 2011). The emphasis on HBCU contributions at the baccalaureate level is well founded and important economically, educationally, and socially. However, the overemphasis effectively neglects the contributions that HBCUs have made and continue to make toward other levels of postsecondary education. That is, while sub-baccalaureate, associate’s, master’s, first-professional, and doctoral degrees are all conferred at HBCUs, there is little research on these levels of education. The lack of information on these non-baccalaureate education levels is unfortunate given the role HBCUs have had on providing educational access to African American and other disadvantaged communities. In addition, many examinations of graduate and professional education aggregate the two post-baccalaureate categories, which can be helpful for explaining broad trends, but may simultaneously convolute the reality of HBCU postsecondary contributions. Although all HBCUs received this federal designation for explicitly addressing Black educational equity and being established prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there is considerable diversity among these institutions (Gasman, Lundy-Wagner, Ransom, & Bowman, 2010). HBCUs represent both two- and four-year public and private institutions that grant various degrees and certificates. In fact, as of the 2010–2011 academic year 88 of 99 (or 89%) HBCUs have a level of instruction that is four or more years, and 56 of these institutions (or 64% of HBCUs) grant master’s, first-professional, or doctoral degrees (NCES, 2011). The purpose of this chapter is to provide information on HBCUs and their contribution to graduate and professional education overall, with an emphasis on the Black community. This chapter seeks to address two issues: (1) the continued need and relevancy of graduate and professional education at HBCUs and (2) how graduate and professional programs at HBCUs contribute to post-baccalaureate and workforce diversity gains. To address

Contributing Beyond the Baccalaureate    27

the contribution of HBCUs to graduate and professional education overall, and for the Black community, a descriptive analysis of data from the National Center of Education Statistics Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is presented. In addition, a brief review of the literature on graduate and professional degree programs is noted to provide additional insight on what is and is not known about HBCUs beyond the bachelor’s degree. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the benefits of graduate and professional programs and recommendations. History of Graduate and Professional Education at HBCUs Although all HBCUs were established more than 50 years ago, data on enrollments, degree programs, and completions are often inconsistently reported, as noted by Lundy-Wagner and Gasman (2011). To remedy that, this chapter begins with information from historical documents and reports to provide a historical backdrop of graduate and professional programs. At the time of their founding, HBCUs focused primarily on what is now termed elementary and secondary education (Anderson, 1988; Hill, 1984). Faced with a large Black population that had previously had little to no formal education, HBCUs were forced to both educate the masses and simultaneously provide training to individuals who needed to work as appropriately credentialed teachers. In effect, these efforts exemplified then-popular notions of Black self-help, inspiring commitments to the profession prior to acceptance in some schools (Watkins, 1990). Similar to the impetus for establishing HBCUs for lower levels of education (Anderson, 1988), graduate education at HBCUs was also borne out of racist policies that prevented African Americans from attending White institutions. This was especially problematic in the Southern states that used funds from legislation, like the Morrill Acts of 1890, to establish dual systems of education. In those states, HBCUs were forced to duplicate undergraduate and eventually graduate and professional degree programs available at public (White) institutions. These efforts resulted in a provision of initially more symbolic, but then later real opportunities for African Americans to receive the same education as Whites. Despite the social and legal issues facing Black people who aspired to what we now call post-baccalaureate education, there were considerable challenges. In fact, underpaid Black faculty often had heavy teaching loads that forced at least some seeking more advanced training to enroll in summer courses at institutions outside of the South that would accept them (Hill, 1984). In subsequent years, this lack of graduate and professional education in the South would change, though not immediately. HBCUs eventually expanded at the elementary,

28    V. C. LUNDY-WAGNER

secondary, and undergraduate levels, and in the years after 1915, graduate and professional courses and programs grew more substantially (Gasman et al., 2010). In fact, in 1915 nearly 38% of the 2,600 HBCU students enrolled in college-level work were enrolled in first-professional schools (Gasman et al., 2010). Although often incorporated into discussions of graduate education, first-professional degree programs at that time were more unique than baccalaureate programs in their preparation of specialized workers. With the omnipresent tension between liberal arts versus vocationally oriented education at HBCUs (Gasman, 2008), first-professional degree programs in many ways fell toward vocations. For example, the first-professional degrees in theology, dentistry, blacksmithing, medicine, and law from HBCUs prior to the 1960s contributed immediately to the Black presence in these fields. In the early days, graduate programs at HBCUs were primarily comprised of these first-professional degree programs, representing the role of temporality in American higher education, but also social and economic development in Black communities. Despite these gains, various suits challenging the separate-but-equal status quo were filed in the mid-1930s focusing specifically on the availability of graduate and professional degree programs for African Americans (see Gasman et al., 2010). With those and other legal challenges to higher education, HBCUs expanded their offerings, such that by 1936, six HBCUs offered graduate-level courses. Given the context of those challenges being implicitly related to equality in public education, not surprisingly, all of the new graduate programs at HBCUs were at private institutions. Even with that progress, a survey in 1942 stressed the need for HBCUs to increase their post-baccalaureate offerings in order to be (perceived as) comparable to White institutions (Hill, 1984). This would not be the first or last time HBCU quality would be called into question. Nonetheless, data suggest that HBCUs met that challenge and, as of 1951, 17 offered graduate programs in approximately 10 disciplines (7 at private institutions). Nearly 3,200 students were enrolled in post-graduate work by the 1953–1954 academic year. Despite these gains, the ongoing court challenges still relegated nearly 45,000 Black teachers-in-training to HBCUs for summer courses (Hill, 1984). During this time, the American teaching profession had begun to transition from primarily male to predominately female. This was true for both Whites and Blacks, and in some ways it marks the beginning of the African American gender gap in certain fields (Lundy-Wagner & Gasman, 2011). Further, the Brown ruling marked a change in post-baccalaureate program availability—it instigated a steady increase in the number of HBCUs offering graduate programs and, accordingly, enrollment. Almost 30 years later, in 1982, 39 HBCUs offered graduate programs (9 at private institutions) in 22 disciplines (Hill, 1984).

Contributing Beyond the Baccalaureate    29

During the time between the mid-1950s and -1980s, most HBCUs that started master’s programs were in the public sector, although private Howard University and (now) Clark Atlanta University began some as well. Graduate programs were offered in a variety of fields; however, master’s degree receipt at HBCUs was largely confined to the field of education (Hill, 1984). In fact, according to some, HBCUs have educated a significant proportion of all African American teachers. The emphasis on education notwithstanding, the growth in master’s degree receipt grew throughout the 1970s. While master’s programs have grown considerably at HBCUs over the past century, doctoral education has grown more slowly. In fact, the first doctoral degree was awarded at Howard University in 1957; more than ten years later in 1968, the second doctoral degree was conferred by another private HBCU, now Clark Atlanta University (Hill, 1984). By 1982, only two public HBCUs had doctoral degree programs. Regardless of sector, most HBCU doctoral degree programs were in education and the biological sciences (Hill, 1984). Despite the later arrival of master’s and doctoral degree programs at HBCUs, first-professional programs began earlier, around the turn of the early 20th century to train doctors, dentists, lawyers, veterinarians, pharmacists, and ministers (Hill, 1984). In the 1960s, HBCUs conferred approximately 450 first-professional degrees each year, a number that doubled in the early 1980s. Whereas private HBCUs were critical in providing access to master’s and doctoral degrees, all law degrees were awarded by public HBCUs during that time. With regard to the popularity of firstprofessional degrees at HBCUs, 25% were in jurisprudence (Hill, 1984). While law and dentistry were more often available at public institutions, medical degrees awarded by HBCUs were more concentrated at private HBCUs (Hill, 1984). Graduate and Professional Education at HBCUs: 1976 to 2010 The history of graduate and professional education at HBCUs exemplifies the importance of the law, institutional sector, and curricula, in addition to American social and economic progress. To provide a more contemporary overview of the contribution HBCUs have made and are making to graduate and professional education, data on post-baccalaureate enrollments and completions are presented. Specifically, the IPEDS data are used to examine trends between 1976 and 2010 (NCES, 2011). These data are collected annually from all U.S. postsecondary education institutions that participate in the federal student financial aid programs in seven areas: enrollments, degree

30    V. C. LUNDY-WAGNER

completion, institutional characteristics, tuition, financial aid, persistence, and finances. In this chapter, the focus is on graduate and first-professional enrollment and degree completions, and where data are available, the HBCU contribution to African American degree receipt is noted. Completions Although the early availability of graduate programs at private institutions was significant, in more recent years, private HBCUs have become an important location for these programs. In fact, as of 2007, 16 private and 38 public HBCUs provided graduate and professional degrees (Gasman et al., 2010). Masters In the years between 1976–1977 and 2001–2002, the number of master’s degrees conferred by HBCUs increased, but the relative contribution toward Black master’s degree receipt fell. Whereas in 1976–1977 more than 20% of African American master’s degrees were conferred by HBCUs, by 2001–2002 the proportion was closer to 12%. During the 2001–2002 academic year, HBCUs conferred 6,338 master’s degrees, and while that only represented 1.3% of all master’s degrees awarded that year, it represented 11% of the Black master’s degrees conferred. For the 2008–2009 academic year, 52 HBCUs conferred 7,228 master’s degrees, of which almost 90% (6,304) were conferred at public institutions. Overall, 75% (5,431 of 7,228) of the HBCU master’s degree recipients were African American, and they represented a majority of recipients at both public and private institutions. However, the non-Black master’s degree recipients at HBCUs during the 2008–2009 academic year were clustered primarily at public institutions; despite that, approximately 70% of the graduate degrees conferred at public HBCUs were to African Americans. At private institutions, more than 80% of the master’s degrees conferred were to African Americans, and almost 90% of the female master’s degree recipients were Black. Approximately 45% of the HBCU master’s degrees were awarded by eight (or 15%) of the 52 institutions granting that degree. At those eight institutions, 300 or more master’s degrees were conferred. The HBCU producing the largest number of master’s degrees was Prairie View A&M University in Texas, where 745 master’s degrees were conferred that year; over 300 more degrees were conferred there than the next highest master’s degree producing HBCU (Tennessee State University, 401). In 2009–2010, HBCUs awarded 7,419 master’s degrees, representing increases, albeit small, in the number and proportion conferred to African Americans.

Contributing Beyond the Baccalaureate    31

First-Professional Between 1976–1977 and 2001–2002, the number of first-professional degrees awarded by HBCUs generally increased. Despite those gains, the relative proportion of first-professional degrees awarded by HBCUs to African Americans was unsteady. Whereas in 1976–1977, more than 20% of Black first-professional degree recipients were African-American, by 2001–2002 this number was just below 20%. In 2001–2002, 1,427 first-professional degrees were awarded by HBCUs. Despite accounting for 17.2% of the firstprofessional degrees awarded to African Americans that year, this only represented 1.8% of the first-professional degrees conferred that year. Almost ten years later. during the 2008–2009 academic year, 1,908 firstprofessional degrees were conferred by 13 HBCUs. Eleven of the 13 institutions were private, and altogether they conferred approximately 76% of HBCU first-professional degrees. Despite that, the two institutions that conferred nearly 40% of first-professional degrees—Howard University (452) and Texas Southern University (317)—represent both the public and private sector. By 2009–2010, HBCUs awarded 1,690 first-professional or doctor’s professional practice degrees, a disproportionately large contribution to African American degree receipt at this level. Doctoral In the years between 1976 and 2002, the number of doctor’s degrees awarded at HBCUs increased steadily until the early 1990s, after which time there have been short increases and decreases. During that time, the raw number and proportion of doctor’s degrees awarded by HBCUs have both generally increased. Whereas HBCUs conferred less than 5% of Black doctor’s degrees in 1976–1977, by 2001–2002 their proportion peaked around 10%, a number that has remained relatively steady upon review of data from the 2009–2010 year. In fact, during the 2001–2002 academic year, HBCUs awarded 364 doctor’s degrees. This represented only 1.8% of all doctor’s degrees conferred that year, but 10.7% of all African American doctors degrees awarded that year. More recent data from the 2008–2009 academic year reveal that 27 HBCUs conferred 667 doctor’s degrees. Two-thirds of HBCU doctor’s degrees conferred that year were awarded by public institutions (449/667). Despite the accessibility of doctor’s degrees by public HBCUs, a private institution, Howard University, conferred the largest number of doctor’s degrees in 2008–2009 (108). Although HBCUs awarded fewer doctor’s degrees in 2010 (389), their contribution to African American access to this level of education has rather consistently increased.

32    V. C. LUNDY-WAGNER

Research on HBCU Graduate and Professional Programs Despite the significance of HBCU graduate and professional degree programs for African Americans and others, there is relatively little research on this topic. In fact, most of the research on graduate and professional degree programs at HBCUs focuses on basic enrollment and completion numbers, doctoral degree origins of Black faculty members, and, more recently, experiences of graduate students and faculty at these institutions. Not surprisingly, much of this work presents data that largely advocate for the continued existence and support of HBCUs as parts of American and especially Black history. While the NCES has put forth multiple descriptive reports on HBCUs (i.e., Hill, 1984; Provasnik, Shaefer, & Snyder, 2004), only a few researchers and other stakeholders have moved beyond more basic analyses (like those presented earlier). However, multiple studies on the baccalaureate origins of African American faculty attribute these gains of diversity in the professoriate to the disproportionately high contribution of HBCUs (e.g., Pearson & Pearson, 1985; Solórzano, 1995; Wolf-Wendell, 1998). Despite using data spanning multiple decades, each study found that Black people who earned PhDs and eventually entered academe had disproportionately been educated at an HBCU for their baccalaureate degree. This research has complemented the research on HBCUs, which rather unequivocally declares these institutions as better for African American students’ academic self-concept, engagement with faculty, and graduate degree aspirations (e.g., DeSousa & Kuh, 1996; Perna et al., 2009). Further, this research highlights the contribution HBCUs have made toward Black professors in the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields; education; and biological sciences (Brazziel, 1983; Brazziel & Brazziel, 1997; Pearson & Pearson, 1985; Solórzano, 1995; Wolf-Wendel, 1998). Besides the research on baccalaureate origins, there is also work on the doctoral degree origins of HBCU and African American faculty (Trower & Chait, 2002). In a more inferential statistical analysis, Perna (2001) found that 9% of full-time African American faculty earned their doctorates from HBCUs and that more than half of them returned as teaching faculty. These findings highlight the contribution of HBCUs in the postsecondary educational pipeline, specifically in nurturing Black students for graduate degrees and in producing Black faculty. What is especially important is the re-entry of African Americans to become HBCU faculty members. Whether this occurs out of personal choice, cultural obligation, or geographic or labor market considerations, HBCUs are disproportionately educating future Black graduate students and doctoral degree recipients, but also employing them. The importance of the latter cannot be understated as structural ra-

Contributing Beyond the Baccalaureate    33

cial discrimination persists in housing, education, industries, and the workplace in the post-Brown era. Finally, while HBCUs are well known for providing access to African Americans at the baccalaureate level, there is research also showing that these graduate and professional degree programs are expanding access in other ways too. First, these institutions’ graduate and professional degree programs have historically enrolled and continue to enroll a notable number of individuals who are not African-American (Hill, 1984; Provasnik et al., 2004). According to Conrad and Brier (1997), more than 20% of HBCU graduate students in 2002 were White. Despite typically being older and considered non-traditional, research suggests that White graduate students have an overall level of satisfaction at HBCUs, a measure that includes academic, social, geographic, and curricular elements (Conrad & Brier, 1997; Hall & Closson, 2005). In addition, these institutions employ what some consider the most ethnically/racially diverse teaching and research faculty. In fact, some research shows that the faculty at HBCUs include African Americans, but also Asians, Latina/os, and Whites—both American- and foreign-born—and have for many years (Hill, 1984; NCES, 2011). Benefits of Graduate and Professional Programs at HBCUs Despite their long history in the United States, there is very little written about HBCUs and their economic impact to the African American and surrounding communities, especially in the context of graduate and professional degree programs. While Freeman and Cohen (2001) provide a well-articulated recognition of HBCUs in bridging the gap between cultural empowerment and economic development, few go beyond such calls. The work by Stewart and colleagues (1989) presents an economic impact study for one institution in South Carolina, examining direct and indirect contributions to the state and community using qualitative and quantitative data. The survey results show that while all business owners felt the institution was important to the Orangeburg community, nearly 15% of retail, 10% food and lodging outlets, and 5% of auto dealerships attributed their sales volume to South Carolina State University students or employees (Stewart et al., 1989). Though dated, that research also revealed a social contribution of the university to the Orangeburg area in terms of desegregation. Among the few articles and reports that do quantify HBCUs’ value, the data are unequivocal—HBCUs are an asset to their communities in terms of output, value added, labor income, and employment (Humphreys & Korb, 2005; Stewart et al., 1989). In a cross-sectional analysis of HBCUs in 2001,

34    V. C. LUNDY-WAGNER

the authors found two important things. First, “on average . . . every dollar of initial spending by an HBCU generated an additional 55 cents for the economy of the region” (Humphreys & Korb, 2005, p. 19). Second, the overall short-term economic impact of four-year compared to two-year HBCUs was greater, and specifically those four-year institutions with graduate and professional degree programs. In fact, in 2001, the public four-year HBCUs accounted for $3.7 billion of the total initial spending in their communities, and all four-year HBCUs generated $3.12 billion in value-added impact (Humphreys & Korb, 2005). Although these data do not specifically ascertain the economic impact of graduate and professional degree programs at HBCUs, the clear relationship between economic impact and HBCUs with academic degree programs beyond the baccalaureate is undeniable. Despite the contribution HBCUs with graduate and professional programs make to their communities, there is little consideration for how this adds to or detracts from HBCU rankings and image. In fact, while HBCUs are included from the pool of institutions that are ranked annually, the criteria almost virtually exclude them by default. Specifically, the U.S. News & World Report rankings include seven elements: peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources (e.g., class size), student entrance selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving, graduation rate performance, and high school counselor undergraduate academic reputation ratings. Given the well-known disparities in funding at HBCUs (spanning endowments, faculty salaries, infrastructure maintenance and curricular development), their average acceptance of less selective students, smaller alumnigiving base, and disproportionately negative portrayal in the mass media (Gasman et al., 2010), it is not surprising that few HBCUs are included among the top-ranked colleges and universities or best graduate schools. A more tangible example pertains to measurement of faculty resources, where the two most important factors are faculty compensation (35%), and class sizes between 1 and 19 students (30%). While many private HBCUs have relatively small undergraduate class sizes, this is not uniform by sector. Further, faculty salaries at HBCUs are considerably lower than average, and together these realities diminish the significance of the largest two U.S. News & World Report factors of faculty resources. This is problematic because increased rankings indirectly contribute to additional public and financial support, but also it glosses over the lack of support HBCUs have among the American public and state as well as federal governments. Further, the rhetoric of institutional rankings effectively blames HBCUs (and other lower- or unranked institutions) for their station and relies on them to make significant changes as though situated within a political, financial, and social vacuum. Despite that, U.S. News & World Report does have an annual listing for HBCUs that may be considered a more contextually relevant comparison for those looking to compare institutions. Virtually all of

Contributing Beyond the Baccalaureate    35

the top-ranked HBCUs are universities that have graduate and professional degree programs. Discussion Taken together, the descriptive analysis and literature review unequivocally highlight the importance of HBCU graduate and professional education programs since their initial establishment. In the case of master’s, first-professional, and doctoral degrees conferred to African-Americans, HBCUs confer more than 10%, but account for only 2% of each degree level. Such a feat in the face of subpar funding, infrastructure, and less healthy endowments makes these numbers remarkable. In addition, the disproportionate contribution of relatively few HBCUs toward graduate and professional degree programs should be considered an achievement, but also a special circumstance that begs the question: Why aren’t other HBCUs able to have a similar contribution?—especially in certain fields (e.g., Carmichael, Labat, Hunter, Privett, & Sevinair, 1993; Hood & Freeman, 1995). These analyses also point to a number of issues facing higher education that should be more acutely considered. For example, there is relatively little consideration of graduate and professional school choice at HBCUs, whether students are Black, White or some other ethnic/racial group. While the extant research shows many Black academics were trained at HBCUs at either the doctoral or baccalaureate levels, additional information would more substantively inform the discussion of the HBCU institutional choice, impact given financial imitations, the HBCU image, and even program rankings. These types of data would easily complement the small but growing body of work that focuses on undergraduate college access, choice, and success at HBCUs. In addition, the consistently changing relevance of public and private HBCUs to graduate and professional degree programs since the late 19th century highlights the need to always consider societal context. Specifically, the role of institutional racism and segregation (de jure and de facto), as well as the national economy and law all work to promote (or obstruct) the ability of HBCUs to offer and successfully matriculate graduate and professional students. Whereas private institutions were important for graduate and professional schools initially, publics have become relatively more important in some fields—but both contribute substantially to the master’s, first-professional, and doctor’s degrees awarded to African Americans. That said, HBCU stakeholders should acknowledge the context allowing or inhibiting public and private HBCUs from flourishing, especially as affirmative action remains a hot topic.

36    V. C. LUNDY-WAGNER

Finally, the research delineating the economic impact and value-added of graduate and professional programs should build off the work of Humphreys and Korb (2005). While that and other institutional impact studies likely focus on the entire institution, it may be to the benefit of HBCUs with graduate and professional programs to consider disaggregating the impact of each degree level on job training and diversifying the workforce, locally and nationally. Given the considerably fewer resources HBCUs have, the influence of graduate and professional degree programs on the local community and nation are most likely positive, especially when compared to similar PWIs. Recommendations As HBCU stakeholders have consistently noted, more research on the contribution HBCUs make to American society, the African American community, and other marginalized communities is necessary. Specifically considering the graduate and professional degree programs at HBCUs and their contributions, there are at least two recommendations that may be helpful in the future. First, more research is necessary on HBCU graduate and professional degree programs. More regularly compiled detailed descriptive analyses that highlight enrollments and completions are important (e.g., Hill, 1984; Provasnik et al., 2004). However, more inferential statistical analyses and in-depth qualitative projects can add additional breadth and depth to the body of research related to HBCUs and graduate and professional education. Furthermore, as the bachelor’s degree increasingly becomes a baseline postsecondary credential, it is important to recognize the contribution, real and potential, that HBCUs make. These institutions provide considerable opportunities to African American students seeking degrees beyond the baccalaureate, but also to others looking for affordable graduate and first-professional degree programs. Research on trends in graduate and professional enrollment in the years since events like Hurricane Katrina and the Great Recession would be especially helpful in characterizing the access HBCUs provide to post-baccalaureate education during times of strife. In addition, consistently “hot topics” like teacher education and preparation (Hood & Freeman, 1995; Syverson, 1990) and the diversification of the STEM fields (in and outside of academia) are especially relevant given the national attention to K–12 schooling, education reform, and math and science education as well as workforce readiness. Related to this, examinations of the Black postsecondary gender gap should continue beyond the baccalaureate level, given that nearly 90% of master’s degree recipients from private HBCUs were con-

Contributing Beyond the Baccalaureate    37

ferred to women in the recent past. Future work should also consider the gender gap among other ethnic/racial groups in HBCU graduate and professional schools. Finally, more attention should be given to the clustering of graduate and professional degree receipt at HBCUs by academic field. While the HBCU contributions to teaching and medicine, for example, are important, the lack of access HBCUs have to other advanced degree programs is peculiar and remains understudied. Second, as in the case of South Carolina State University, it may be helpful for HBCUs with graduate and professional degree programs to demonstrate their connectedness to local communities through economic and other impact-type studies. Specifically delineating the complementary nature and contribution of graduate and professional programs toward the local, regional, and state workforce generically, in specific industries, and within the local HBCU community can only strengthen understanding of their role, past, present, and future. In effect, these efforts can enhance the argument in support of HBCUs beyond their contribution to baccalaureate education. Conclusion The data presented here provide additional evidence that HBCUs are a relevant and significant contributor to higher education, beyond the baccalaureate. While HBCUs provided African Americans with access to graduate and professional degree programs when most other (White) institutions would not, they have generally maintained relatively open-door policies since the early 19th century. In fact, the HBCU contribution to graduate and professional education is not simply related to educating African Americans in those programs, but educating individuals from various ethnic/racial and socioeconomic strata, providing a workplace for these academicians, and serving as a source of economic vitality for the surrounding HBCU communities. Over the past 30 years, the importance of post-baccalaureate degrees has grown steadily. While the HBCU contribution is relatively small nationwide, their contribution for Black Americans is distinct and should not be ignored. In fact, African Americans received nearly 75% of master’s, 50% of first-professional, and 70% of doctor’s degrees awarded at HBCUs in 2010. Perhaps most notable are the contributions HBCU graduate and professional degree programs have made toward the Black professional class of doctors, lawyers, engineers, and teaching workforce. While the contribution HBCUs are making to Black American receipt of graduate and professional degrees is notable, students from other ethnic/racial groups, both domestic and foreign-born, have benefited from the availability of these programs

38    V. C. LUNDY-WAGNER

for education and work. These programs have significantly contributed to the development of the Black middle-class, and effectively served as the only consistent full-service educational enterprise for African-Americans. Their significant impact to surrounding communities and their economies should also be taken into consideration when advocating for their continued existence. Note 1. The terms Black and African American are used interchangeably in this chapter.

References Allen, W. R., & Jewel, J. O. (2002). A backward glance forward: Past, present, and future perspectives on historically Black colleges and universities. Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 241–261. Anderson, J.D. (1988). The education of Blacks in the South, 1860–1935. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. Brazziel, W. F. (1983). Baccalaureate college of origin of Black doctorate recipients. The Journal of Negro Education, 52(2), 102–109. Brazziel, W. F., & Brazziel, M. E. (1997). Distinctives of high producers of minority science and engineering doctoral starts. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 6(2), 143–153. Carmichael, J.W., Labat, D.D., Hunter, J.T., Privett, J.A., & Sevenair, J.P. (1993). Minorities in the biological sciences—The Xavier success story and some implications. BioScience, 43(8), 564. Conrad, C. F., & Brier, E. M. (1997). Factors contributing to the matriculation of White students in public HBCUs. Journal for a Just & Caring Education, 3(1), 37–63. DeSousa, D. J., & Kuh, G. D. (1996). Does institutional racial composition make a difference in what Black students gain from college? Journal of College Student Development, 37(3), 257–267. Freeman, K., & Cohen, R. (2001). Bridging the gap between economic development and cultural empowerment: HBCUs’ challenges for the future. Urban Education, 36(5), 585–596. Gasman, M. (2008). Envisioning Black colleges: A historiography of the United Negro College Fund. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press. Gasman, M., Lundy-Wagner, V., Ransom, T., & Bowman, N. (2010). Unearthing promise and potential: Our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Hall, B. & Closson, R.B. (2005). When the majority is the minority: White graduate students’ social adjustment at a historically Black university. Journal of College Student Development, 46(1), 28–42.

Contributing Beyond the Baccalaureate    39 Hill, S. T. (1984). The traditionally Black institutions of higher education, 1860 to 1982. Washington, DC: National Center for Educational Statistics. Hood, S., & Freeman, D. (1995). Where do students of color earn doctorates in education?: The “top 25” colleges and schools of education. The Journal of Negro Education, 64(4), 423–436. Humphreys, J., & Korb, R. (2005). Economicimpact of the nation’s Historically Black colleges and universities (NCES 2007–178). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Lundy-Wagner, V., & Gasman, M. (2011). When gender issues are not just about women: Reconsidering male students at historically Black colleges and universities. Teachers College Record, 113(5), 934–968. National Center for Education Statistics. (2011). Integrated postsecondary education data system. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Pearson, W., Jr., & Pearson, L. C. (1985). Baccalaureate origins of Black American scientists: A cohort analysis. Journal of Negro Education, 54(1), 24–34. Perna, L. W. (2001). The contribution of historically Black colleges and universities to the preparation of African Americans for faculty careers. Research in Higher Education, 42(3), 267–294. Perna, L. W., Lundy-Wagner, V. C., Drezner, N. D., Gasman, M., Yoon, S., Bose, E., & Gary, S. (2009). The contribution of HBCUs to the preparation of African American women for STEM careers: A case study. Research in Higher Education, 50(1), 1–23. Provasnik, S., Shafer, L. L., & Snyder, T. D. (2004). Historically Black colleges and universities, 1976 to 2001 (NCES 2004-062). National Center for Education Statistics: Washington DC. Solórzano, D. G. (1995). The doctorate production and baccalaureate origins of African Americans in the sciences and engineering. Journal of Negro Education, 64(1), 15–32. Stewart, T. J., Prinzinger, J. M., Dias, J. K., Bowden, J. T., Salley, J. K., & Smith, A. E. (1989). The economic impact of a historically Black college upon its local community. Journal of Negro Education, 58(2), 232–242. Syverson, P. D. (1990). NRC doctoral data indicates drop in number of Black doctorate students not uniform across fields: “Education effect” primarily responsible for decline in numbers. CGF Communicator, 23(3), 4–5. Trower, C. A. & Chait, R. P. (2002). Faculty diversity: Too little for too long. Harvard Magazine, 104(4), 33–38. Watkins, B. T. (1990). Two-year institutions under pressure to ease transfers. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 36(21), 1. Wolf-Wendel, L. E. (1998). Models of excellence: The baccalaureate origins of successful European American women, African American women and Latinas. Journal of Higher Education, 69(2), 141–186.

This page intentionally left blank.

Chapter 4

An Exploratory Study of Factors That Influence Black Students to Attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities for Graduate School Robert T. Palmer State University of New York–Binghamton

Much is known about historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). For example, studies have consistently shown that HBCUs provide a better learning environment and are nurturing, supportive, and family-oriented compared to their predominantly White institutional counterparts (PWIs) (Allen, 1992; Allen, Epps, & Haniff, 1991; Bohr, Pascarella, Nora, & Terenzini, 1995; Davis, 1994; Fleming, 1984; Flowers & Pascarella, 1999; Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002; Kim, 2002; Nelson-Laird, Bridges, Morelon-Quainoo, Williams, & Holmes, 2007). Other studies on HBCUs have delineated the experiences of White students at HBCUs (Closson & Henry, 2008; Hall & Closson, 2005; Peterson & Hamrick, 2009; Strayhorn, 2010), White faculty (Foster, Guyden Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, pages 41–59 Copyright © 2012 by Information Age Publishing All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

41

42   R. T. PALMER

& Miller, 1999; Foster, Miller, Guyden, 1999), faculty governance (Gasman & Hilton, 2010; Minor, 2005, 2008a), desegregation (Brown, 1999, 2001, 2002; Minor, 2008b; Stefkovich & Leas, 1994), resources disparities (Palmer, Davis, & Gasman, 2011; Palmer & Griffin, 2009), and advocating for their continued relevance (Brown & Davis, 2001; Fries-Britt, 2002; Kim, 2002; Outcalt & Skewes-Cox, 2002; Palmer, 2010a; Perna, 2001; Wenglinsky, 1996). While this research has been vital to the higher education community in general and HBCUs specifically, a dearth of research has considered the experiences of Black students attending HBCUs for graduate education. Perhaps a rationale for this oversight could be linked to the paucity of Black students who attend HBCUs for graduate education. According to the U.S. Department of Education (2011), in 2008, 90% of Black students attended PWIs for graduate education, and only 10% attended HBCUs. Despite this figure, research (e.g., Perna, 2001) demonstrates the critical role that HBCUs play in the production of Black faculty who teach in critical disciplines with important implications to America’s economic sustainability and global competitiveness. More specifically, using data from the National Study of Postsecondary Education Faculty and descriptive analyses, Perna (2001) revealed that higher percentages of Black full-time faculty who received their bachelor’s or doctoral degrees from an HBCU were more likely than Black full-time faculty who received their degrees from non-HBCUs to work and teach in STEM-related disciplines. In addition to Perna (2001), other researchers have offered an important context about the positive experiences of Black students who attend an HBCU for graduate education. For example, much like the research on his undergraduate counterparts (Fleming, 1984; Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002; Palmer & Gasman, 2008), Palmer (2010b) explained that when he attended an HBCU for graduate school, the institution provided a supportive campus climate that engendered positive self-esteem, increased self-confidence, motivation, and self-efficacy. Nevertheless, he lamented being disenchanted by the funding disparity between HBCUs and their PWI counterparts, which forced faculty at HBCUs to teach more classes and engage in less research (see Palmer & Griffin, 2009). Consistent with other research (e.g., Merton, 1988; Perna, 2001), Palmer (2010b) does not view the funding disparity as a disadvantage to his doctoral experience. He does, however, feel that it limited him from developing personalized relationships with faculty. Although research has discussed the critical role of HBCUs in the production of Black faculty and provided evidence of the positive benefits associated with attending an HBCU for graduate education, some research has suggested that attending an HBCU has unintended consequences. For example, Fryer and Greenstone (2010) postulated that Blacks who attended HBCUs earned less than their counterparts who attended a PWI.

Factors That Influence Black Students to Attend Historically Black Colleges    43

Specifically, using three large data files that detailed pre- and post-college information about student college choice and a myriad of social and economic outcomes for Black students who attended HBCUs and non-HBCUs from the 1970s and 1990s, Fryer and Greenstone (2010) observed that attending an HBCU in the 1970s was associated with earning a higher wage and an increased propensity of persisting to graduation compared to Blacks who attended PWIs. However, in the 1990s, attending an HBCU was associated with a wage penalty. They posited that there is a modest relationship between PWIs’ ability to educate and graduate Black students and the wage decline of HBCU graduates between the two decades. In addition to Fryer and Greenstone’s (2010) research about the financial effect of attending an HBCU, using data from the National Center for Education Statistics’ Baccalaureate & Beyond Longitudinal Study, Strayhorn (2008) conducted a quantitative study that investigated labor outcomes (e.g., salary, occupational status, and job satisfaction) for HBCU and non-HBCU graduates. Similar to Fryer and Greenstone (2010), Strayhorn’s (2008) study revealed that Black graduates who earned their baccalaureate degrees from HBCUs experienced lower levels of annual salaries compared to their counterparts who earned degrees from PWIs. Despite the results of Strayhorn’s (2008) study, he cautioned that the dataset used in his study did not account for majors the schools—particularly HBCUs—offered. He warned that since HBCUs are more likely to offer degrees in humanities rather than engineering, medicine, and business, the effect of HBCU attendance on earnings could be related to one’s academic major and less cause for concern about employer’s perceptions of HBCU graduates. Notwithstanding Fryer and Greenstone’s (2010) and Strayhorn’s (2008) research about the negative association between HBCU attendance and earning a lower salary, other research investigating labor outcomes for Blacks and HBCU attendance have not been consistent with the aforementioned research. For example, using data from the National Survey of Black Americans, Price, Spriggs, and Swinton (2011) found that HBCUs provided graduates with relatively superior long-run labor market outcomes. In fact, they argued that HBCU graduates have higher earning potential compared to non-HBCU graduates. Furthermore, in a qualitative study that Mykerezi and Mills (2008) conducted using data from National Longitudinal Survey of Young, they found a correlation between HBCU attendance for Black males and subsequent wage growth. For Black females, however, there was no significant relationship between HBCU attendance and initial or future wage growth. Admittedly, the studies that this chapter has referenced about HBCU attendance and labor outcomes are predicated on Black students who attended HBCUs and non-HBCUs for their baccalaureate degrees, and not their graduate degrees. Nevertheless, the studies are relevant to this dis-

44   R. T. PALMER

cussion because graduate degrees are often synonymous with terminal degrees. Therefore, since research has shown a negative relationship between HBCU attendance and earning prospects at the undergraduate level, this may have significant consequences for HBCUs’ ability to recruit and enroll Black students in their graduate programs. Despite the fact that the research on the relationship HBCU attendance and earning potential is inconsistent, this research might provide some insight into the dearth of Black students attending HBCUs for graduate school. Interestingly, research is replete with studies that examine school choice for Blacks who attend HBCUs or are disinclined to attend HBCUs for their undergraduate education. For example, research (e.g., Astin & Cross, 1981; Freeman, 1999; Freeman & Thomas, 2002; McDonough, Antonio, & Trent, 1995) has shown that Black students are inclined to attend HBCUs for their undergraduate education for the following reasons: (1) personal relationships they had with people who attended HBCUs, (2) teachers, (3) academic reputation, (4) low tuition, and (5) seeking cultural empowerment and knowledge. Conversely, research has provided evidence on factors undergirding Black students’ tendency to avoid HBCUs and instead attend PWIs. For example, findings from a qualitative study conducted by Palmer, Maramba, and Lee (2010), which investigated Black students’ disinclination to consider attending HBCUs, offered several important considerations. First, Palmer et al. (2010) found that the location of HBCUs served as a deterrent to college-goers during their collegiate selection process. Specifically, the participants in the study were from New York, and they harbored a perception that all HBCUs were located below the Mason–Dixon line. Consequently, participants feared that if they attended college out of state, they would be ineligible for any in-state financial aid and, therefore, not be able to afford the cost of out-of-state tuition. Second, some prospective students held the perception that HBCUs were “party” schools, lacking in academic rigor and achievement. These individuals perceived PWIs as offering a better education, believing that a degree from a PWI would be taken more seriously in the workplace when compared to one from an HBCU. Finally, participants broached the fact that HBCUs lacked racial and ethnic diversity and therefore could not successfully prepare students to work in racially and ethnically diverse organizations post-graduation. Despite this information, it is important to note that their findings were derived from the perceptions of 13 Black students enrolled in a PWI who had not attended HBCUs themselves, but had relatives or friends who had. Nevertheless, in a qualitative study that Dancy (2005) conducted with Black students about their perceptions of HBCUs, participants in his study echoed many of the same sentiments as participants in Palmer et al.’s (2010) study.

Factors That Influence Black Students to Attend Historically Black Colleges    45

Indeed, this information offers important context relative to the school choice process for Black students who decide to attend HBCUs for their baccalaureate degrees. However, little if any research exists about what motivates Black students to attend HBCUs for graduate school. While one may assume that the factors propelling Black students to HBCUs for their undergraduate education is tantamount to what motivates them to attend HBCUs for graduate school, research has demonstrated that graduate students may have different needs, obligations, experiences, and expectations than undergraduate students (Bean & Metzner, 1985; Ogren, 2003; Tinto, 1993). To this end, what influences Black students’ decision to attend HBCUs for undergraduate education may be less applicable to their graduate counterparts. Given this, the purpose of this chapter is to discuss findings from a study that investigated what factors influenced Black students to attend HBCUs for graduate education. More specifically, the following questions guided this study: 1. What influenced your decision to attend an HBCU for your master’s or doctoral degree (e.g., EdD or PhD)? 2. What influenced you not to attend a predominantly White institution for your graduate degree? 3. What were some positive and negative factors about attending an HBCU for your graduate degree? Methodology The present study employs an exploratory research design in order to better understand factors that influence Black students to attend HBCUs for graduate school. Exploratory research designs are often employed to gain insight and familiarity with issues and problems for which little past research exists (Creswell, 2003). Exploratory designs can serve as building blocks for future research on under-researched phenomena. Selection of interview participants was based on a purposeful informant selection process (Morse, 1994). Morse suggests that “a good informant is one who has the knowledge and experience the researcher requires, has the ability to reflect, is articulate, has the time to be interviewed, and is willing to participate in the study” (as cited in James, 2003, p. 125). Participants were recruited with the help of staff members (or gatekeepers) at the university who knew students who met the criteria for the study (Creswell, 2003). I recruited additional participants through snowball sampling (i.e., asking those who joined the study to recommend others who might meet our criteria). With snowball sampling and help from university administrators, I recruited eight participants for this study. All participants were Black and

46   R. T. PALMER Table 4.1  Description of Sample Name (pseudonyms)

Earned Bachelor’s

Earned Master’s

Earned Doctorate

Field of Terminal Degree

Lisa Keith Michael Massey David Wright Matthew Jackson Charles Cisco Kim Murray Robert Jones Chuck Forrest

PWI HBCU HBCU HBCU HBCU PWI PWI PWI

HBCU PWI HBCU HBCU HBCU PWI PWI HBCU

HBCU HBCU HBCU HBCU HBCU HBCU HBCU PWI (currently pursuing)

Higher Education Higher Education Higher Education History Sociology Higher Education Engineering African American Studies

their age ranged from 24 to 45. Six of the participants were male and two females. Seven participants held doctorates in various fields, such as history, sociology, and higher education. One participant held a master’s degree in African American Studies and is enrolled in a doctorate program. Three participants attended HBCUs for all of their degrees (e.g., bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorates); two attended PWIs for both their bachelor’s and master’s, and earned their doctorates from an HBCU; one attended a PWI for her undergraduate degree and earned her master’s and doctorate from an HBCU; one participant attended a PWI for his bachelor’s degree, an HBCU for his master’s, and is currently pursuing a doctorate at a PWI; and one participant attended an HBCU for his undergraduate degree, a PWI for his master’s, and an HBCU for his doctorate. Information about the participants is provided in Table 4.1. I used a semi-structured interview process. Semi-structured interviews allow researchers to use a set of predetermined questions to guide the discussion but allow for additional lines of question to emerge based upon the dialogue (DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006). Data Analyses and Reporting I used ATLASTI, a qualitative data management software program, to organize, manage, and code the data. Open coding was used to identify themes, and the software analyzed the interview data obtained from each participant independently and included cross-case analysis as well. In discussing the findings, excerpts were used from the participants’ responses to paint a picture of their voices. I used pseudonyms to maintain the anonymity and confidentiality of each participant. To ensure the credibility of the data, feedback was solicited from two peer debriefers who were well versed

Factors That Influence Black Students to Attend Historically Black Colleges    47

in the topic of exploration. Debriefers were provided with data from each participant. These debriefers engaged me in a series of ongoing discussions regarding the tentative meanings made of the participants’ experiences. Findings In this section, I summarize the two major themes that emerged from the interviews. The first theme discusses the supportive climate of HBCUs, primarily in the context of faculty and peers, which was a critical factor that compelled participants to attend HBCUs for graduate school. This theme also highlights how this supportive and nurturing atmosphere helped to engender the participants’ academic success. The second explains that although participants found faculty and peers to be supportive of their success, they abhorred the lack of customer service they experienced from staff, the condescending interactions with administrators, and lack of resource parity with their PWI counterparts. Nevertheless, participants indicated that they were appreciative of their graduate school experience at an HBCU and would refer a friend to an HBCU for graduate school if it had their program of study. In the following section, I delineate both themes and present quotes from participants to preserve the essential aspects of their experiences. The Supportive Nature of HBCUs and Their Impact on Facilitating an Academic Environment Conducive To Success Participants explained that they attended an HBCU for their graduate education because it offered a supportive and engaging environment that facilitated the success of Black students. For example, Lisa Keith, a participant who attended a PWI for her undergraduate degree and earned a master’s and doctorate from an HBCU, explained that she decided to attend an HBCU for graduate school because she did not feel that the PWI she attended for her undergraduate experience was supportive of racial and ethnic minority students. However, she stated that she experienced the opposite at an HBCU. Specifically, she explained that the HBCU provided a nurturing, supportive, and positive academic environment that necessitated peers to support each other and faculty to challenge students to their full potential. More specifically, Lisa Keith opined: Attending an HBCU for my master’s and PhD degrees offered me an opportunity to interact with individuals from my “walk of life.” I attended a private

48   R. T. PALMER predominantly White institution to attain my BA degree and while I knew that I wanted to continue my educational career, I wanted a different experience. Attending an HBCU afforded me a completely different and more rewarding experience. At [HBCU], I found students and faculty to be more involved and engaged in my learning career. In other words, students worked together to help their peers succeed and faculty challenged students to excel beyond their imagination.

When asked to elaborate on the positive aspects of attending an HBCU for graduate school, she stated that the HBCU she attended offered: . . . a high number of support services that are essential for development of knowledge, skills and abilities; access to funding and financial aid that are critical for persistence and success in graduate school; a more engaging and caring faculty that seem dedicated to teaching and helping students succeed; a sense of pride and dignity associated with reaping the benefits of the hard work of our ancestors.

She later offered: I attended a PWI to pursue my undergraduate degree and felt the institution was not supportive of minority students. With less than 5% of the student population being minorities, not much emphasis was placed on support services for accommodating this student group inside and outside the classroom. I wanted a completely different experience for my graduate education and hence was my reason for attending an HBCU.

Lisa Keith’s reflective experience offered some context about what motivated her to attend an HBCU for graduate education and discussed her experiences of interacting with caring faculty, supportive peers, and experiencing a sense of racial pride and uplift from the HBCU environment. While Lisa offered some insight into the supportive climate she experienced while attending an HBCU for graduate school, others have shared similar reflections. For example, Michael Massey, a participant who received his master’s from a PWI and his bachelor’s and doctorate from an HBCU, indicated that attending a PWI was a culture shock. He noted that in most of his classes, he was the only Black male and faculty generally were unsupportive. More precisely, Michael indicated: “I attended a PWI for my and master’s and the experience was a culture shock. I was generally the only Black male in my classes and while faculty paid attention to non- minorities, I did not feel supported.” Although he bemoaned the administration for lacking customer service, much like Lisa Keith’s account, Michael had a positive experience at the HBCU he attended for graduate school. In particular, he posited that at

Factors That Influence Black Students to Attend Historically Black Colleges    49

the HBCU, he found supportive faculty and peers, all of whom played an important role in his persistence. At [HBCU], all of my professors were supportive and shared emphasis on doing research that would impact and help [Blacks]. The friendships I made were invaluable to my completion, and getting the HBCU experience from a different perspective helped me to have a better view of those institutions.

David Wright, who attended an HBCU for his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate, shared an account similar to Lisa Keith and Michael Massey about the supportive climate he found at an HBCU for his graduate experience. While David explained that he was accepted into a number of prominent PWIs for his master’s degree and pondered attending a PWI for his doctorate, he ultimately did not because of his low scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores. For example, David stated: I considered attending a PWI for my master’s degree and I was accepted to Dartmouth College, St. Louis University, and Carnegie Mellon University; however, I didn’t have funding to attend. However, the Public Administration program at [HBCU] was free of charge as I was a State University System Fellow. Consequently, I attended the HBCU for my master’s degree. I also considered attending a PWI for my doctoral degree but I wasn’t accepted as a result of my low GRE scores. As such, I attended an HBCU for my doctorate.

Despite the impediments that David encountered while trying to access a PWI for his master’s and doctorate, he seemed delighted about the fact that he earned both his master’s and doctorate degrees from an HBCU. In fact, similar to many of the participants in this current study, David reflected on how his faculty created a positive and supportive environment that challenged and inspired him to work hard and achieve great feats. David stated: I believe that the faculty [at both HBCUs] really challenged me to be a better writer and communicator as well as scholar. The faculty within the two graduate programs supported me academically and were willing to meet me after hours and over the weekends to assist me with scholarly pursuits. . . . The faculty, in my doctoral program all served as senior level administrators, which is my goal. Therefore, they inspired me and gave me the energy to bring my goal to fruition.

In addition to David, Matthew Jackson, who earned all three of his degrees from HBCUs, echoed many of the sentiments expressed by other participants in this study about how graduate faculty at HBCUs created a supportive and nurturing climate. Aside from the reputation of the school’s history department and the fact that they offered him funding, the HBCU’s

50   R. T. PALMER

positive academic climate played a critical role in Matthew’s decision to attend the HBCU for graduate school. He noted: I attended HBCU for the strength of the department I applied to, the legacy and history of the school, [and the fact that] they offered funding. But more importantly it was where I wanted to go. The HBCU experience is like none other. The faculty and staff provide a nurturing and supportive learning environment, which contributes to a strong learning environment.

Mathew explained that he applied to and was accepted into a PWI for graduate school, but ultimately decided to attend an HBCU because he perceived it as a better fit. I applied to one and got accepted but I had no REAL interest in attending. I thought it would be a good change of pace but in the end decided not to go. I had no connection to the school’s history and the environment didn’t inspire me. I felt like I was a better fit at the HBCU.

Charles Cisco, a participant who received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate at an HBCU expressed a sentiment that was consistent with the other participants about his experience at an HBCU while a graduate student. More specifically, he indicated that he was compelled to attend an HBCU for graduate school because his family had a history of attending HBCUs. He also expressed that teachers and peers seemed to be genuinely supportive and invested in the students’ learning. Charles indicated, “Teachers seem to care more about their students at Black colleges and universities. Furthermore, classmates were more responsive to each other.” Challenges Students Experienced While Attending HBCUs for Graduate School While the participants praised HBCUs for providing a supportive and nurturing academic climate, which played a critical role in their graduate school experience, they discussed their disappointment with the lack of customer service displayed by staff, resources disparity with their PWI counterparts, and the lack of a student-centered approach that some administrators employed when interacting with students. For example, Chuck Forrest, a participant who received his undergraduate degree from a PWI, master’s from an HBCU, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in African American studies at a PWI, praised HBCUs for the supportive campus climate they provided, but expressed dismay with the administration and poor campus resources available. He noted:

Factors That Influence Black Students to Attend Historically Black Colleges    51 There were some negative factors about attending an HBCU . . . well first of all oftentimes one experiences long lines especially when it comes to the Financial Aid department. In addition, the administration can be a little anal when it comes to dealing with the student body. Furthermore, aside from the overpriced tuition one oftentimes experiences a lack of educational resources at an HBCU such as ill-equipped libraries, poor physical conditions of dormitories, limited Wi-Fi internet connection throughout campus, and public safety concerns.

Kim Murray, a participant who earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree from a PWI and her doctorate from an HBCU, expressed a sentiment similar to Chuck about the lack of customer service among staff and antiquated resources, which at times created a frustrating learning experience. In particular, she stated: The student services processes (registration, financial aid, admission) were slower; limited services were offered online. I was used to a very different experience because of the other institutions I’d attended. The staff were sometimes not helpful and oftentimes very rude. This was disheartening because I felt like an HBCU would be the last place that people would treat me badly.

Other participants expressed sentiments that related to the perspectives by Chuck Forrest and Kim Murray about their disenchantment with the administration at HBCUs. Nevertheless, the participants’ statements also suggested that there was diversity among HBCUs. For example, Michael Massey opined that the HBCU he attended for his graduate experience seemed less organized than the one he attended for his undergraduate studies. He also indicated that while he felt that the faculty and administrators at the HBCU he attended for graduate school was supportive, they were quick to patronize him because he appeared young. Michael responded: The administration was horrible, horrible, horrible! As I stated, I attended an HBCU for undergraduate over 10 years ago, and our administration and processes were far more advanced than the HBCU I attended for graduate school. I don’t recall ever waiting in a financial aid line for 5 hours at my undergraduate institution. Yet at my graduate institution, I had to wait in 5 hours just to have a pin reset. It was ridiculous considering I was a working professional. I feel that the administration at some HBCUs go beyond providing a nurturing environment for its students, to babying them. Several times I had professors and administrators speak to me in very condescending tones I suppose because I looked 19, and when I quickly informed them that I was not only a graduate but an employee of the university they changed their tone. That is horrible. Even if I were 19 I should be treated with the same respect and courtesy as any other customer (student). I had heard of the horror sto-

52   R. T. PALMER ries about lost paperwork, bad attitudes, and bad processes, yet I never knew they actually exist until my graduate experience.

Despite the challenges that the participants encountered at HBCUs for their graduate educational experience, many explained that they were pleased with their experience, and noted that they would encourage a friend to attend an HBCU for graduate school if it had their program of study. Michael Massey reflected: I would tell them to research any institution they were pursuing, and make sure that it has the program, and amenities that will help to boost their future endeavors. If the HBCU has it, attend it. As for being an African American, I am biased and I absolutely feel that every Black student should get the “HBCU experience”; it just adds so much color and understanding to being Black and educated.

Similarly, Kim Murray stated that despite the challenges with the administration and lack of parity in resources, she would not change her decision to attend an HBCU for graduate school. She noted that her graduate school experience provided her with strong writing, research, and teaching skills and that she maintains close ties with her faculty. Kim stated: I would tell them it’s a personal choice. I can see the benefits in both. It really is dependent upon the degree you are pursuing, the learning environment you seek, and where you are professionally and personally. HBCUs often cannot offer adequate financial aid packages like some PWIs. Many HBCUs also have a reputation for poor customer service and being technologically slower. However, I would not change my decision. I believe I had a superb educational experience, academically. I am confident in my research, writing, and teaching abilities. I still maintain close relationships with my faculty from the HBCU. I truly believe I would not have had that experience anywhere else.

Another participant, Chuck Forrest, also indicated that while he would either refer a friend to an HBCU or PWI for graduate school, because of his experience at an HBCU, he would be partial toward HBCUs. Chuck explained: All I am going to say is “to each his own,” because each type of institution has their good and bad moments. However, if I must choose one I would advise a friend of mine to attend an HBCU, because it is so easy to get lost at a big PWI, and made to feel like you are just another number to the faculty and administration. In addition, I think it is best that one should try to experience the best of both worlds so that one can have a diverse education background which looks good to employers today because it shows versatility when it comes to working with different scholars in one’s field of study.

Factors That Influence Black Students to Attend Historically Black Colleges    53

Discussion The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that motivate Black students to attend HBCUs for graduate school. Interestingly, while research has focused on why Black students chose to attend HBCUs for their undergraduate degrees, there has been little, if any, discussion about salient factors that cause Black students to attend an HBCU for graduate school. Participants in the current study have noted that they attended an HBCU for graduate school because they believed that these institutions provide a more supportive, nurturing, and engaging environment compared to their PWI counterparts. Central to this supportive environment are the relationships that these participants developed with faculty and peers. Participants noted that these relationships were an integral component to their graduate school experience at an HBCU. This finding is similar to a large body of literature that has found faculty at HBCUs to be supportive of students’ academic success. For example, empirical studies on HBCUs have suggested that a significant part of the supportive environment of HBCUs is the nurturing and supportive relationships that students have with faculty (Fleming, 1984; Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002; Wagener & Nettles, 1998). More specifically, Wagener and Nettles (1998) explained that faculty at HBCUs are supportive and reluctant to give up on students because they are convinced that students can succeed. Furthermore, Fleming (1984) and Fries-Britt and Turner (2002) noted that Black students at HBCUs are more likely to encounter faculty who are supportive and nurturing than their peers at PWIs. While this finding is consistent with previous research on HBCUs, it makes a noteworthy contribution to the literature because this research has emphasized the supportive and nurturing relationships that undergraduate students at HBCUs had with faculty. In fact, Palmer (2010b) noted that graduate students at an HBCU find that the large teaching load prevents faculty from developing meaningful relationships with students. Although this study did not inquire about teaching load, it indicates the saliency of supportive and engaging faculty and peers to the success of graduate students. While students were drawn to an HBCU for the supportive campus climate and enjoyed positive relationships with faculty and peers, they bemoaned the lack of customer service displayed by staff and felt that some administrators treated them contemptuously. While research on HBCUs frequently note the supportive campus climate they provide (Fleming, 1984; Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002; Wagener & Nettles, 1998), a paucity of this research (e.g., Willie, 2003) discusses the poor customer service displayed by faculty and the challenging encounters that students have with some administrators. For example, in a qualitative study that investigated the campus experiences of Black students who attended Northwestern University compared to Howard University, the

54   R. T. PALMER

students who attended Northwestern discussed the racism and prejudice they experienced, while students at Howard complained about the lack of customer service training among staff. Furthermore, in a qualitative study that Harper and Gasman (2008) conducted with 76 Black men across 12 HBCUs, some participants berated HBCUs because of the condescending encounters they had with administrators. Harper and Gasman (2008) indicated that these administrators created a conservative campus experience for students, which, in some ways, created an unwelcoming campus climate. Another challenge that participants experienced with attending an HBCU for graduate school was the antiquated resources, which, in many ways, created a frustrating educational experience. While research has shown that HBCUs are equally if not more effective in contributing to student learning and success (Bohr et al., 1995; Fleming, 1984), they have been chronically underfunded in comparison to their PWI counterparts. According to Gasman, Baez, Drezner, Sedgwick, Tudico, and Schmid, (2007), although the implications of Fordice should propel states to provide additional financial resources to HBCUs, research has shown that many states are noncompliant (Brown, 1999; Gasman et al., 2007; Palmer & Griffin, 2009). Perhaps if there were funding parity between HBCUs and their PWI counterparts, this would provide HBCUs with the necessary financial resources to upgrade their resources and other services, making them comparable to PWIs. Recommendations for Institutional Practice In the following section, several recommendations are offered from the current study that may be useful in helping HBCUs to actively recruit Black students to their graduate programs. Generally, the participants were motivated to pursue graduate school at HBCUs for the supportive and nurturing environment that they provide. Given this, HBCUs should work to inform the broader community about the positive impact that they have on students’ learning and success. More specifically, in addition to discussing the positive climate that Black students find at HBCUs, they should frequently highlight that they award a disproportionate number of bachelor’s degrees to Blacks and have a high number of graduates pursuing professional and post-baccalaureate degrees. HBCUs should display their comparative rankings to similarly situated peer PWIs in state and national assessments and in graduate degree attainment on their websites and in recruitment materials. These institutions should also be proactive in informing a broad spectrum of the community that they have been able to achieve such notable feats despite being chronically underfunded and admitting students who are ill prepared for college.

Factors That Influence Black Students to Attend Historically Black Colleges    55

Furthermore, HBCUs might also engage support and advocacy organizations, such as the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, and United Negro College Fund, in this mission to educate the broader society about their relevance and the positive impact that they have on Black students at the undergraduate and graduate level. While these organizations produce literature, research, and reports about the historical and present relevance of HBCUs, many outside of the research community and the institutional environments of HBCUs may not be aware of this research. Perhaps if a group of HBCUs and advocacy organizations worked collectively to inform a wider and broader spectrum of the population, more people, particularly undergraduate and graduate students, would understand, value, and embrace HBCUs. Consequently, they might be more inclined to consider and attend these institutions for their education objectives. While participants generally discussed positive aspects that influenced their decision to attend HBCUs for graduate school, they expressed some disappointment with antiquated equipment and poor customer service at the HBCUs they attended. One aspect that may help administrators at HBCUs provide better equipment to graduate students is pressuring stakeholders (students, parents, and alumni) to force their state governmental leaders to follow the spirit of the United States v. Fordice (1992) decision. According to Gasman et al. (2007), the implication of this decision should propel states to provide additional financial resources to HBCUs so they could upgrade their facilities, making them comparable with those at PWIs. Nevertheless, research has shown that many states are non-compliant (Brown, 1999; Gasman et al., 2007; Palmer & Griffin, 2009). In addition to working with stakeholders to hold states accountable to the implications of Fordice, administrators at HBCUs should encourage those who work directly with students to engage in customer service training. Although the outcome is unknown, schools such as Morgan State University and Morehouse College have encouraged critical staff working directly with students to engage in customer service training. Engaging in this training may serve as a critical impetus for improving staff and administrators’ interaction and engagement with students. Conclusion The purpose of this chapter was to discuss the results of a qualitative study focused on factors that influenced Black students to attend HBCUs for graduate school. This study revealed that Black students were inclined to attend HBCUs because of the supportive institutional climate and the nurturing relationships cultivated with faculty and peers. Despite these critical

56   R. T. PALMER

factors, Black students also expressed some consternation over condescending interactions with administrators, lack of customer service, and inequality in resources. Notwithstanding these issues, many of the participants in this study were pleased with their educational experiences and would refer other graduate students to HBCUs if the institutions offered their major. While this study on factors connected to Black students’ attendance of HBCUs for graduate school is noteworthy, the data are based on a limited number of participants. Nevertheless, this chapter provides rich description of the participants so that institutions can decide upon the transferability of this study to their campuses. In addition, participants have attended a wealth of institutional types, representing various HBCUs and PWIs for their academic degrees. Therefore, they were able to offer a more critical reflection of factors that served as an impetus for their attendance of an HBCU for graduate school. While this study is exploratory, hopefully administrators at HBCUs can use the findings as a template to more effectively recruit Black students to HBCUs for graduate education. Finally, it is hoped that researchers might be encouraged to continue to investigate factors that facilitate Black students’ interest in and attendance of HBCUs for graduate education. References Allen, W. R. (1992). The color of success: African American college student outcomes at predominantly White and historically Black public colleges and universities. Harvard Educational Review, 62(1), 26–44. Allen, W. R., Epps, E. G., & Haniff, N. Z. (Eds.). (1991). Colleges in Black and White: African American students in predominantly White and in historically Black public universities. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Astin, H. S., & Cross, P. H. (1981). Black students in Black and White institutions. In G. E. Thomas (Ed.), Black students in higher education: Conditions and experiences in the 1970s (pp. 11–17). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Bean, J. P., & Metzner, B. S. (1985). A conceptual model of nontraditional undergraduate student attrition. Review of Educational Research 55, 485–540. Bohr, L., Pascarella, E. T., Nora, A., & Terenzini, P. T. (1995). Do Black students learn more at historically Black or predominantly White colleges? Journal of College Student Development, 36(1), 75–85. Brown, C. M. (1999). The quest to define collegiate desegregation: Black colleges, Title VI compliance, and post-Adams litigation. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey. Brown, C. M. (2001). Collegiate desegregation and the public Black college: A new policy mandate. Journal of Higher Education, 72(1), 46–62. Brown, C. M. (2002). Good intentions: Collegiate desegregation and transdemographic enrollment. Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 263–280. Brown, C. M. & Davis, J. E. (2001). The historically Black college as social contract, social capital, and social equalizer. Peabody Journal of Education, 76(1), 31–49.

Factors That Influence Black Students to Attend Historically Black Colleges    57 Closson, R. B., & Henry, W. J. (2008). The social adjustment of undergraduate White students in the minority on an historically Black college campus. Journal of College Student Development, 49(6), 517–534. Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Dancy, T. E. (2005). Madness or elitism? African Americans who reject HBCUs. Black Issues in Higher Education, 22(5), 82. Davis, J. E. (1994). College in Black and White: Campus environment and academic achievement of African American males. Journal of Negro Education, 63(4), 620–633. DiCicco-Bloom, B., & Crabtree, B. F. (2006). The qualitative research interview. Medical Education, 40(4), 314–321. Fleming, J. (1984). Blacks in college: A comparative study of student success in Black and White institutions. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Flowers, L., & Pascarella, E. T. (1999). Does college racial composition influence the openness to diversity of African American students? Journal of College Student Development, 40(4), 377–389. Foster, L., Guyden, J. A., & Miller, A. L. (Eds.). (1999). Affirmed action: Essays on the academic and social lives of White faculty at historically Black colleges and universities. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Foster, L., Miller, A. L., & Guyden, J. A. (1999). Faculty diversity at historically Black colleges and universities: Context, scope, and meaning. In L. Foster, J. A. Guyden, & A. L. Miller (Eds.), Affirmed action: Essays on the academic and social lives of White faculty members at historically Black colleges and universities (pp. 183– 191). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Freeman, K. (1999). HBCUs or PWIs? African American high schools’ consideration of higher education institution types. Review of Higher Education, 23(1), 91–106. Freeman, K., & Thomas, G. (2002). Black colleges and collegiate choice: Characteristics of students who choose HBCUs. Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 349–358. Fries-Britt, S., & Turner, B. (2002). Uneven stories: Successful Black collegians at a Black and a White campus. Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 315–330. Fryer, R. G., & Greenstone, M. (2010). The changing consequences of attending historically Black colleges and universities. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(1), 116–418. Gasman, M., Baez, B., Drezner, N. D., Sedgwick, K., Tudico, C., & Schmid, J. M. (2007). Historically Black colleges and universities: Recent trends. Academe, 93(1), 69–78. Gasman, M., & Hilton, A. A. (2010). An essay on the history of faculty and shared governance at historically Black colleges and universities. Journal of Research in Education, 20(1), 53–60. Hall, B., & Closson, R. B. (2005). When the majority is the minority: White graduate students’ social adjustment at a historically Black university. Journal of College Student Development, 46(1), 28–42.

58   R. T. PALMER Harper, S. R., & Gasman, M. (2008). Consequences of conservatism: Black male undergraduates and the politics of historically Black colleges and universities. Journal of Negro Education, 77(4), 336–351. James, C. E. (2003). Schooling, basketball and US scholarship aspirations of Canadian student athletes. Race Ethnicity and Education, 6(2), 123–144. Kim, M. M. (2002). Historically Black vs. White institutions: Academic development among Black students. Review of Higher Education, 45(4), 385–407. McDonough, P. M., Antonio, A., & Trent, J. (1995, April). Black students, Black colleges: An African American college choice model. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA. Merton, R. K. (1988). The Matthew effect in science, II: Cumulative advantage and the symbolism of intellectual property. Isis, 79(229), 606–623. Minor, J. T. (2005). Discerning facts about faculty governance at HBCUs. Academe, 91(3), 34–38. Minor, J. T. (2008a). Groundwork for studying governance at historically Black colleges and universities. In M. Gasman, B. Baez, & C. S. V. Turner (Eds.), Understanding minority serving institutions (pp. 209–227). Albany, NY: SUNY Press. Minor, J. T. (2008b). Contemporary HBCUs: Considering institutional capacity and state priorities. A research report. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, College of Education, Department of Educational Administration. Morse, J. M. (1994). Designing funded qualitative research. In N.K. Denzin & Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 220–235). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Mykererzi, E., & Mills, B. F. (2008). The wage earnings impact of historically Black colleges and universities. Southern Economic Journal, 75(1), 173–187. Nelson-Laird, T. F., Bridges, B. K., Morelon-Quainoo, C. L, Williams, J. M., & Holmes, M. S. (2007). African American and Hispanic student engagement at minority serving and predominantly White institutions. Journal of College Student Development, 48(1), 39–56. Ogren C. (2003). Rethinking the ‘nontraditional’ student from a historical perspective: State normal schools in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Journal of Higher Education, 74(6), 640–664. Outcalt, C. L., & Skewes-Cox, T. E., (2002). Involvement, interaction, and satisfaction: The human environment at HBCUs. Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 331–347. Palmer, R. T. (2010a). The perceived elimination of affirmative action and the strengthening of historically Black colleges and universities. Journal of Black Studies, 40(4), 762–776. Palmer, R. T. (2010b). The impact of social capital on promoting the success of African American faculty. In S. E. Moore, R. Alexander, & A. J. Lemelle (Eds.), Dilemmas of Black of faculty at U.S. predominantly White institutions: Issues in the post-multicultural era (pp.117–134 ). New York, NY: Edwin Mellen Press. Palmer, R.T., Davis, R. J., & Gasman, M. (2011). A matter of diversity, equity and necessity: The tension between Maryland’s higher education system and its historically Black institutions over the OCR agreement. Journal of Negro Education, 80(2), 121–133.

Factors That Influence Black Students to Attend Historically Black Colleges    59 Palmer, R. T., & Gasman, M. (2008). “It takes a village to raise a child”: The role of social capital in promoting academic success for African American men at a Black college. Journal of College Student Development 49(1), 52–70. Palmer, R. T., & Griffin, K. (2009). Desegregation policy and disparities in faculty salary and workload: Maryland’s historically Black and predominantly White institutions. Negro Educational Review, 60(1/4), 7–21. Palmer, R. T., Maramba, D. C., & Lee, J. M. (2010). Investigating Black students’ disinclination to consider and attend historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). National Association of Student Affairs Professionals Journal, 13(1), 23–45. Perna, L. W. (2001). The contribution of historically Black colleges and universities and preparation of African American faculty careers. Research in Higher Education, 42(3), 267–292. Peterson, R. D., & Hamrick, F. A. (2009). White, male, and “minority”: Racial consciousness among White male undergraduates attending a historically Black university. Journal of Higher Education, 80(1), 34–58. Price, G. N., Spriggs, W., & Swinton, O. H. (2011). The relative returns to graduating from a historically Black college/university: Propensity score matching estimates from the National Survey of Black Americans. Review of Black Political Economy, 38(2), 103–130. Stefkovich, J. A., & Leas, T. (1994). A legal history of desegregation in higher education. Journal of Negro Education, 63(3), 406–420. Strayhorn, T. L. (2008). Influence of labor market outcomes on African American college graduates: A national study. Journal of Higher Education, 79(1), 28–57. Strayhorn, T. L. (2010). Majority as temporary minority: Examining the influence of faculty–student relationships on satisfaction among White undergraduates at historically Black colleges and universities. Journal of College Student Development, 51(5), 509–524. Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and curses of student attrition (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. United States v. Fordice, 112 S. Ct. 2727 (1992). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2011). Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Wagener, U., & Nettles, M. (1998). It takes a community to educate students. Change, 30(2), 18–25. Wenglinsky, H. H. (1996). The educational justification of historically Black colleges and universities: Policy responses to the U.S. Supreme Court. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 18(1), 91–103. Willie, S. S. (2003). Acting Black: College, identity, and the performance of race. New York, NY: Routledge.

This page intentionally left blank.

Chapter 5

An Examination of the Participation of African American Students in Graduate Education without Public HBCUs John Michael Lee, Jr. College Board Advocacy and Policy Center

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the significance of public historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and illustrate the critical contribution they have made to graduate education for African Americans.1 Specifically, this chapter will provide insight into this issue by examining access to graduate education for Blacks if public HBCUs were nonexistent or merged. This chapter will first provide some preliminary information on HBCUs, which will be inclusive of students they currently serve. Subsequently, this chapter will discuss current issues in graduate enrollment, education, and outcomes at HBCUs as well as focus on graduate degrees conferred on Black students at HBCUs. Furthermore, using extant literature, this chapter will focus on the historical development of HBCUs in general

Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, pages 61–82 Copyright © 2012 by Information Age Publishing All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

61

62    J. M. LEE, Jr.

and graduate education specifically. Finally, this chapter will illustrate how public HBCUs are vital for African Americans to engage in higher education, particularly graduate education, by discussing how the elimination of public HBCUs would impede Black graduate enrollment. HBCUs: A Preliminary Discussion of their Mission and Type of Students Served Indeed HBCUs have a complicated history that has fashioned their current place in American higher education, and this history is critical to the analysis of these institutions. There are currently 103 HBCUs (51 private, 52 public) in nineteen states; Washington, DC; and the U.S. Virgin Islands (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System [IPEDS], 2011; Provasnik, Shafer, & Snyder, 2004). HBCUs are uniquely defined in federal law as institutions of higher education that have the intentional mission to educate African Americans, and these colleges must have also been founded before 1964. This is very different from the standards that have been used to define other minority-serving institutions—such as Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), which are categorized based on the percentage of undergraduates that are Hispanic. HSIs are not categorized by institutions that have intentional mission to educate these students. HBCUs must also be accredited institutions, and each must be legally authorized by the state in which it operates (Provasnik et al., 2004; Redd, 1998; Roebuck & Murty, 1993). However, HBCUs should not be considered a monolithic set of institutions because, like other institutional types, “they differ along several dimensions, but they share some characteristics that place them in a separate educational category” (Roebuck & Murty, 1993, p. 3). HBCUs continue to represent about 3% of the all degree granting institutions in the United States. Table 5.1 shows that a little more than half of HBCUs are public institutions while the majority, 89%, are four-year colleges and universities. Also important are the characteristics of the students who attend HBCUs, which have a history of being the most open and accessible institutions in the country. Many HBCUs were the first institutions in their states and across the country to provide access not only to African Americans for higher education, but also to women and other minorities as well. While the total enrollment of students at HBCUs is 391,217, there are unique characteristics of students who attend these institutions with respect to gender, race, and institutional type (Table 5.2). With respect to gender, HBCUs have not been effective in doing anything to change the disproportionate number of women versus men (Lundy-Wagner & Gasman, 2011). In both 2000 and 2010, males represented 39% of the total enrollment of HBCUs, while women accounted for 61% of these institu-

African American Students in Graduate Education without Public HBCUs    63 Table 5.1  Characteristics of Historically Blabk Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), by Type and Control of Institution, 2010 Type and control of Institutions Total

Number of Institutions

Percentage of HBCUs

3,397

HBCUs

99

3%

Private Public

49 50

49% 51%

2-year 4-year

11 88

11% 89%

10 40

10% 40%

1 48

1% 48%

Public   2-year   4-year Private   2-year   4-year

Note: Calculation by author. Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems (IPEDS), spring 2011 Survey. (This table was prepared in December 2011.)

tions. Furthermore, over 78% of students who attended HBCUs in 2010 (305,401) did so at public institutions compared to 72% who did so in 2000. Public HBCUs have seen a 53%increase in enrollment from 2000 to 2010 compared to only a 13% increase at private HBCUs over the same time period. Moreover, two-year HBCUs have seen a 146% increase in enrollment over the last decade compared to a 32% increase in enrollment at four-year HBCUs. However, four-year institutions still represent over 85% of the total enrollment of HBCUs. Total enrollment at HBCUs has increased 42% since 2000, and HBCUs have experienced enrollment increases for every racial ethnic group. HBCUs are more diverse institutions now than they were a decade earlier. From 2000 to 2010, HBCUs have gone from 82% African American to 77% African Americans despite the fact that African American enrollment at HBCUs has increased 33% over the same period. HBCUs have more than doubled Asian American enrollment (106%) and have nearly doubled Hispanic enrollment (90%). White student enrollment is also up at HBCUs from 32,708 in 2000 to 50,803 in 2008. Although the majority of HBCUs have majority African American enrollments, there are three HBCUs that have majority White student enrollments—Lincoln University (Missouri), West Virginia State University, and Bluefield State University (West Virginia).

64    J. M. LEE, Jr. Table 5.2  Fall Enrollment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), by Sex and Race/Ethnicity of Student, and Type and Control of Institution, 2000 and 2010

2010 Total Enrollment

2010 Percentage of Total HBCU Enrollment

2001 Total Enrollment

2000 Percentage of Total HBCU Enrollment

Total

391,217

100%

275,680

100%

42%

Men Women

153,064 238,153

39% 61%

108,164 167,516

39% 61%

42% 42%

American Indian Asian African American Hispanic White

942 4,425 302,666 12,205 50,803

0% 1% 77% 3% 13%

602 2,148 227,239 6,412 32,708

0% 1% 82% 2% 12%

56% 106% 33% 90% 55%

Private Public

85,816 305,401

22% 78%

75,955 199,725

28% 72%

13% 53%

2-year 4-year

60,026 331,191

15% 85%

24,970 250,710

9% 91%

140% 32%

59,869 245,532

15% 63%

24,321 175,404

9% 64%

146% 40%

157 85,659

0% 22%

649 75,306

0% 27%

–76% 14%

Public   2-year   4-year Private   2-year   4-year

2000–2010 Change

Note: Calculation by author. Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems (IPEDS), spring 2011 Survey. (This table was prepared in December 2011.)

Nationally, enrollments at HBCUs represent 1.6% of the total student enrollment at all degree-granting institutions in the United States (Table 5.3). HBCUs represent 1.4% of all males enrolled in degree-granting institution, and 1.7% of all female enrollment. However, they account for 9.7% of total African American student enrollment at degree-granting institutions in the United States. Comparably, HBCUs comprise only 0.4% of the total enrollment of American Indian, Hispanic, and White students and 0.3% of Asian American students enrolled at all degree-granting institutions in the United States. In 2001, HBCUs accounted for 12.9% of total African American enrollment; thus, the African American enrollment share of HBCUs has declined over the last decade as more African Americans are choosing predominate-

African American Students in Graduate Education without Public HBCUs    65 Table 5.3  Fall Enrollment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Fall Enrollment in All Degree Granting Institutions, by Sex and Race/Ethnicity of Student, and Type and Control of Institution, 2010

2010 Total Enrollment at HBCUs

2010 Total Enrollment at All Degree Granting Institutions

Enrollment in HBCUs as a Percentage of Enrollment in All Degree Granting Institutions (by Individual Category)

Total

391,217

25,166,989

1.6%

Men Women

153,064 238,153

10,965,414 14,201,575

1.4% 1.7%

American Indian Asian African American Hispanic White

942 4,425 302,666 12,205 50,803

241,541 1,501,872 3,116,020 3,088,967 14,275,323

0.4% 0.3% 9.7% 0.4% 0.4%

Private Public

85,816 305,401

4,773,951 20,393,038

1.8% 1.5%

2-year 4-year

60,026 331,191

10,967,550 14,199,439

0.5% 2.3%

59,869 245,532

10,916,285 9,476,753

0.5% 2.6%

157 85,659

51,265 4,722,686

0.3% 1.8%

Public   2-year   4-year Private   2-year   4-year

Note: Calculation by author. Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems (IPEDS), spring 2011 Survey. (This table was prepared in December 2011.)

ly White institutions (PWIs) over HBCUs (Palmer, Maramba, & Lee, 2010). Table 5.4 shows that HBCUs account for 10% of African American males enrolled at degree-granting institutions in 2010, while African American females at HBCUs account for 9.6% of African American females enrolled in degree-granting institutions. Public HBCUs account for 8.7% of African American enrollment at degree-granting public institutions. Comparably, private HBCUs account for 14.9% the African American enrollment at degree-granting private HBCUs. Enrollment growth at HBCUs over the past decade (2000–2010) has been greater than the growth over the previous two decades. Table 5.5

66    J. M. LEE, Jr. Table 5.4  Fall African American Enrollment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and African American Enrollment in All Degree Granting Institutions, by Sex of Student, and Control of Institution, 2010 Enrollment in HBCUs as a Percentage of 2010 Total Enrollment Enrollment in All Degree 2010 Total Enrollment at All Degree Granting Institutions at HBCUs Granting Institutions (by Individual Category) Total

302,666

3,116,020

9.7%

Men Women

115,626 187,040

1,160,258 1,955,762

10.0% 9.6%

Private Public

77,767 224,899

520,827 2,595,193

14.9% 8.7%

Note: Calculation by author. Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems (IPEDS), spring 2011 Survey. (This table was prepared in December 2011.)

Table 5.5  Fall Enrollment and Enrollment Growth in DegreeGranting Historically Black Colleges and Universities by Decade, by Sex of Student: 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010 Year

Total

Men

Women

Decade

Total

Men

Women

1980 1990 2000 2010

233,557 257,152 275,680 391,217

106,387 105,157 108,164 153,064

127,170 151,995 167,516 238,153

1980–1990 1990–2000 2000–2010

10.1% 7.2% 41.9%

–1.2% 2.9% 41.5%

19.5% 10.2% 42.2%

Note: Data since 1996 are for degree-granting institutions. Data for 1976 to 1995 are for institutions of higher education. 2010 calculations by author. Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1980 Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS), “Fall Enrollment in Colleges and Universities”; 1990 through 2010 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). (This table was prepared in December 2010.)

shows that total enrollment growth at HBCUs was 10.1% from 1980 to 1990, and enrollment growth was 7.2% from 1990 to 2000. The enrollment growth from 2000 to 2010 was 41.9%, and this was driven by both increases in male and female enrollment over the past decade. Over the last decade, male enrollment increased 41.5% at HBCUs while female enrollment increased 42.2%.

African American Students in Graduate Education without Public HBCUs    67

Current Trends in Graduate Enrollment, Education and Outcomes at HBCUs Although HBCUs were not initially designed to be centers of graduate education, many HBCUs have developed into centers for the production of master’s degrees, doctoral degrees, and even professional degrees (Table 5.6). As of 2010, 60% of HBCUs have some type of graduate degree or certificate offering (Figure 5.1). The highest degree offered at 11% of HBCUs is an associate’s degree, and the highest degree awarded at 34% of HBCUs is bachelor’s degree. However, 27% of HBCUs offer master’s degrees, and 27% of HBCUs offer either doctoral degrees, professional degrees, or both as the highest degrees awarded (Figure 5.2). Many might see HBCUs as being a homogenous group of schools, yet private and public HBCUs have each had different paths with regard to both their founding and development, and each has different challenges as it relates to its future. While public HBCUs opened their enrollments to accommodate the masses of Black students who wanted to be educated, private HBCUs have stayed relatively small and elite. According to the U.S. Department of Education, total enrollment in the nation’s 103 HBCUs was 289,985 in 2001, up from 222,613 in 1976 (Provasnik et al., 2004). Private institutions accounted for only 79,201 students in 2001, while public institutions made up 210,083 of all enrollments in HBCUs for the same year Table 5.6  Graduate Offerings and Highest Level of Degrees at HBCUs, 2010

Highest level of degree offered   Associates degree offered   Bachelors degree offered   Doctoral and Professional degrees offered   Doctoral degree offered only   Masters degree offered only   Professional degree offered only Graduate degree offerings at HBCUs   Graduate offerings   No graduate offerings

Number of HBCUs

Percentage of HBCUs

11 32 11 11 26 4

11% 32% 11% 11% 26% 4%

59 40

60% 40%

Note: Calculation by author. Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems (IPEDS), spring 2011 Survey. (This table was prepared in December 2011.)

68    J. M. LEE, Jr.

No Graduate Offerings 40% Graduate Offerings 60%

Figure 5.1  Graduate offerings at historically Black colleges and universities, 2010. Source: Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS, 2011. Professional degree offered only 4%

Associates degree offered 11%

Masters degree offered only 27% Bachelors degree offered 34%

Doctoral degree offered only 12%

Doctoral and Professional degrees offered 12%

Figure 5.2  Highest level of degrees offered at historically Black colleges and universities, 2010. Source: Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS, 2011.

(Provasnik et al., 2004). This means that public HBCUs account for 72% of the total enrollment of all HBCUs today. Public HBCUs also increased the amount of degrees awarded to Blacks through the expansion of enrollments and programs; private institutions

African American Students in Graduate Education without Public HBCUs    69

remained relatively exclusive in expansion efforts. According to the U.S. Department of Education Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (2011), total enrollment in the nation’s HBCUs was 391,217 in 2010. Private institutions accounted for 85,816 students or 22% in 2010, while public institutions made up 305,401 or 78% of the enrollment at HBCUs for the same year; these trends hold steady for graduate enrollment at HBCUs. This means that the students attending HBCUs are more likely to attend public institutions than private institutions. Undergraduate enrollment at HBCUs accounts for 88% of the enrollment of HBCUs (344,971) while graduate enrollment at HBCUs accounts for 11% (46,246). Table 5.7 also

Total Enrollment at HBCUs

Percentage of Total HBCU Enrollment

Undergraduate Enrollment at HBCUs

Percentage of Undergraduate HBCU Enrollment

Graduate Enrollment at HBCUs

Percentage of Graduate HBCU Enrollment

Table 5.7  Fall Enrollment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), by Sex of Student, and Type and Control of Institution, 2010

Total

391,217

100%

344,971

100%

46,246

100%

Men Women

153,064 238,153

39% 61%

137,963 207,008

40% 60%

15,101 31,145

33% 67%

American Indian Asian African American Hispanic White

942 4,425 302,666 12,205 50,803

0% 1% 77% 3% 13%

808 3,028 269,600 11,204 43,424

0% 1% 78% 3% 13%

134 1,397 33,066 1,001 7,379

0% 3% 72% 2% 16%

Private Public

85,816 305,401

22% 78%

76,240 268,731

22% 78%

9,576 36,670

21% 79%

2-year 4-year

60,026 331,191

15% 85%

60,026 284,945

17% 83%

46,246

N/A 100%

59,869 245,532

15% 63%

59,869 208,862

17% 61%

36,670

N/A 79%

157 85,659

0% 22%

157 76,083

0% 22%

9,576

N/A 21%

Public   2-year   4-year Private   2-year   4-year

Note: Calculation by author. Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems (IPEDS), spring 2011 Survey. (This table was prepared in December 2011.)

70    J. M. LEE, Jr. Table 5.8  Fall Enrollment in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), by Sex and Race/Ethnicity of Student, and Type and Control of Institution, 2000 and 2010

2010 Total Average Enrollment in HBCUs

2010 Total Average Enrollmemnt in All Degree-Granting Institutions

Total

3,952

7,409

Private Public

1,751 6,108

2,790 12,096

2-year 4-year

5,457 3,764

10,136 6,134

Note: Calculation by author. Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems (IPEDS), spring 2011 Survey. (This table was prepared in December 2011.)

shows that men account for 40% of total undergraduate enrollment at HBCUs compared to 60% for females. When looking at graduate enrollment at HBCUs, men account for a lower percentage of students (33%) than they do in undergraduate enrollment. Conversely, women account for almost 70% of graduate school enrollment at HBCUs. This is very important in emphasizing the ability of public HBCUs to provide more access to higher education for African Americans. The average enrollment at all HBCUs is 3,952 students compared to 7,409 for all degree-granting institutions (Table 5.8). Most private Black colleges and universities had average enrollments of 1,751 students in 2010 whereas most public HBCUs had average enrollments of more than 6,108 students according to U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics IPEDS Spring 2011 Survey. Many public HBCUs are able to afford opportunities for students to go to school who could not afford to attend private Black colleges and universities. This further allowed access to flow from those elite Blacks to those of lesser economic means. The average enrollment at two-year HBCUs is 5,457 students compared to an average enrollment of 3,764 at four-year HBCUs. Graduate Degrees Conferred at Black Institutions HBCUs have been noted for the fact that they grant high proportions of baccalaureate degrees to African Americans, yet few studies have noted the

African American Students in Graduate Education without Public HBCUs    71

role of HBCUs in providing graduate education. As of 2010, while HBCUs continue to remain overwhelmingly focused on the production of baccalaureate degrees, many have developed and are continuing to develop master’s, doctoral, and professional degree programs. Further, many HBCUs are also expanding their missions to include aspirations to become centers of research in addition to their historical mission of expanding access for African Americans (Lee, 2011; Palmer & Maramba, forthcoming). In 2010, HBCUs awarded more bachelors’ degrees (71%) than any other type of degrees, yet graduate degrees account for 21% of all degrees awarded by HBCUs (see Figure 5.3). When accounting for HBCU degree production among all institutions, Table 5.9 shows that HBCUs awarded 0.5% of all associate degrees, 2.0% of all bachelors’ degrees, 1.2% of all master’s degrees, 0.7 % of all doctoral degrees, and 1.7% of professional degrees awarded in the United States in 2010. Examining the share of degrees awarded to African Americans in 2010, Table 5.10 shows that 2.0% of all associate degrees, 19.8% of all bachelor’s degrees, 10.7% of all master’s degrees, 9.3% of all doctoral degrees, and 17.3% of all professional degrees awarded to African Americans were done so at HBCUs. This is important because it has already been established that HBCUs only account for 9.7% of all African American enrollment in the United States. HBCUs have increased the amount of master’s and doctoral degrees awarded to African Americans. A new study released by the National Science Foundation (2008) shows that while HBCUs only produce a third of Professional 4% Doctoral 1%

Associates total 8%

Masters 16%

Bachelors total 71%

Figure 5.3  Degrees awarded at historically Black colleges and universities, 2010. Source: Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS, 2011.

72    J. M. LEE, Jr. Table 5.9  Degrees Awarded by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and All Degree-Granting Institutions by Degree Type, 2010 2010 Degrees Awarded at HBCUs

2010 Degrees Awarded at All Degree-Granting Institutions

2010 HBCU Percentage of All Degrees Awarded (by Category)

Associate’s total  Male   Female

3,458 1,212 2,246

709,786 278,151 431,635

0.5% 0.4% 0.5%

Bachelor’s total  Male   Female

31,419 11,066 20,353

1,571,390 673,517 897,873

2.0% 1.6% 2.3%

Master’s  Male   Female

7,419 2,111 5,308

630,193 254,542 375,651

1.2% 0.8% 1.4%

Doctoral  Male   Female

380 136 244

55,096 28,247 26,849

0.7% 0.5% 0.9%

1,690 667 1,023

98,933 46,693 52,240

1.7% 1.4% 2.0%

Professional  Male   Female

Note: Calculation by author. Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems (IPEDS), spring 2011 Survey. (This table was prepared in December 2011.)

all African Americans with bachelor’s degrees, these institutions are graduating an increasing number of African American students who go on to earn PhDs in the science and engineering fields (Leaderman, 2008). In fact, HBCUs produced more African American undergraduates who have become PhD recipients than any other type of institution in 2006 (Leaderman, 2008). This is happening despite the reality that the share of Black students educated at HBCUs is declining. It is important to push back on arbitrary notions by researchers who would hinge the future of HBCUs on measures that have nothing to do with the real success of HBCUs: allowing African American students to access higher education and aiding them in achieving the desired outcome of degree attainment. HBCUs currently achieve both of these goals for African American students in numbers that defy the fact that they only make up 3% of all the institutions in America and enroll about 10% of all African American students. One must ponder what is it about HBCUs that motivates students to obtain graduate degrees

African American Students in Graduate Education without Public HBCUs    73 Table 5.10  Degrees Awarded to African Americans by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and All Degree-Granting Institutions by Degree Type, 2010 2010 Degrees 2010 Degrees Awarded to African Awarded to African Americans at All Americans at Degree-Granting HBCUs Institutions

2010 HBCU Percentage of All Degrees Awarded to African Americans (by Category)

Associate’s total  Male   Female

1,539 478 1,061

77,158 25,275 51,883

2.0% 1.9% 2.0%

Bachelor’s total  Male   Female

26,897 9,327 17,570

136,166 46,865 89,301

19.8% 19.9% 19.7%

Master’s  Male   Female

5,563 1,488 4,075

52,028 15,219 36,809

10.7% 9.8% 11.1%

Doctoral  Male   Female

262 79 183

2,803 933 1,870

9.3% 8.5% 9.8%

1,009 369 640

5,838 2,088 3,750

17.3% 17.7% 17.1%

Professional  Male   Female

Note: Calculation by author. Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems (IPEDS), spring 2011 Survey. (This table was prepared in December 2011.)

at such outstanding numbers despite the fact that more than 90% of African Americans do not attend these institutions and more than 80% of African Americans earning bachelor’s degrees do not earn them from an HBCU. Although many African American students go on to get master’s, doctoral, and professional degrees at PWIs, it should be noted that many of these students graduated from HBCUs. Most African Americans who graduate with a master’s or doctoral degree from an HBCU do so at public HBCUs, yet both public and private HBCUs contribute equally to in the production of African Americans with professional degrees. Table 5.11 shows that public HBCUs account for 83% and 87%, respectively, of students who obtain a master’s or doctoral degree. This shows that public HBCUs play a major role in the awarding of graduate degrees for all HBCUs.

74    J. M. LEE, Jr. Table 5.11  Degrees Awarded by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) by Control of Institution, 2010 2010 Degrees Awarded at HBCUs

2010 HBCU Percentage of Degrees Awarded (by Control of Institution)

Associate’s total   Public   Private

3,458 3,315 143

96% 4%

Bachelor’s total   Public   Private

31,419 22,081 9,338

70% 30%

Master’s   Public   Private

7,419 6,189 1,230

83% 17%

Doctoral   Public   Private

380 330 50

87% 13%

1,690 837 853

50% 50%

Professional   Public   Private

Note: Calculation by author. Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems (IPEDS), spring 2011 Survey. (This table was prepared in December 2011.)

Relevant Literature It is vital to illuminate the fact that HBCUs were born as a product of segregation; they were places to educate Blacks when they could not attend PWIs (Allen & Jewell, 2002; Saunders & Westbrook, 2001). HBCUs did not provide an education that was the equivalent to that of their “separate but equal” White peer institutions, and HBCUs did not offer any kind of graduate or professional degrees. Though HBCUs were initially designed to educate freed slaves, in many instances the focus was limited to the training of teachers and providing the skills necessary for the new vocational workforce of newly freed slaves—primarily teachers, ministers and other vocational professionals who would function as agents of socialization for the largely illiterate Black population after the Civil War (Hughes, 1992; Murphy, 1981). Blacks were restricted by the Jim Crow laws of the South

African American Students in Graduate Education without Public HBCUs    75

from obtaining a college education and by social custom elsewhere in the United States (Roebuck & Murty, 1993; Wolanin, 1998) resulting in only 28 African Americans receiving baccalaureate degrees prior to the Civil War (Roebuck & Murty, 1993). The majority of HBCUs founded after 1865 were “private, nonprofit institutions; that is, they were established and funded without state government support” (Redd, 1998, p. 34). Northern missionary groups took the lead in developing schools and colleges for Blacks in the United States through missionaries sent to the South—this was led by the American Missionary Association (AMA) that alone was responsible for founding seven Black colleges and thirteen normal schools between 1861 and 1870—to uplift newly freed slaves (Allen & Jewell, 2002; Roebuck & Murty, 1993). Other missionaries and the Freedman’s Bureau soon followed the lead of the AMA by establishing similar schools, though debates waged on what the focus of these newly created institutions would be—liberal arts vs. vocational education (Allen & Jewell, 2002; Roebuck & Murty, 1993; Wolanin, 1998). Development of Public Black Colleges and Universities Two federal laws were primarily responsible for establishing and funding of public HBCUs in the United States. In 1862, former U.S. Congressman Justin Morrill led the passage of legislation that established land grant institutions for each state known as the First Morrill Act (Allen & Jewell, 2002; Brown, Donahoo, & Bertrand, 2001; Redd, 1998; Wilson, 1990). A subsequent Morrill Land Grant Act of 1890 required states with a dual system of higher education to establish at least one land-grant college for African Americans, and thus helped to establish 19 public Black colleges (Allen & Jewell, 2002; Provasnik et al., 2004; Redd, 1998; Roebuck & Murty, 1993); 17 of these land-grant HBCUs are still in existence today. Prior to the establishment of the system of public HBCUs after the Morrill Act of 1890, access to Black higher education in America was limited primarily to private universities. Public HBCUs created under the Morrill Act of 1890 were created for only three reasons: (1) to prevent the enrollment of Blacks at White landgrant universities; (2) to limit the scope of Black education to vocational training; and (3) states wanted the millions of dollars in federal funds to further develop White land-grant universities that were already in existence (Redd, 1998; Roebuck & Murty, 1993). Following reconstruction, many legislatures in the South enacted segregation laws that included excluding Blacks from attending White educational institutions. Many of the Black colleges and universities that were created were so in name only. Most HBCUs—public and private—taught religious education

76    J. M. LEE, Jr.

and manual trades yet did not grant degrees (Redd, 1998; Wilson, 1990). Much of the education provided was at the basic skill level, and many regarded the education at these schools as primary (Redd, 1998; Roebuck & Murty, 1993). Some of these schools were “normal schools” that provided training for African American teachers in public elementary and secondary schools. Funding at these schools was very poor and not equitable to White institutions (Allen & Jewell, 2002; Redd, 1998). Many public HBCUs were primarily industrial, agricultural, and mechanical while private Black colleges began to change their focus to offering a liberal arts education to the “talented tenth.” This arduous process sparked one of the most prominent debates of the 19th century between W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington on the role HBCUs should play in developing educational opportunities for African Americans. Development of Graduate Programs at HBCUs In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that laws stipulating “separate but equal” access to schools, railroads, churches, cemeteries, restaurants, bathrooms, drinking fountains, and a host of other services were legal under the U.S. Constitution. With this decision, states began to revise their constitutions and laws to prevent Black and White students from being educated together (Brown et al., 2001; Redd, 1998; Roebuck & Murty, 1993). As a result, public legislatures began to decrease the funding of public Black colleges and universities, while increasing the funding of their White counterparts (Roebuck & Murty, 1993). Despite the “separate but equal” climate, private HBCUs had already begun to expand their course offerings. Meharry Medical College (1876) and Howard University began the expansion of graduate and professional programs offered at HBCUs and established professional schools for medicine (1868), dentistry (1881) and pharmacy (1868); Howard established its College of Law in 1869 and began to offer law degrees as well (Redd, 1998). Private universities also expanded their undergraduate and master’s-level course offerings as well. Similar expansions did not take place at public HBCUs until at a much later period. In the 1930s, the NAACP launched a desegregation campaign that mitigated the “separate but equal” doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Between 1945 and 1954, the “separate but equal” doctrine was overturned first in graduate and professional education through a series of successful cases (see University of Maryland v. Murray, 1936; Missouri ex rel. Gains v. Canada, 1938; Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, 1948; Swett v. Painter, 1950; and McLauren v. Oklahoma Board of Regents, 1950). Ironically, it was these challenges to the doctrine of “sepa-

African American Students in Graduate Education without Public HBCUs    77

rate but equal” that led to the establishment of graduate and professional schools at public HBCUs specifically to prevent Black students from attending White institutions with the same programs. By 1930, the majority of both public and private HBCUs had developed from normal schools into full-fledged colleges (Roebuck & Murty, 1993). According to Roebuck and Murty (1993), public and private Black colleges made vast improvements in several areas including their faculty, library holdings, curricular offerings, science laboratories, physical plant facilities, organization and administration, and financial base. By 1953, the combined undergraduate enrollment at 47 private Black colleges was 24,173 students, comprising 39% of students enrolled in HBCUs. In contrast, 37,251 students were enrolled in 33 public HBCUs, which comprised 61 % of all students enrolled (Roebuck & Murty, 1993). This is significant because it is at this point that public HBCUs began to enroll more students than private HBCUs. American Graduate Education without Public HBCUs As the nation continues to experience the effects of a sluggish American economy, states still face financial shortfalls (McNichol & Lay, 2009). The financial exigency in many states is forcing leaders to take a look at the increasingly scarce funding for education and forcing states that have dual systems of higher education to take a second look at the future of financing these costly systems. In some states, this has meant the possible elimination of public HBCUs that opponents have described as a waste of taxpayer money because they provide options for students who are thought to be academically unprepared (Brown, 1999, 2001; Stefkovich & Leas, 1994). For example, a powerful Republican state senator in Georgia, Seth Harp, recently proposed merging two of the state’s HBCUs—Savannah State University and Albany State University—with nearby majority White colleges as a way to save money and end the vestiges of Jim Crow segregation in Georgia (Salzer & White, 2008a, 2008b; Stripling, 2009). Similar proposals have also been brought forward in Mississippi and Louisiana. These suggestions to merge HBCUs have ignited a new national debate on the future of public HBCUs as the nation celebrated the election of Barack Obama as the first African American president of the United States of America (Clark, 2008; Downey, 2008; Tucker, 2008). HBCUs now find themselves in an emerging debate on whether these institutions, which remain predominately Black, should exist in a post Brown v. Board of Education and post-Obama environment. At stake in this debate are the graduate programs that exist at these institutions (Allen & Jewell,

78    J. M. LEE, Jr.

2002; Brown, 1999, 2001; Brown & Davis, 2001; Hebel, 2001; Provasnik et al., 2004; Redd, 1998; Saunders & Westbrook, 2001; Tucker, 2008; Washburn, 1994; Wenglinsky, 1996; Williams, 1981). A recent study by J. M. Lee (2011) has posited the question: What would American higher education be without public HBCUs? This larger study examined the impact of the closure, merger, and mandated enrollment of public HBCUs in states that have significant Black populations or high concentrations of HBCUs, and analyzes the impact of the closures, mergers, and mandated integration on student access and selected student outcomes for African Americans. However, the study also shows the impact on graduate degree production from the effects of these changes to HBCUs. Lee (2011) uses time-series statistical modeling to predict the participation and outcomes of African American students for a state’s current system of higher education with HBCUs. Two alternative statistical models are adapted from the aforementioned model. The first alternative statistical model represents the hypothetical merger or closure of all the HBCUs in a state’s public system of higher education, while the second alternative model shows the effects of mandated integration of all HBCUs in the system. The model then forecasts access and outcome measures of African American students for a state’s system of higher education given these alternative policies. Each of the forecasts is compared to the baseline projections to examine the impact of these polices. Mississippi, Tennessee, Maryland, and Florida are used as the case studies to forecast the impact of closure, merger, or mandated enrollment of all HBCUs in these states. These states were purposefully chosen because of their roles in previous desegregation cases or recent inquiries regarding HBCUs within these states (Bierman, 2007; Geier v. Dunn, 1972; Geier v. University of Tennessee, 1979; Hayes, 2006; Mosley, 1996; United States v. Fordice, 1992). Lee (2011) demonstrates that while graduate degrees awarded to African Americans are expected to grow in the next ten years if everything remains the same, there are significant impacts to African American student outcomes with the implementation of policies that allow for the closure/merger of HBCUs. These effects are seen in all the states in the study—Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Master’s and doctoral degrees awarded to African Americans are impacted by closure/merger policies. In most instances, African American student outcomes do not recover in the state after the implementation of these closure/merger policies have affected the state. The results of the master’s, doctoral, and professional degrees awarded to African Americans all show that the closure/merger policy models have an adverse effect on African American student outcomes. Table 5.12 shows the total African American students lost to the closure/merger policy in the study. The table shows that Florida would lose 2,400 master’s degrees, 184 doctoral degrees, and 1,825 professional degrees that would have been awarded to Af-

African American Students in Graduate Education without Public HBCUs    79 Table 5.12  Total African American Degrees Lost to Closure/Merger Over a Decade, 2006–2016

Bachelor’s degrees Master’s degrees Doctoral degrees Professional degrees

Florida

Maryland

Mississippi

Tennessee

Total

12,045 2,440 185 1,825

20,795 4,000 575 0

16,231 5,540 445 0

9,786 3,950 140 0

58,857 15,930 1,345 1,825

Source: Lee, J. M. (2011). American higher education without HBCUs. Lambert Academic Publishing.

rican American students over a decade. Maryland would lose 4,000 master’s degrees and 575 doctoral degrees that would have been awarded to African American students over the same time period. Mississippi African American students would also fare badly under the closure/merger policy. Mississippi would stand to lose 5,540 master’s degrees and 445 doctoral degrees that would have been awarded to African American students over ten years. Tennessee would also be in the position to lose 3,950 master’s degrees and 140 doctoral degrees that would have been awarded to African American students. The implementation of the closure/ merger polices at HBCUs in the four states would lead the loss of graduate degrees awarded to African American students both within the state and nationally. This would lead to the potentially eliminating 15,930 master’s degrees, 1,345 doctoral degrees, and 1,825 professional degrees that would have been awarded to African American students over a decade. Given the closure/merger of HBCUs in Florida, Maryland, Mississippi, and Tennessee, the impact on graduate degrees awarded to African American students would be detrimental. There would be a total decline in the number of African American students who obtain bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, or professional degrees within these states. Although HBCUs make up a small percentage of colleges within each state, they are a major contributor to the success of African American students who achieve graduate degrees. They also prepare a pipeline of African American students to feed into master’s, doctoral, and professional degree programs within their state and across the nation (Gasman, Baez, Drexner, Sedgwick, Tudico, & Schmis, 2007), yet the results show that this may not be true for professional degrees in some states. This is due to the limited number of public HBCUs in the states. Conclusion The debate surrounding the future existence of HBCUs continues to be a part of the landscape of American higher education. Given the current eco-

80    J. M. LEE, Jr.

nomic climate, this is not likely to change anytime in the near future. Studies are still being done to determine the impact of HBCUs on African American student access and outcomes compared to PWIs (See Fryer & Greenstone, 2007; Jaschik, 2007; Mykerezi & Mills, 2008; Redden, 2007). What is clear is that HBCUs continue to play a very important role in both the enrollment of African Americans in graduate degree programs and the production of African Americans with graduate degrees. These institutions are also important to the graduate degree pipeline nationally, and the success that happens at HBCUs—preparing and motivating African American students to enroll in graduate programs and complete these degrees—is not yet replicable at PWIs. Though the share of African American enrollment is decreasing, contributions at HBCUs in graduate education are still as significant now as they were a decade earlier. Note 1. The terms Black and African American are used interchangeably in this chapter.

References Allen, W. R., & Jewell, J. O. (2002). A backward glance forward: Past, present, and future perspectives on historically Black colleges and universities. Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 241–261. Bierman, N. (2007, June 27). New leader seen as hope for troubled FAMU: Florida A&M is at risk of losing its accreditation, but many expect the new president will get the school back on track. Miami Herald, p. 1. Brown, M. C. (1999). Public Black colleges and desegregation in the United States: A continuing dilemma. Higher Education Policy, 12(1), 15–25. Brown, M. C. (2001). Collegiate desegregation and the public Black college: A new policy mandate. Journal of Higher Education, 72(1), 46–62. Brown, M. C., & Davis, J. E. (2001). The historically Black college as social contract, social capital, and social equalizer. Peabody Journal of Education, 76(1), 31–49. Brown, M. C., Donahoo, S., & Bertrand, R. D. (2001). The Black college and the quest for educational opportunity. Urban Education, 36(5), 553–571. Clark, M. (2008, Dec. 19). Race and higher ed near a tipping point. Tallahassee Democrat, p. 1. Downey, M. (2008, December 7). Ending the race divide: College mergers worth look some historically Black schools may be obsolete, but closing them has a downside. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, p. 1. Fryer, R. G., & Greenstone, M. (2007). The causes and consequences of attending historically Black colleges and universities. Working Paper # 13036, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge MA: Imbens.

African American Students in Graduate Education without Public HBCUs    81 Gasman, M., Baez, B., Drexner, N., Sedgwick, K., Tudico, C., & Schmis, J. (2007). Historically Black colleges and universities: Recent trends. Academe, 93(1), 69–78. Geier v. Dunn. (1972). 5077 (United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division). Geier v. University of Tennessee (1979). 597 F.2d 1056 (United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit). Hayes, D. (2006). Maryland faces university desegregation fight. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 23(20), 26. Hebel, S. (2001). A new push to integrate public Black colleges. Chronicle of Higher Education, 47(39), A21–A22. Hughes, C. E. (1992). A case for the formation of strategically focused consortia among HBCUs. Journal of Negro Education, 61(4), 539–553. Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Systems (IPEDS), Spring 2011 Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Jaschik, S. (2007, April 19). Changing times for Black colleges. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/04/19/hbcu Leaderman, D. (2008, September 2). Who produces Black PhDs? Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/09/02/phds Lee, Jr. J. M. (2011). American higher education without public HBCUs: A study of four states. Saarbrücken, Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing. Lundy-Wagner, V. & Gasman, M. (2011). When gender issues are not just about women: Reconsidering male students at historically Black colleges and universities. Teachers College Record, 113(5), 934–968. McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, 339 U.S. 637 (1950). McNichol, E., & Lay, I. (2009). State budget troubles worsen. Washington, DC: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, 305 U.S. 337 (1938). Mosley, G. L. (1996). A study of Maryland’s historically Black colleges and universities desegregation/enhancement policy, 1983–1993. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Howard University, Washington, DC. Murphy, D. D. (1981). The future of predominantly Black public colleges and universities. Urban Education, 16(1), 77–92. Mykerezi, E., & B. F. Milis (2008). The wage earnings impact of historically Black colleges and universities. Southern Economic Journal 75(1), 173–187. National Science Foundation (2008). Role of HBCUs as baccalaureate-origin institutions of Black S&E doctorate recipients. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08319/nsf08319.pdf Palmer, R. T., Maramba, D. C., & Lee, J. M. (2010). Investigating Black students’ disinclination to consider and attend historically Black colleges and universities. National Association of Student Affairs Professionals Journal, 13(1), 23–45. Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896). Provasnik, S., Shafer, L. L., & Snyder, T. D. (2004). Historically Black colleges and universities, 1976–2001 (No. NCSE 2004 062). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Redd, K. E. (1998). Historically Black colleges and universities: Making a comeback. New Directions for Higher Education, 26(2), 33–43.

82    J. M. LEE, Jr. Redden, E. (2007, September 7). Heated debate about HBCUs. Inside Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/11/ hbcus Roebuck, J., & Murty, K. (1993). Historically Black colleges and universities: Their place in American higher education. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. Salzer, J., & White, G. (2008a, December 1). Lawmaker suggests merging historically Black colleges. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, p. 1. Salzer, J., & White, G. (2008b, December 2). Senator: Merge Black, White colleges. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, p. 1. Saunders, K. P., & Westbrook, T. S. (2001). Historically Black colleges and universities: Lessons from the past, hope for the future. ISPA Journal, 13(1), 2–19. Sipuel v. Board of Regents of Univ. of Okla., 332 U.S. 631 (1948). Stefkovich, J. A., & Leas, T. (1994). A legal history of desegregation in higher education. Journal of Negro Education, 63(3), 406–420. Stripling, J. (2009, January 30). HBCUs drawing scrutiny. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/01/30/hbcu Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629 (1950). Tucker, C. (2008, December 10). Don’t waste opportunity to merge Black, White colleges. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved from http://www.ajc.com/ opinion/content/opinion/tucker/stories/2008/12/10/tucked_1210.html U.S. Department of Education. (1988). History of Black colleges and universities. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. University v. Murray, 169 Md. 478 (1936). United States v. Fordice (1992). 505 U.S. 717; 112 S. Ct. 2727; 120 L. Ed. 2d 575 (United States Supreme Court). Washburn, J. A. (1994). Beyond brown: Evaluating equality in higher education. Duke Law Journal, 43(5), 1115–1163. Wenglinsky, H. H. (1996). The educational justification of historically Black colleges and universities: A policy response to the U.S. supreme court. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 18(1), 91–103. Williams, C. A. (1981). The Black/White colleges: Dismantling the dual system of higher education. Washington, DC: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Wilson, R. (1990). Can Black colleges solve the problem of access for Black students? American Journal of Education, 98(4), 443–457. Wilson, V. (2007). The effect of attending an HBCU on persistence and graduation outcomes of African American college students. Review of Black Political Economy, 34(1), 11–52. Wolanin, T. R. (1998). The federal investment in minority-serving institutions. In J. P. Merisotis & C. T. O’B. (Eds.), Minority-serving institutions: Distinct purposes, common goals. New Directions for Higher Education (No. 102, pp. p. 17–32). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Chapter 6

The Potential Benefits of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities for Black Doctoral Students Ferlin G. McGaskey University of Tennessee–Knoxville

The relevance of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in a post-racial United States has become a topic of recent discussion. Since President Barack Obama signed the White House Initiative on HBCUs in 2010, seeking to increase federal funding for HBCUs, there have been a number of critics from the academic and non-academic communities who question the necessity of HBCUs. Richard Vedder (2010) suggests that HBCUs are not high-quality institutions based on their current rankings in the US News and World Report’s annual survey of colleges and universities and Forbes’ America’s Best Colleges list. Furthermore, Vedder (2010) attacks the homogeneity of the student population of HBCUs, comparing them to increasingly “diverse” predominantly White institutions (PWIs).

Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, pages 83–104 Copyright © 2012 by Information Age Publishing All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

83

84    F. G. McGASKEY

Economists Fryer and Greenstone (2010), using three national data sets, concluded that the relative wage benefit that existed in the 1970s for Black students attending HBCUs no longer existed by the 1990s. This, the authors suggest, provides evidence of the declining relevance of HBCUs. A number of HBCU scholars have repudiated these assertions with arguments reflecting the important role of HBCUs in the lives of Black students and higher education in general (Gasman, 2011a; Kimbrough, 2011). Moreover, recent studies validate the beneficial academic experiences and outcomes Black students receive while attending HBCUs (Kim & Conrad, 2006; Nelson Laird, Bridges, Morelon-Quainoo, Williams, & Salinas Holmes, 2007; Palmer & Gasman, 2008). The subjects of most inquiries related to HBCUs are Black undergraduates. This population is the largest segment of students attending these institutions (National Center for Educational Statistics [NCES], 2009). Largely ignored in discussions of the benefits of attending HBCUs are graduate students. These students are becoming an increasing share of individuals educated at HBCUs (NCES, 2011). HBCUs have played a real and substantial role in the graduate education of Blacks students since the early 20th century, first in terms of master’s programs and, more recently, and increasingly, doctoral programs (Redd, 2008). In 2010, of the 103 HBCUs that exist, 30 have established doctoral programs (NCES, 2011). While such statistics are easily attained, there are few empirical inquiries regarding the experiences of Black doctoral students at HBCUs. The intent of the editors and the contributing authors of this volume is to begin to fill the gap in the graduate and professional student literature surrounding the Black students’ experience at HBCUs. My contribution is to provide a review of the recent literature to determine the potential benefits of attending an HBCU for Black doctoral students. Thus, drawing from the scholarship on doctoral student socialization, the experiences of Black doctoral students, and the institutional environment and benefits of attending HBCUs for undergraduate students, I develop the argument that HBCUs may have many advantages over PWIs in providing Black doctoral students with a successful educational experience. Specifically, I assert that the institutional climate and culture has the potential to facilitate the socialization of Black doctoral students into their discipline more effectively, thereby ensuring their academic success. The chapter will be organized as follows: First, I will discuss the general literature on doctoral student development and socialization. I will then examine what scholars have found regarding Black PhD student experiences. This body of literature almost exclusively focuses on student experiences at PWIs. Next, I will cover recent scholarly works that focus on the strengths of HBCUs and their benefits to Black students. From these

Potential Benefits of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities    85

streams of literature, I will demonstrate the potential benefits of HBCUs to Black doctoral students. Finally, I will conclude with recommendations for future research for HBCUs in positioning themselves as viable options for Black doctoral students. Graduate Student Development and Socialization A growing body of literature has been developed regarding doctoral student experiences, development, and socialization (Austin, 2002; Austin & McDaniels, 2006; Bieber & Worley, 2006; Golde, 2005; Golde & Dore, 2001; Nyquist et al., 1999; Weidman, Twale, & Stein, 2001). One central question that these scholars address is: What is the purpose of graduate education and preparation? Much of the scholarship would indicate that the ultimate goal of graduate education is to foster the development of critical skills, knowledge, and the adoption of values and norms of the discipline, which will equip students to fill the roles of the discipline and maintain its norms and practices (Baird, 1992; Bragg, 1976; Rosen & Bates, 1967; Weidman et al., 2001). As the preceding assertion suggests, in order to assume the roles associated with being a doctoral recipient in his discipline, the graduate student is expected to make a number of adjustments throughout his educational process. Successful socialization is characterized by the reconciliation of personally held values and beliefs with those espoused by the discipline (Ellis, 2001; Gardner, 2008, 2009, 2010a, 2010b; Gopaul, 2010; Weidman et al., 2001). The goal of socialization is to prepare doctoral students to take on roles within their discipline. Researchers acknowledge several factors may influence these processes, including student, departmental, and institutional characteristics (Turner & Thompson, 1993). Student characteristics that influence socialization include the student’s cultural values, beliefs, and practices; prior experiences; support networks; and personality (Turner & Thompson, 1993). Departmental characteristics that influence socialization include racial/ethnic/gender makeup of faculty, racial/ethnic/gender makeup of students, ideological and philosophical foundations, and the practices of the department (Turner & Thompson, 1993). Finally, characteristics of the academic institution may influence these processes. These include historical ethnic makeup, Carnegie classification, the mission of the institution, and traditional practices (Tierney & Rhoads, 1994). Socialization scholars have found that the greater the differences between characteristics of the individual and the characteristics of the department or institution, the greater the difficulties in successful socialization (Antony, 2002; Tierney & Rhoads, 1994). Conversely, the more similarities

86    F. G. McGASKEY

that exist may ease adjustment and lead to the greater likelihood of success. Thus, for example, a student whose previous involvement with community issues and concerns may cause him or her to view a doctoral degree as a means to engage in a higher level of community service. Nevertheless, he or she may be somewhat taken aback when faced with a department that privileges research above community activism. Alternatively, a student who has attended a research-intensive institution as an undergraduate or a master’s student, and who has been involved in research, presenting, and publishing with a faculty member, is likely to experience relative ease in adjusting to the norms of doctoral study at a similarly classified institution. To summarize the preceding discussion, the literature suggests that the goal of doctoral socialization is to foster the development and acclimation of students into the roles associated with the discipline. The process of attaining this goal, which is influenced by departmental and institutional factors, can, for many students, be somewhat disillusioning, disheartening, and difficult as it may reveal an incongruence between personal characteristics, values, and beliefs and those that exist within the aforementioned aspects of academia. Researchers have suggested that underrepresented groups may be more likely to experience difficulties in the socialization process (Antony, 2002). Thus, women and racial minorities, including Blacks, may find the doctoral experience more difficult. To examine whether this assertion is accurate, I will now turn to the literature regarding the Black doctoral student experience. Black Doctoral Student Experience: Challenges and Difficulties Increasingly over the past 30 years, Black students have engaged in doctoral education. For example, in the 1976–1977 academic year, 1,253 Blacks received doctoral degrees. By the 2005–2006 academic year, 3,122 Blacks received doctoral degrees (NCES, 2007). In addition, Blacks are receiving an increasing share of the doctoral degrees conferred each year. In 1977, Blacks received 3.8% of the total doctoral degrees conferred in the United States. By 2006, Blacks received 5.6% of the total doctoral degrees awarded (NCES, 2007). This increase has lead researchers to examine the experiences of Black doctoral students. Findings from these studies appear to indicate there are numerous difficulties that Black students face. For example, Lewis, Ginsberg, Davis, and Smith (2004) found that Black PhD students face isolation, lack of social support, difficulty navigating the system, and few role models or peers who look like them. Nettles and Millett (2006) discovered that Black PhD students reported lower rates of social interaction with faculty

Potential Benefits of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities    87

than other ethnic groups. Additionally, the authors also found that Black PhD students had more difficulty finding a mentor (particularly students in the sciences, technology, engineering, and math fields). In his study, Glasgow (2004) found that Black students reported lower levels of academic and social interaction with faculty and peers than White students. Finally, Ellis (2001) discovered that Black women had the greatest difficulty in several areas of adjustment including mentoring and advising, departmental climate, and satisfaction with the doctoral process. In contrast, Black males in Ellis’ study had the highest level of satisfaction in all areas of adjustment of the groups studied. Although researchers have investigated specifically how graduate student experiences and socialization differ by disciplines, departments, and programs (Gardner, 2009, 2010a; Golde, 2005; Sallee, 2008), there appears to be a dearth of research that examined differences across institutional types (Gardner, 2010b). In particular, there does not appear to be any research that has examined differences in the doctoral experiences of those who attend HBCUs and PWIs. Although to a lesser degree than departmental and student characteristics, researchers assert that the institutional climate influences the doctoral experience (Hirt & Muffo, 1998; Hurtado, 1994). Several scholars have written regarding the institutional climate and environment at HBCUs in the context of undergraduate education, often in comparison to that of PWIs (Allen, 1992; Fleming, 1984; Outcault & SkewesCox, 2002). It has generally been suggested that HBCUs provide some Black students an environment that facilitates their academic adjustment and encourages their success. At this time, I will review the scholarship on HBCU institutional culture and environment and its relationship to Black students’ experiences and academic success. Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Institutional Culture, Environment, and Student Outcomes Scholars, for over thirty years, have discussed the unique institutional environment of HBCUs and its effect on outcomes for Black students (Allen, 1992; Brown & Davis, 2001; Davis, 1998; Fleming, 1984; Flowers, 2002, 2003; Kim, 2002; Kim & Conrad, 2006; Nelson Laird et al., 2007; Outcault & Skewes-Cox, 2002; Seifert, Drummond, & Pascarella, 2006). Evidence from empirical inquiry indicates that there are multiple ways in which the institutional climate and culture at HBCUs matters in the college experience and academic success of undergraduate Black students, including the quality of interaction with faculty (Seifert et al., 2006), graduation rates (Allen, 1992), and perceived level of support (Palmer & Gasman, 2008).

88    F. G. McGASKEY

Given the number of benefits that accrue to students at HBCUs, it is important to ask, what is it about the institutional culture and environment that yields such outcomes? The literature indicates there are three characteristics of HBCUs that contribute to their unique influence on Black students. Scholars suggest that these institutions are the providers of a unique set of social and cultural resources that aid their students (Brown & Davis, 2001; Davis, 1994). Additionally, the faculty and administrators form close and personal relationships with students the nature of which has been described as “othermothering” (Hirt, Amelink, McFeeters & Strayhorn, 2008). Finally, the racial composition of the faculty, students, and administrators creates an environment that is less socially and academically isolating, marginalizing, and threatening (Allen, 1992; Flowers, 2002, 2003). These components acting together along with the students’ characteristics lead to the unique outcomes discussed previously. Social and Cultural Capital Scholars have suggested that HBCUs create an environment where students gain access to social and cultural capital valued by society (Brown & Davis, 2001; Davis, 1998). Social and cultural capital, as conceptualized by Bourdieu (1986) and defined by Coleman (1988), are the resources and knowledge necessary for students’ academic, personal, and professional success. Social capital is best thought of as the social networks and relationships students form with faculty and administrators that provide relevant information and support (Bourdieu, 1986). Cultural capital is related to the knowledge, skills, practices, and norms valued by a particular organization or culture that grants an individual access to power and position within the given context (Swartz, 1997). Researchers have conducted a number of studies examining the interactions of Black undergraduate students at HBCUs with faculty, peers, and administrators (Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002; Hirt et al., 2008; Palmer & Gasman, 2008). The findings appear to reveal that all groups have the potential to offer some forms of social and cultural capital. Examples of social capital are the academic and personal relationships that students speak of sharing with faculty. While Black students find these deeply meaningful relationships at both HBCUs and PWIs (Guiffrida, 2005), these types of relationships are more frequently cultivated at HBCUs (Flowers, 2002; Nelson Laird et al., 2007). Such relationships yield academic and personal support and assistance that directly contribute to the students’ academic success. Thus, one faculty member might provide a student with extra tutoring, and

Potential Benefits of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities    89

another faculty member might provide access to other educational opportunities such as connecting students with a colleague or former student who can facilitate a student’s admission into graduate school. Additionally, administrators form caring relationships with students (Hirt et al., 2008). Often as a result of their position and connections with academic and nonacademic colleagues, administrators can connect students to individuals and resources that they need to be successful. For example, an administrator may help a student gain on- or off-campus employment. Although it is expected that students form connections with other students, students at HBCUs often form more cohesive and connected social support networks (Palmer & Gasman, 2008). Students at HBCUs often engage with their peers inside and outside of the classroom more frequently than Black students at other types of institutions (Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002; Seifert et al., 2006). In some cases, students act in the role of peer mentor, actively spending time outside of class helping and encouraging each other both academically and personally (Palmer & Gasman, 2008). Faculty and administrators at HBCUs are arguably thought to be in the best position to provide cultural capital. Bourdieu (1986) argued there are three forms of cultural capital: embodied, objectified, and institutionalized. Embodied is the knowledge or skill that an individual holds that is valued within an organization or society. Objectified cultural capital reflects the value that society ascribes to the use of an item as a symbol of a knowledge or skill. Finally, institutionalized cultural capital indicates that the individual who has been credentialed by the institution has a certain level of competency (Lareau & Weininger, 2003). Researchers suggest that faculty and staff at HBCUs provide students with two types of cultural capital that are important to their professional development. The first type of cultural capital equips students to fulfill the positions and roles valued by society at large (Brown & Davis, 2001). Thus, the education that Black students receive prepares them for employment commensurate with their degree type and level. Additionally, students’ education endows them with the requisite knowledge for advanced studies in their field of choice. The second type of cultural capital that is conveyed is that which is relevant to their race. Many HBCUs provide students an opportunity to engage in an exploration for Black history and culture not available to Black students at PWIs (Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002). Scholars surmise that the increased awareness of the contributions and successes of Blacks throughout history contributes to HBCU students’ ability to successfully manage instances of racial discrimination and bigotry that exists in society (Brown & Davis, 2001; Hirt et al., 2008).

90    F. G. McGASKEY

Othermothering While it is noteworthy to discuss the social and cultural capital that Black students receive in the HBCU environment, it is also important to discuss the manner in which it is conveyed. Contributing significantly to the supportive, nurturing, and family-like environment is the nature of the relationships many students have with faculty and administrators. Scholars have described these relationships as othermothering (Hirt et al., 2008). Othermothering has been defined as holistic approach to education (Guiffrida, 2005). It involves attending to a student’s academic, psychoeducational, and emotional development. Faculty and administrators act as not only educators, but supporters, advocates, encouragers, and sometimes taskmasters, all while demonstrating high expectations related to the ability of the student. Wingate (2006) provides an example of an othermothering relationship and demonstrates how it informs the actions of an administrator dealing with a difficult student who has been brought before judicial affairs. After being suspended for engaging in intimidating and exploitative behavior, the student appealed and pleaded for leniency. He asserted that if he returns home, he would be likely to find himself falling prey to the lure of the streets. The dean of students overturned the suspension but required the student to attend weekly church and chapel services, meet with the campus chaplain, and regularly meet with an assigned mentor. This example demonstrates the challenge, support, and ethic of care elements that are generally present in othermothering relationships. Black students perceive such behavior as promoting their success and researchers posit that it aligns with student-centered practices (Guiffrida, 2005). Racial Composition of Campus Community A number of researchers have sought to understand the relationship of the racial composition of HBCUs on the academic and social experience of Black students at these institutions (Cokley, 2002; Flowers, 2002). The research, though not always, can be divided into two overall foci: the racial composition of students and the racial composition of faculty. HBCUs vary significantly in the percentage of Black students who attend (Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 2005). Researchers who focus on students at HBCUs suggest that greater levels of racial homogeneity at HBCUs create several advantages. For example, Black students indicate that having a large number of same-race peers helps facilitate a greater connection to the institution (Fries-Britt & Turner, 2002). Additionally, having fellow Black

Potential Benefits of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities    91

students who are committed to academic quality and excellence acts as a motivating force to encourage them to increase their efforts (Craig, 2006). The racial composition of the faculty at HBCUs has also been a focus of inquiry. In 2008, HBCUs with the highest percentage of Black students also had the highest percentage of Black faculty (NCES, 2011). However, these institutions also, on average, had over 30% non-Black faculty. Scholars have offered a number of advantages to the racial composition of the faculty at HBCUs. First, given that the majority of faculty at HBCUs are Black, students have many same-race role models from whom to learn and whom they can observe and emulate (Allen, 1992). The large number of Black faculty may allow the formation of more mentoring relationships than Black students might find at PWIs. Lastly, the ethnic and racial diversity of the faculty at HBCUs exposes students to multiple perspectives and cultures. Such exposure likely contributes to students’ ability to engage and participate in a more multicultural world. It is also important to note that the overall racial homogeneity of many HBCUs is likely to reduce the potential for stereotype threat. According to the theory, Black students who strongly identify with academics are subject to the negative myths about Blacks’ cognitive, intellectual, and test-taking abilities (Steele, 1997). When presented with tasks on which Blacks are not expected to perform well, the pressure of trying to disprove the stereotype causes sufficient anxiety to hinder performance. In the culturally homogeneous and supportive environment of an HBCU, students may feel safe to take risks in their academic, social, intellectual, and leadership development (Allen, 1992). The preceding discussion suggests that HBCUs have a unique culture and environment that is not matched by other institutional types. The findings of the studies reviewed above indicated that the environment offers many Black students a positive and beneficial experience. There is a significant body of research examining the relationship between the HBCU environment and student outcomes. Researchers have found three noteworthy areas where the institutional culture and climate have had particularly profound effects on students: engagement, involvement, and academic success. Engagement Researchers have consistently found that Black students at HBCUs report higher levels of engagement in comparison to their same-race peers attending PWIs. Nearly thirty years ago in her seminal work, Fleming (1984) found that Black students at HBCUs were more satisfied with their college activities, had better relationships with faculty, and demonstrated greater interpersonal and intellectual growth than their Black peers at PWIs. These

92    F. G. McGASKEY

findings have been confirmed by a number of researchers over the years (Allen, 1992; Watson & Kuh, 1996). Most recently, using NSSE data from 2003, Nelson Laird et al. (2007), found that when comparing nearly 3,000 Black seniors from over 300 PWIs to nearly 2,000 Black seniors from HBCUs, the students from HBCUs reported significantly higher levels of active and collaborative learning, student–faculty interactions, and gains in overall development than their counterparts. Seifert and colleagues (2006) found, in their study of Black students across institutional types, that students at HBCUs reported significantly higher-quality out-of-classroom engagement with faculty and higher-quality interactions with peers than Black students at research institutions. In the same study, HBCU students reported higher course- and non-course-related interactions with peers than Black students at regional institutions. Additionally, they reported greater academic effort and involvement as well as a higher level of scholarly and intellectual emphasis than did their regional institution counterparts. These findings suggest that students at HBCUs not only interact more with faculty and peers, but the quality and nature of the interactions are such that it leads to greater personal and intellectual growth. Academic Success Researchers have been particularly interested in the academic success of Black students who attend HBCUs in comparison to those who attend PWIs. The findings from early studies, examining persistence and graduation rates, indicated that Black students who attended HBCUs persisted and graduated at higher rates than their same-race peers who attended PWIs (Cross & Astin, 1981; Ehrenberg & Rothstein, 1993; Pascarella, Smart, Ethington, & Nettles, 1987). It is important to note that these studies took place during an era when the characteristics of Black HBCU students were somewhat different. As the majority of Black students now attend PWIs, the level of academic preparedness of HBCU students has declined. For example, on average, students attending HBCUs have lower high school grade point averages and standardized test scores than their counterparts attending PWIs (Kim & Conrad, 2006). Kim and Conrad (2006) conducted a study to determine whether there were differences in the bachelor of arts degree attainment of Black HBCU students and those who attended PWIs. The authors sought to address a number of shortcomings that existed in previous studies—namely, the background characteristics of the students as well as institutional characteristics. Using CIRP data collected as students entered their first semester of college, and then again nine years later, the authors analyzed the data on 401 students from 10 HBCUs and 540 students from 34 PWIs. Using nonlin-

Potential Benefits of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities    93

ear hierarchical logistical regression, the authors found that there was no difference in rate of degree attainment between the two institution types. It is important to note that the rates were similar after controlling for selectivity of the institution, the academic preparedness of the students, and the instructional expenditures per full time enrolled student. Thus, even though HBCUs enroll students with lower levels of college preparation and have fewer resources to spend per student, they achieve similar graduation rates to PWIs with more prepared students and greater resources. These findings suggest that there is something inherent in the institutional culture and climate of HBCUs that facilitates persistence to graduation for students who likely would not have been admitted into many PWIs and therefore would not have the opportunity to attend or graduate from college. As the preceding discussion suggests, HBCUs play a unique and pivotal role in the lives of Black students. Specifically, the agents of HBCUs act as purveyors of social and cultural capital that allows students to fully and successfully participate in society. Their approach to student preparation and development is nurturing and supportive, which encourages students to strive to reach their absolute potential. This all takes place in a highly diverse, but somewhat racially homogeneous environment. In such an environment, students feel able to take risks in their intellectual and personal growth, seeing others around them who possess the determination and academic talent to be successful. Most researchers have focused their efforts on demonstrating the benefits of the HBCU cultural milieu for undergraduate students with few directing their inquiry on graduate students in general and Black doctoral students in particular. Given the challenges that some Black students face as doctoral students at PWIs, those HBCUs that offer doctoral degrees may be a viable option. In the next section, I will discuss the particular ways and areas that doctoral programs at HBCUs might facilitate greater success for some Black doctoral students. The Benefits of Attending HBCUs for Black Doctoral Students As discussed previously, doctoral education is often conceptualized as a socialization process that is shaped by a number of cultural influences, including the culture of the institution. Given that socialization helps students to identify with the roles in a discipline and ultimately to assume its values and practices, it is important that students find models of what it is to be a practitioner in their field that are in alignment with who they are and what they believe. The institutional culture may facilitate or hinder that process. While the nature, process, purpose, and experiences of undergraduate education are somewhat different from that of doctoral education, the

94    F. G. McGASKEY

needs of Black doctoral students may not be significantly different from those Black undergraduate students. Building relationships with faculty and peers, receiving adequate levels of social and cultural capital, and feeling supported and cared for are objectives of doctoral students and arguably aspects of the socialization process. With that said, just as HBCUs offer some Black undergraduate students the environment necessary for their engagement and academic success, the same might be said for Black doctoral students. Thus, there appear to be a number of ways that matriculation at an HBCU could lead to positive outcomes for Black doctoral students. Specifically, the HBCU climate and culture is likely to facilitate the student’s socialization by creating a sense of belonging (institution and discipline), fostering relationships with faculty and students, and increased academic success. Fostering a Sense of Belonging Research has consistently revealed that many Black doctoral students experience social isolation and marginalization at PWIs (Daniel, 2007; Gay, 2004; Hurtado, 1994). Given their frequent position as the only one or one of a few Black students, they are often designated the spokesperson for all Blacks, which has been shown to be an isolating experience. Furthermore, they are often ignored in class and out of class by both students and faculty and excluded from key activities including social gatherings, study groups, and research teams (Lewis et al., 2004). Such segregation from socializing events and experiences likely hampers the student’s ability to learn and understand the values, beliefs, and practices of the disciplines as conveyed by his department. The values, norms, and practices that they learn may not be in alignment with their own. Furthermore, given the chilly social climate that they experience, it may be difficult for them to desire adopting and assuming such values that have cause them so much pain. HBCUs offer a different institutional culture and environment from that of PWIs. First, Black culture, interests, and values are central to the environment at most HBCUs. Thus, many Black students will feel more welcomed than they might at a PWI. In addition, many Black doctoral students are more likely to encounter individuals who have similar personal and background characteristics than they might at a PWI. Moreover, doctoral students may find, as Fries-Britt and Turner (2002) did, that students at an HBCU may interact and engage one another in a more friendly and helpful manner than Black students who are in PWI environments. This may be the result of the different set of values than are generally ascribed to by society and enacted at PWIs.

Potential Benefits of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities    95

These aspects of the HBCU environment working together may reduce the feelings of isolation and foster a sense of belonging to the institution and within the student’s individual program. There is some evidence that graduate students at HBCUs do find themselves in a less socially isolating and marginalizing environment. Hall and Closson (2005), in their study of Black and White graduate students attending an HBCU, indicated that the Black students felt a sense of belonging to the campus. Furthermore, students went on to indicate that they felt supported by the faculty and felt comfortable asking for whatever they felt they needed. Nettles and Millett (2006) offer additional evidence that the institutional climate at HBCUs may be less socially isolating. In their study of the doctoral experience of students attending 21 institutions, two HBCUs were included. The authors’ findings indicated that Black HBCU students in education, sciences, and mathematics reported more positive levels of social interaction with faculty than their counterparts at PWIs. This finding is particularly noteworthy given education is the field in which the majority of Black students receive their doctoral degrees, whereas science and mathematics are fields where the fewest doctoral degrees are conferred on Blacks. Foster Academic Engagement with Faculty Scholars have consistently found that a strong predictor of doctoral student success is the level and quality of interaction with faculty (Nettles & Millett, 2006). Socialization researchers have stated that faculty are arguably the most influential agents in facilitating the doctoral students’ introduction and assimilation into the practices and norms of the disciplines (Baird, 1992; Bragg, 1976; Weidman et al., 2001). Engagement with faculty may consist of formal classroom instruction, informal out-of-class academic and social interactions, participation and involvement in discipline-related practices, and involvement in research. As mentioned earlier, the literature on the experiences of Black doctoral students at PWIs is replete with examples of difficulties. One such difficulty researchers have consistently found is that students report problematic relationships with faculty (Ellis, 2001; Gay, 2004; Grant & Simmons, 2008; Lewis et al., 2004). Findings indicate students often perceive White faculty at PWIs as unable or unwilling to meet their particular needs such as a diverse curriculum or need to be recognized (Ellis, 2001; Gay, 2004). Additionally, Black students may feel that White faculty at PWIs may not understand the unique cultural, personal, and professional goals and desires of Black students. Similar to an earlier example, the goal of attaining a doctoral degree may not be to become a researcher. Thus, the emphasis on research, publications, and presentations may be difficult to reconcile with a

96    F. G. McGASKEY

students’ desire to be a community activist. Moreover, research also reveals that White faculty within a PWI environment may not perceive students of color, including Black students, as being as committed to the norms, practices, and processes related to the discipline (Turner & Thompson, 1999). Engagement with faculty may be influenced by two components of institutional culture and climate: the racial composition of the faculty and the approach to engagement by faculty. HBCUs have an advantage over PWIs in facilitating engagement between Black doctoral students and faculty in that the majority of their faculty are Black (NCES, 2011). Thus, like undergraduate Black students, there is the potential that doctoral students may develop a greater identification with the faculty. They may look at Black faculty as future versions of themselves and draw motivation from knowing that these individuals also have experienced the doctoral process and succeeded. Consequently, they are likely to place a great value on being in contact with a large number of accomplished Black scholars who may have similar backgrounds and research interests as the students. Additionally, Black faculty are more likely to include course materials and discussions that reflect students’ interests and concerns regarding race. This all may yield greater interaction and engagement, both personally and professionally between students and faculty at HBCUs, but also greater identification with the discipline. Additionally, scholars have found that HBCUs are nurturing and supportive institutions where significant academic gains are made by students (Allen, 1992; Nelson Laird et al., 2007). Students at HBCUs have cited that faculty “believed in them” (Palmer & Gasman, 2008). Black students have also indicated that Black faculty challenge them to reach their potential by requiring them to excel in their academic undertakings (Guiffrida, 2005). Faculty facilitate this by providing opportunities for students to develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities (Kim & Conrad, 2006). Additionally, faculty and administrators act as advocates for students. They may aid students in finding scholarships or assistantships or aid students in addressing a campus-related problem. Faculty contribute to this academically by providing more opportunities for students to engage in research as undergraduates than their peers at PWIs (Kim & Conrad, 2006). Administrators may do this by having an open-door policy for students to speak to them about whatever they wish (Hirt et al., 2008; Palmer & Gasman, 2008). Evidence from limited inquiry into the graduate experiences of Black students at HBCUs supports the idea that faculty at HBCUs may have an advantage in providing greater levels of academic engagement faculty than at PWIs. As discussed, Nettles and Millett (2006) found that Black doctoral students at HBCUs, in the fields of education, science, and mathematics, reported more positive levels of academic interactions with faculty than their counterparts at PWIs. Moreover, the authors found that HBCU students

Potential Benefits of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities    97

in the social sciences were four times as likely to engage in some level of research productivity as non-HBCU students. Foster Engagement with Peers Black doctoral students may find that they engage more often with their peers at HBCUs for a number of reasons. First, because the majority of students are Black, it is likely that students will interact frequently with their peers both socially and academically. Black doctoral students are likely to form the same kinds of support network providing encouragement, mentoring, and motivation that are found with undergraduate students at HBCUs. Further, the racial homogeneity of the student body may foster stronger bonds, greater levels of trust and understanding, and greater commitment to the success of the support network (McPherson, Smith-Lovin, & Cook, 2001). Thus, Black students who are all in the same sociology PhD program are likely to be committed to seeing each other succeed and are therefore willing to offer program-specific knowledge and expertise in order to ensure each student’s success. As indicated previously, there is limited research on Black doctoral students at HBCUs. Notwithstanding, Fountaine (in press) found that peer-topeer interaction was critical to the experiences and perceived persistence of doctoral students at HBCUs. The findings in her 2008 quantitative investigation of 190 Black doctoral students attending 13 HBCUs showed students’ level of involvement with peers increased the likelihood of students having a positive and satisfying doctoral experience; students were also more likely to believe they would persist to graduation. Foster Academic Success It has long been reported that Black doctoral students lag behind their other-race counterparts in a number of areas associated with academic success. For example, on average, it takes Black PhD students almost two years longer to graduate than most other ethnic groups in the United States (Nettles & Millett, 2006). Additionally, Black PhD students have a lower completion rate than other groups (Nettles & Millett, 2006). Only 47% of Black PhD students who began their program in the academic year 1992– 1993 had completed their degree by 2002–2003 (NCES, 2007). In contrast, 51% of Hispanic PhD students and 55% of White students had completed their degree over the same period (Nettles & Millett, 2006). Scholars suggest that factors hindering Black doctoral student progress include deficiencies in academic skills or preparedness (Council of Graduate

98    F. G. McGASKEY

Schools [CGS], 2004; Debord & Millner, 1993; Hall & Allen, 1982; Lovitts, 2001; Nettles, 1990) and limited financial opportunities and resources (CGS, 2004; Glasgow, 2004; Lovitts, 2001; Nettles, 1990). Scholars have also proposed that perceptions of campus climate might impede doctoral student success (Ellis, 2001; Hall & Allen, 1982; Shears, Lewis, & Furman, 2004). As indicated in the preceding discussion on sense of belonging, when the institutional climate marginalizes and isolates students, it not only has a psychological effect on the student but also influences academic outcomes. Thus, it is possible that an unwelcoming and chilly institutional climate at a PWI may slow down the doctoral process of Black students such that, for some, it extends their time to completion and unfortunately, for others, it may prevent completion altogether. Conversely, a supportive climate such as that found at HBCUs may facilitate time to completion. Nettles and Millett (2006) provide preliminary evidence that the institutional culture and climate at HBCUs may be more conducive to the needs of some HBCU students than that of PWIs and thereby promoting their academic success. The authors found that HBCU students (62% of whom were Black) in mathematics and the sciences finished on average nearly one year sooner than their PWI counterparts. Additionally, those HBCU students in the social sciences finished more than two years sooner than students at PWIs. The discussion from the preceding sections on sense of belonging, engagement of faculty and peers, and academic success provides some justification for the potential advantages that HBCUs might have in preparing some Black doctoral students. Specifically, the institutional culture and climate of HBCUs may facilitate the socialization of Black doctoral students into their programs and into their discipline and promote academic success. There is evidence, albeit limited, that indicates that this may be the case. At this time, I will now turn the discussion towards possible future research endeavors, recommendations, and concluding thoughts. Future Research, Recommendations, and Conclusions In this chapter, I have discussed the literature on Black doctoral students and their experience, the institutional culture and climate of HBCUs, and how these institutions might have an advantage in socializing Black students into their discipline. In addition, I have provided limited evidence that some graduate students at HBCUs have a greater level of interactions with faculty (Nettles & Millett, 2006), feel supported in a family-like environment (Hall & Closson, 2005), and experience less time to completion and similar graduate rates than students at non-HBCUs (Nettles & Millett,

Potential Benefits of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities    99

2006). Given the dearth of research on the experience of Black doctoral students at HBCUs, additional research is needed. Specifically, future researchers should engage in both quantitative and qualitative research that first examines the experiences of Black doctoral students at HBCUs. Additional research may then compare similar Black doctoral students at PWIs and those at HBCUs to determine differences in key areas such as sense of belonging, engagement, attrition rates, time to completion, and relationship with peers and faculty. Some researchers may choose to narrow the scope of their research to a particular discipline or area such as STEM or education. Finally, researchers may also examine how racial composition of both faculty and students influence the experience of Black doctoral students at HBCUs. As we proceed through the 21st century, for good or for ill, HBCUs will likely continue to face questions as to their relevance in a more diverse and often integrated world. As scholars have indicated, it is time for HBCUs to be proactive in promoting their success story (Gasman, 2011b). Their story must begin to include the advantages they offer all students including doctoral students. It is important for HBCUs to position themselves among the numerous options Black doctoral students face as institutions with a particular culture and environment that has been proven to contribute to their academic and personal success. A clear, consistent, and constant message that HBCUs are dedicated to the success of their students and that they have a proven record of delivering will go a long way towards silencing critics and securing the respect and credit they deserve for the contributions they have made to higher education and society. References Allen, W. R. (1992). The color of success: African-American college student outcomes at predominantly White and historically Black public colleges and universities. Harvard Educational Review, 62(1), 26–44. Antony, J. S. (2002). Reexamining doctoral student socialization and professional development: Moving beyond the congruence and assimilation orientation. In J. C. Smart & W. G. Tierney (Eds.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. XVII, pp. 349–380). New York: Agathon Press. Austin, A. E. (2002). Preparing the next generation of faculty: Graduate school as socialization to the academic career. Journal of Higher Education, 73(1), 94–122. Austin, A. E., & McDaniels, M. (2006).Using doctoral education to prepare faculty to work within Boyer’s four domains of scholarship. New Directions for Institutional Research, 129, 51–65.

100    F. G. McGASKEY Baird, L. L. (1992, April). The stages of the doctoral career: Socialization and its consequences. Paper presented at the Annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco. Bieber, J. P., & Worley, L. K. (2006). Conceptualizing the academic life: Graduate students’ perspectives. Journal of Higher Education, 77(6), 1009–1035. Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). Westport, CT: Greenwood. Bragg, A. K. (1976). The socialization process in higher education. (ERIC/AAHE Research Report No 7). Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education. Brown, M. C., & Davis, J. E. (2001). The historically Black college as social contract, social capital, and social equalizer. Peabody Journal of Education, 76(1), 31–49. Cokley, K. (2002). The impact of college racial composition on African American Students’ academic self-concept: A replication and extension. Journal of Negro Education, 71(4), 288–296. Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94(Suppl), 95–120. Council of Graduate Schools. (2004). Ph.D. completion and attrition: Policy, numbers, leadership, and next steps. Washington, DC: Author Craig, Q. (2006). Factors that influence success for African American students. In F. Hale Jr. (Ed.), How Black colleges empower Black students (pp. 101–108). Sterling, VA: Stylus. Cross, P. H., & Astin, H. (1981). Factors affecting Black students persistence in college. In G. Thomas (Ed.), Blacks in higher education (pp. 76–90). Westport, CT: Greenwood. Daniel, C. (2007). Outsiders-within: Critical race theory, graduate education, and barriers to professionalization. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 34(1), 25–42. Davis, J. E. (1994). College in Black and White: Campus environment and academic achievement of African American males. Journal of Negro Education, 63(4), 620–633. Davis, J. E. (1998). Cultural capital and the role of historically Black colleges and universities in educational reproduction. In K. Freeman (Ed.), African American culture and heritage in higher education Research and Practice (pp. 143– 154). Westport, CT: Praeger. Debord, L. W., & Millner, S. M. (1993). Educational experiences of African American graduate students on a traditionally white campus: Succor, socialization, and success. Equity & Excellence in Education, 26(1), 60–71. Ehrenberg, R. G., &Rothstein, D. S. (1993). Do historically Black institutions of higher education confer unique advantages on Black students: An initial analysis. Unpublished paper. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.

Ellis, E. M. (2001). The impact of race and gender on graduate school socialization, satisfaction with doctoral study, and commitment to degree completion. Western Journal of Black Studies, 25(1), 30–45. Fleming, J. (1984). Blacks in college: A comparative study of students’ success in Black and White institutions. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Potential Benefits of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities    101 Flowers, L.A. (2002). The impact of college racial composition on African American students’ academic and social gains: Additional evidence. Journal of College Student Development, 43(3), 403–410. Flowers, L.A. (2003). Effects of college racial composition on African American students’ interactions with faculty. College Student Affairs Journal, 23(1), 54–63. Fountaine, T. P. (in press). The impact of faculty–student interaction on Black doctoral students attending historically Black institutions. Journal of Negro Education. Fries-Britt, S. L., & Turner, B. (2002). Uneven stories: Successful Black collegians at a Black and a White campus. Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 315–330. Fryer, R. G., & Greenstone, M. (2010). The changing consequences of attending historically Black colleges and universities. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(1) 116–148. Gardner, S. K. (2008). Fitting the mold of graduate school. Innovative Higher Education, 33(2), 125–138. Gardner, S. K. (2009). Conceptualizing success in doctoral education: Perspectives of faculty in seven disciplines. Review of Higher Education, 32(3), 383–406. Gardner, S. K. (2010a). Contrasting the socialization experiences of doctoral students in high and low-completing departments: A qualitative analysis of disciplinary contexts at one institution. Journal of Higher Education, 81(1), 61–81. Gardner, S. K. (2010b). Keeping up with the Joneses: Socialization and culture in doctoral education at one striving institution. Journal of Higher Education, 81(6), 728–749. Gasman, M. (2011a, April 13). Telling a better story about HBCUs. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/ telling-a-better-story-about-hbcus/29210 Gasman, M. (2011b, May, 2). Students speak about their experiences at HBCUs. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/blogs/ innovations/%e2%80%9cstudents-speak%e2%80%9d-about-their-experiences-at-hbcus/29341 Gay, G. (2004). Navigating marginality en route to the professoriate: Graduate students of color learning and living in academia. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 17, 265–288. Glasgow, D. J. (2004). Unheard voices: The socialization experiences of African American and Caucasian doctoral students. Dissertation Abstract International, 65(7), 2513A. (UMI No. AAI 3140476). Golde, C. M. (2005). The role of the department and discipline in doctoral student attrition: Lessons from four departments. Journal of Higher Education, 76(6), 669–700. Golde, C. M., & Dore, T. M. (2001). At cross purposes: What the experiences of doctoral students reveal about doctoral education (www.Ph.D.-survey.org). Philadelphia, PA: A report prepared for The Pew Charitable Trusts. Gopaul, B. (2011). Distinction in doctoral education: Using Bourdieu’s tools to assess the socialization of doctoral students. Equity & Excellence in Education, 44(1), 10–21. Grant, C. M., & Simmons, J. (2008). Narratives on experiences of African-American women in the academy: Conceptualizing effective mentoring relationships

102    F. G. McGASKEY of doctoral student and faculty. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 21(5), 501–517. Guiffrida, D. (2005). Othermothering as a framework for understanding African American students’ definitions of student-centered faculty. Journal of Higher Education, 76(6), 701–723. Hall, B. & Closson, R.B. (2005).When the majority is the minority: White graduate students’ social adjustment at a historically Black university. Journal of College Student Development, 46(1), 28–42. Hall, M. L., & Allen, W. R. (1982). Race consciousness and achievement: Two issues in the study of Black graduate/ professional students. Integrated Education, 20(1/2), 56–61. Hirt, J. B., & Muffo, J. M. (1998). Graduate students: Institutional climates and disciplinary cultures. New Directions for Institutional Research, 25(2), 17–33. Hirt, J. B., Amelink, C. T., McFeeters, B. B., & Strayhorn, T. L. (2008). A system of othermothering: Student affairs administrators’ perceptions of relationships with students at historically Black colleges. National Association for Student Affairs Professionals Journal, 45(2), 210–236. Hurtado, S. (1994). Graduate school racial climates and academic self-concept among minority graduate students in the 1970s. American Journal of Education, 102(3), 330–351. Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. (2005). The persisting myth that the Black colleges are becoming White. Retrieved from http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/47_ myth_blackcolleges.html Kim, M. M. (2002). Historically Black vs. White institutions: academic development among Black student. Review of Higher Education, 25(4): 385–407. Kim, M. M., & Conrad, C.F. (2006). The impact of historically Black colleges and universities on the academic success of African-American students. Research in Higher Education, 47(4), 399–427. Kimbrough, W.M. (2011, June 26). Black colleges still play a vital role in education. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/article-content/128038/ Lareau, A., & Weininger, E. B. (2003). Cultural capital in educational research: A critical assessment. Theory and society, 32(5/6), 567–606. Lewis, C.W., Ginsberg, R., Davis, T., & Smith, K. (2004). The experiences of African American Ph.D. students at predominately White Carnegie I-Research Institutions. College Student Journal, 38(2), 231–245. Lovitts, B. E. (2001). Leaving the ivory tower: The causes and consequences of departure from doctoral study. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. McPherson, J. M., Smith-Lovin, L., & Cook, J. M. (2001). Birds of a feather: Homophily in social networks. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 415–444. National Center for Educational Statistics. (2007).Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System (IPEDS). Fall enrollment survey. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. National Center for Education Statistics. (2009). Selected statistics on degree-granting historically Black colleges and universities, by control and type of institution: Selected years, 1990 through 2009 [Table 251]. Fall enrollment survey. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d10/tables/dt10_251.asp

Potential Benefits of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities    103 National Center for Education Statistics. (2011). National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Nelson Laird, T. F., Bridges, B. K., Morelon-Quainoo, C. L., Williams, J. M., & Salinas Holmes, M. (2007). African American and Hispanic student engagement at minority serving and predominantly white institutions. Journal of College Student Development, 48(1), 39–56. Nettles, M. T. (1990). Success in doctoral programs: Experiences of minority and White students. American Journal of Education, 98(4), 494–522. Nettles, M. T., & Millett, C. M. (2006).Three magic letters: Getting to Ph.D. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press. Nyquist, J. D., Manning, L., Wulff, D. H., Austin, A. E., Sprague, J., Fraser, P. K., Calcagno, C., & Woodford, B. (1999). On the road to becoming a professor: The graduate student experience. Change, 31(3), 18–27. Outcalt, C. L., & Skewes-Cox, T. E. (2002). Involvement, interaction, and satisfaction: The human environment at HBCUs. Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 331–347. Palmer, R. T., & Gasman, M. (2008). “It takes a village to raise a child”: The role of social capital in promoting academic success of African American men at a Black college. Journal of College Student Development, 49(1), 52–70. Pascarella, E., Smart, J., Ethington, C., & Nettles, M. (1987). The influence of college on self-concept: A consideration of race and gender differences. American Educational Research Journal, 24(1), 49–77. Redd, K. E. (2008). Data sources: Trends in graduate enrollment and doctoral degrees at historically Black colleges and Universities, 1996 to 2006. Council of Graduate Schools Communicator. Retrieved from http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/DataSources_2008_03.pdf Rosen, B., & Bates, A. (1967). The structure of socialization in graduate school. Sociological Inquiry, 37(1), 71–84. Sallee, M. W. (2008). Socialization and masculinities: Tales of two disciplines. Dissertation Abstract International, 69(11), 4267A. (UMI No. AAI 3331305). Seifert, T. A., Drummond, J., & Pascarella, E. T. (2006, March/April). African American students’ experiences of good practices: A comparison of institutional type. Journal of College Student Development, 47(2), 185–205. Shears, J., Lewis, C., & Furman, R. (2004). The dilemmas of African American men from historically Black colleges and universities in completing doctoral degrees from predominantly White institutions. Essays in Education, 11, Retrieved from http://www.usca.edu/essays/vol112004/chance.pdf Steele, C. M. (1997). A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. American Psychologist, 52, 613–629. Swartz, D. (1997). Habitus: A cultural theory of action. In D. Swartz (Ed.), Culture & power (pp. 95–142). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press Tierney, W. G., & Rhoads, R. A. (1994). Faculty socialization as a cultural process: A mirror of institutional commitment. (ASHE-ERIC Higher Educational Report No. 93-6). Washington DC: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development.

104    F. G. McGASKEY Turner, C. S. V., & Thompson, J. (1993) Socializing women doctoral students: Minority and majority experiences. Review of Higher Education, 16(3), 355–370. Vedder, R. (2010, October, 15). Why do we have HBCUs? The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/why-dowe-have-hbcus/27506 Watson, L.W., & Kuh, G.D. (1996). The influence of dominant race environments on student involvement, perceptions, and educational gains: A look at historically Black and predominantly White liberal arts institutions. Journal of College Student Development, 37(4), 415–424. Weidman, J. C., Twale, D. J., & Stein, E. L. (2001). Socialization of graduate and professional students in higher education: A perilous passage? ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, Volume 28, Number 3. Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. Wingate, J.G. (2006).The role of Black Colleges in promoting self-concept and student centeredness among students. In F. Hale Jr. (Ed.), How Black colleges empower Black students (pp. 111–117). Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Chapter 7

Finding Support One Relationship at a Time The Role of Faculty and Peers in Supporting Black Graduate Students at HBCUs Carmen McCallum University of Michigan Dorian L. McCoy University of Vermont Rachelle Winkle-Wagner University of Nebraska

In recent years, researchers have paid closer attention to graduate student experiences. Scholars have examined students’ attrition and completion rates (Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992; Golde, 2005; Lovitts, 2001), socialization processes (Antony, 2002; Austin, 2002; Ellis, 2001), advising relationships (Baird, 1995), disciplinary differences (Gardner, 2007; Golde, 2005;

Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, pages 105–118 Copyright © 2012 by Information Age Publishing All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

105

106    C. McCALLUM, D. L. McCOY, and R. WINKLE-WAGNER

Golde & Walker, 2006), and concerns involving the dissertation (Boote & Beile, 2005; Nettles & Millet, 2006). However, there remains minimal research on Black students’ experiences in graduate and professional programs (Howard-Hamilton, Morelon-Quainoo, Johnson, Winkle-Wagner & Santiague, 2009). The lack of emphasis on Black students is problematic given that there is a long history of a significant disparity in terminal degree completion between Black and White people in the United States (Thomas, 1992). Blacks comprised over 12% of the United States population in 2007, yet held less than 6% of the nation’s conferred doctorates (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). In comparison, Whites held over 79% of the doctorates during that same year, but only comprised roughly 60% of the population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). In general, White people are almost twice as likely to have earned a doctoral degree as Black people. For those Black students who do earn doctoral and professional degrees, they are more likely to have graduated from a historically Black college or university (HBCU) than they are from a predominantly White institution (PWI) (Gasman, Baez, Drezner, Sedgwick, Tudico, & Schmid, 2007). It could be hypothesized that the reason for the success of Black graduate and professional students at HBCUs is that students receive better support than they do at PWIs (Palmer & Gasman, 2008). Thompson (2009) describes the HBCU environment as an “academically rigorous and socially conscious environment that challenges and shapes students’ intellect as well as their social, political and spiritual lives” (p. 30). There is also evidence that HBCUs are important institutions for preparing Black undergraduate students for graduate school and for faculty careers (Perna, 2001; Perna et al., 2009). But a thorough examination of essential support structures for Black graduate students, particularly within HBCUs, is generally lacking in the empirical literature. Responding to this gap, we offer a review of the literature related to unique support structures for Black graduate and professional students at HBCUs. We chose to explore the topic in a manner that aims to provide insight into the various ways that support structures could enhance a student’s experience in her/his advanced degree programs. We identified two general time points within the process of earning a degree on which to focus our exploration of support structures: the transition into a graduate/professional program and the ongoing socialization process where a student is prepared to succeed in an academic discipline and/or graduate program. Given that there is a scant amount of research that directly highlights Black graduate students at HBCUs, we reviewed literature on graduate school transitions and socialization more generally and then applied these findings to Black students and support structures within graduate programs. Finally, we connect this literature to the HBCU context.

Finding Support One Relationship at a Time    107

Black Graduate Student Transitions and Socialization Amidst the increased research on graduate education, little is known about students experiences in the “entering phase” of their programs (Brailsford, 2010; Gardner, 2009), the time from admission until coursework begins (Gardner, 2009). Even less work has specifically focused on Black students’ experiences or the transition into HBCU graduate study (Howard-Hamilton et al., 2009). In order to successfully transition, students should be able to answer the following questions: (1) Why do I want the degree? (2) Have I academically and socially prepared for the rigor of graduate study? and (3) What do I need to do once I get into graduate school? Why Should You Attend Graduate School? A bachelor’s degree is increasingly becoming insufficient as the entrylevel degree for many fields (Council of Graduate Schools, 2008). Thus, many students are choosing to attend graduate school in order to attain the necessary qualifications to pursue their career goals or advance in their current positions (Anderson & Swazey 1998; Cottrell & Hayden, 2007; King & Chepyator-Thomson, 1996; Padula & Miller, 1999; Poock, 2000; Schwartz, Bower, Rice, & Washington, 2003). Some note that a graduate degree is needed for social mobility (Eide, Brewer, & Ehrenberg, 1998). Anderson and Swazey (1998) found that over 50% of approximately 1,000 doctoral students surveyed indicated they were pursuing a graduate degree to obtain a job that “pays well.” The financial incentive to attend graduate school has been corroborated by other scholarship (James & Alsalam, 1993). Interests in developing research skills and increasing knowledge of a particular field of study has also been cited as a valid reason to enter into a traditional or professional graduate degree program (Anderson & Swazey, 1998; Belcastro & Koeske, 1996; Cottrell & Hayden, 2007; Padula & Miller, 1999; Patchner, 1982; Stoecker, 1991; Webb, 1993). A survey administered to graduate business students from seven postsecondary institutions in Northeastern Ohio indicated that 66% were pursuing the doctorate to improve their research skills and gain a competitive edge over individuals without a graduate degree (Webb & Allen, 1995). For Black students, the decision to enter into graduate school is often connected to a mission of racial uplift and community commitment. By educating themselves, Black students believe they can gain the knowledge and abilities to help other Black students pursuing higher education (Louque, 1999; Schwartz et al., 2003; Williams, Brewley, Reed, White, & Davis-Haley, 2005). The idea of uplift is considered a primary factor influencing many

108    C. McCALLUM, D. L. McCOY, and R. WINKLE-WAGNER

Black students’ decisions to enroll and persist in graduate education (Howard-Hamilton et al., 2009; Williams et al., 2005). Overall, empirical studies suggest that students enroll in graduate study to meet career goals, attain knowledge and skills, increase earning potential, and uplift their families/communities. But, to successfully transition into an advanced-degree program, a student needs to be prepared. Are You Academically and Socially Prepared? There are several ways in which students can academically and socially prepare to transition into graduate education. One way is for students to make the decision to begin their undergraduate education at a four yearinstitution because students who attend two-year institutions are less likely to enroll in graduate school as compared to students who attend four-year institutions (Eide et al., 1998; Mullen, Goyette, & Soares, 2003; Walpole, 2003). Therefore, the type (Eide et al., 1998; Mullen et al., 2003; Walpole, 2003; Zhang, 2005), quality (Zhang, 2005), and selectivity (Mullen et al., 2003; Schapiro, O’Malley, & Litten, 1991; Walpole, 2003) of a student’s undergraduate institution influences whether a student will pursue graduate education. Next, students can prepare for the “entering phase” by academically and socially engaging in their undergraduate college environments (Ethington & Smart, 1986; Tinto, 1975). Students can become socially and academically engaged by participating in student organizations (Harper, Byars, & Jelke, 2005; Patton & Bonner, 2001; Schuh, Triponey, Heim, & Nishimura, 1992), socializing with faculty (Hathaway, Nagda, & Gregerman, 2002), participating in graduate preparatory programs (Ishiyama & Hopkins, 2003), and undergraduate research projects (Barlow & Villarejo, 2004; Hathaway et al., 2002; Huss, Randall, Davis, & Hansen, 2002; Ridgewell & Creamer, 2003). Students should also prepare for the academic rigor of graduate coursework. Those who academically excel during their undergraduate years increase their chances of being admitted into graduate school; on average, a one unit increase in undergraduate GPA (grade point average) is associated with almost a 22% increase in the likelihood of enrolling in a graduate program (Zhang, 2005). In addition to engaging academically and socially, Black students may have to be even more ardent in their personal initiative to prepare for graduate study. In their study of underrepresented students, Brazziel and Brazziel (2001) found that science and engineering graduates who were considered “able” to enroll in graduate study ultimately did not enroll because undergraduate advisors were not proactive in informing them about graduate schools as they were with students of other races.

Finding Support One Relationship at a Time    109

Finally, students should be aware that graduate school will differ significantly from their undergraduate experiences. It is important for students to understand in the context of transition; he or she will experience many new relationships, ways of thinking, and experiences, and this may provide significant challenges for students after enrolling in graduate study (Gardner, 2009). The socialization process, described below, may help to offer support amidst these challenges. What Happens Once You Get There? After a student makes the initial transition into a graduate program, she or he enters into the process of being socialized as a graduate student and a scholar. Socialization is “the process through which an individual becomes part of a group, organization, or community” (Austin, 2002, p. 96). In this case, the group, organization, or community is an academic department/ unit or discipline (Gardner, 2007). The socialization of graduate students occurs during what is commonly referred to as the anticipatory socialization phase of a multiple-step process (Austin, 2002; Gardner, 2009; McCoy, 2007; Van Maanen, 1978). Anticipatory socialization occurs primarily upon admissions and entrance into a graduate program. Upon matriculation, the graduate student enters the initial socialization process and begins to learn the culture, values, norms, and expectations of the institution, college/school, and academic department. The socialization process for graduate students most likely occurs by observing and engaging with faculty and continuing graduate students (Austin, 2002; Gardner 2007), but it is shaped primarily by the graduate student’s academic advisor (Sallee, 2011). However, Austin’s (2002) research revealed that graduate students most often rely on peers, family, and friends to understand their graduate school experiences. The low number of Blacks with post-baccalaureate degrees indicates that relationships with faculty, staff, and advanced graduate students may be crucial to a successful transition and socialization process for these students. Supporting Black graduate students during the anticipatory socialization process is critical, yet research indicates that Black graduate students often do not receive the same support from faculty and staff as do their White peers. For instance, there is evidence that some coordinators of graduate programs who deem students to be unqualified based on non-academic criteria (e.g., race) often discourage students from engaging in the application process (Achor & Morales, 1990; Johnson-Bailey, 2004). JohnsonBailey’s (2004) qualitative study of Black women documents incidents of graduate coordinators denying students applications and refusing to return phone calls based on their beliefs that the student was unqualified or some-

110    C. McCALLUM, D. L. McCOY, and R. WINKLE-WAGNER

how not graduate school material. Nettles (1990), in a multi-institutional survey comparing the experiences of Black, Hispanic, and White doctoral students, found that Black students perceived more racial discrimination and also received fewer graduate assistantships than White students. Overall, Black students often receive less support than White students in terms of interactions with faculty, financial support, and institutional support (e.g., an institutional climate that embraces diversity), particularly at PWIs (Howard-Hamilton et al., 2009; Nettles, 1990). This highlights the discrimination that some Black students experience, which has been found to be a deterrent for them to pursue graduate education (Williams et al., 2005). To ensure Black students’ success upon their matriculation to graduate education, the socialization and support they receive at HBCUs must be enhanced as one variable to foster Black graduate students’ persistence to degree completion. Supporting Black Graduate and Professional Students Historically Black colleges have an integral role in higher education for Black students, and these institutions disproportionately serve those students who were poorly prepared in primary/secondary schools or those who are from low-income backgrounds (Allen & Jewell, 2002; Kim, 2002; Kim & Conrad, 2006). For Black students, these institutions provide a welcoming environment where there is support that has yet to be mirrored at PWIs (Palmer & Young, 2010). There is a long history suggesting that HBCUs foster important undergraduate preparation for graduate school success (Allen, 1992; Barnes, 2010; Brown & Davis, 2001; Perna, 2001). A case study of Spelman College maintained that the undergraduate educational experience there served as a catalyst for Black women’s participation in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, including aspirations for graduate education (Perna et al., 2009). Yet there is very little work that specifically focuses on support structures for graduate and professional students within HBCUs. Thus, we turned to the literature on Black graduate and professional student support more generally to help identify ways that support structures might be fostered for Black graduate and professional students within the HBCU context. Relationships, in the form of faculty mentoring or peer support, are vital to the success of Black students in advanced degree programs. Herzig’s (2006) research on students in mathematics graduate programs suggested that social relationships, both those between faculty and students and those among peers, were integral to the academic success of graduate students.

Finding Support One Relationship at a Time    111

Corroborating this, in a qualitative study of students of color in doctoral programs at a PWI, participants asserted that relationships with faculty, peers, and their families provided the motivation to succeed and the necessary support structures during their programs (Winkle-Wagner, Johnson, Morelon-Quainoo, & Santiague, 2010). Sulè’s (2009) interviews with Black female doctoral students suggested that mothers were important in providing the motivation to succeed academically. The notion of racial uplift offered a continued source of inspiration during graduate degree programs (Sulè, 2009). Interactions with faculty mentors have been evidenced to be a key factor in fostering Black graduate student success (Herzig, 2006; Milner, Husband, & Jackson, 2002; Patton & Harper, 2003). Particularly in predominantly White environments, mentoring may be vital to reframing negative institutional messages related to race and gender (Hinton, Grim, & Howard-Hamilton, 2009). While it is not always possible for Black students to find a Black faculty mentor, it is necessary that faculty mentoring be culturally appropriate, meaning that it must deliberately attempt to offer a counter-space or alternative to negative images or perspectives of Black students (Hinton et al., 2009; Milner et al., 2002). According to Barnes’ (2010) study of Black women in graduate programs, faculty mentoring should emphasize high expectations as one of the most important factors influencing doctoral student persistence. Brown, Davis, and McClendon (1999) argue that faculty mentoring of students of color must be institutionalized so that the mentoring and support of underrepresented students transcends a single relationship and becomes a programmatic or institutional goal. One such example is the Peabody Mentoring Program, where the focus is on mentoring underrepresented students through their doctoral programs and into faculty careers (Brown et al., 1999). In the HBCU context, research indicates that faculty members are particularly supportive of Black students, making the environment more welcoming (Hirt, Strayhorn, Amelink, & Bennett, 2006). Peer relationships in the form of networking, peer mentoring, or collaboration are vital to the success of Black graduate students (Milner et al., 2002; Milner, 2004; Winkle-Wagner et al., 2010). Establishing such relationships immediately after enrolling in graduate school aids new students in the socialization process (Gardner, 2008). One way that these peer relationships can be fostered is through involvement in professional associations, graduate student councils, or departmental organizations (Barnes, 2009). Gardner and Barnes (2007) examined involvement at the graduate level in their study (where over half of the participants identified as Black) and found that involvement was an important factor in helping students to network and ultimately succeed in their advanced degree programs. Palmer and Gasman’s (2008) qualitative study of eleven students at an HBCU maintained that social capital, or the building of social relationships and

112    C. McCALLUM, D. L. McCOY, and R. WINKLE-WAGNER

networks, was an important factor in their academic success. While the study’s participants were Black undergraduate men, the notion that peer relationships can positively influence academic success within HBCUs is likely transferrable to the graduate education context. Finally, it is important for students to have a plan for financing their graduate education. Often students have accumulated loan debt during their undergraduate years and that debt can deter students from considering graduate school (Nettles & Millett, 2006). Finding funding support to defer the cost is often a determining factor in whether a student will pursue and persist in graduate school (Cardon & Rogers, 2002; Ethington & Smart, 1986; Kallio, 1995; Winkle-Wagner et al., 2010). Financial support for graduate school typically comes from the graduate institution in the form of a fellowship or assistantship (McWade, 1995). Studies have found that receiving financial support from graduate institutions may increase the likelihood of graduate school enrollment and that this financial support may be one of the most important factors for underrepresented students in particular (Ethington & Smart, 1986; Winkle-Wagner et al., 2010). In a study of students of color in doctoral programs at a PWI, graduate-level research and teaching assistantships were asserted as one of the most important support structures for graduate school success (Kuykendall, & WinkleWagner, 2009). Summary: The Role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities HBCUs serve a vital role in graduate and professional education for Black students. The scholarly evidence indicates that HBCUs foster the academic preparation of Black students for success in graduate and professional programs (Perna, 2001; Perna et al., 2009). HBCUs are the top graduate and professional degree-granting institutions for Black students nationally (Gasman et al., 2007); however, research on experiences within graduate and professional programs at HBCUs is limited. Nonetheless, our review of the literature suggests that there are three important support structures that help to foster Black students’ success in graduate and professional programs: faculty mentoring, peer support, and financial assistance. Given the findings relative to support structures within HBCUs at the undergraduate level (see Allen, 1992; Fleming, 1984; FriesBritt & Turner, 2002), one could assume that these institutions are uniquely suited to offer these support structures to students at the graduate level (Palmer & Gasman, 2008). Ultimately, our review provides a charge for future research to be conducted on doctoral students’ experiences in graduate and professional

Finding Support One Relationship at a Time    113

programs at HBCUs. While there is a body of work that compares HBCUs and PWIs at the undergraduate level, there is a huge gap when it comes to understanding the experiences of graduate and professional students within these institutions. To extend these findings to the graduate level, future work should compare predominantly White and historically Black institutional experiences within graduate and professional programs. Then, there is a need to explore academic disciplinary differences within HBCUs. For instance, Gardner’s (2008) work examined the “unique environments and cultures” (p. 345) of graduate programs and departments, but there is little work on those differences at HBCUs. Additionally, future studies should examine the socialization and transition to graduate education at HBCUs from a quantitative perspective. The majority of studies that do consider HBCUs at the advanced degree level are qualitative and combine the experiences of master’s and doctoral students. Master’s and doctoral students’ socialization and transition experiences are distinctly different; investigating the differences in Black master’s and doctoral students’ transitions and socializations is warranted (Fountaine, in press). Finally, the socialization process is not the same for all graduate students, and it should not be assumed that all Black students engage in a similar socialization process. Future research needs to examine Black graduate students’ socialization based on their multiple intersecting identities such as gender, sexual orientation, or social class. Research that addresses the above-mentioned concerns will expand the knowledge of Black graduate student experiences and also improve how HBCUs serve their graduate student populations. References Achor, S., & Morales, A. (1990). Chicanas holding doctoral degrees: Social reproduction and cultural ecological approaches. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 21(3), 269–287. Allen, W. R. (1992). The color of success: African American college students outcomes at predominantly White and historically Black public colleges and universities. Harvard Educational Review, 62(1), 26–44. Allen, W. R., & Jewell, J. O. (2002). A backward glance forward: Past, present, and future perspectives on historically Black colleges and universities. The Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 241–261. Anderson, M. S., & Swazey, J. P. (1998). Reflections on the graduate student experience: An overview. New Directions for Higher Education, 101, 3–13. Antony, J. S. (2002). Reexamining doctoral student socialization and professional development: Moving beyond the congruence and assimilation orientation. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, 17, 349–380. Austin, A. E. (2002). Preparing the next generation of faculty: Graduate school as socialization to the academic career. Journal of Higher Education, 73(1), 94–122.

114    C. McCALLUM, D. L. McCOY, and R. WINKLE-WAGNER .

Barlow A., & Villarejo, M. (2004). Making a difference for minorities: Evaluation of an educational enrichment program. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41, 861–881. Barnes, B. J. (2009). A look back and a look ahead: How to navigate the doctoral degree process successfully. In V. Barbara Bush, C.R. Chambers, & M. Walpole (Eds.), From diplomas to doctorates: The success of Black women in higher education and its implications for equal education for all (pp. 161–182). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing. Barnes, B. J. (2010). The nature of exemplary adviser’s expectations and the ways they may influence doctoral persistence. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory, and Practice, 11(3), 323–343. Belcastro, B. R., & Koeske, G. F. (1996). Job satisfaction an intention to seek graduate education. Journal of Social Work Education, 32(3), 315–327. Boote, D. N., & and Beile, P. (2005, April). Scholars before researchers: On the centrality of the dissertation literature review in research preparation. Educational Researcher, 34(6), 3–15. Bowen, W. G., & Rudenstine, N. L. (1992). In pursuit of the Ph.D. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Brailsford, I. (2010). Motives and aspirations for doctoral study: Career, personal, and inter-personal factors in the decision to embark on a history PhD. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 5, 15–27. Brazziel, M. E., & Brazziel, W. F. (2001). Factors in decisions of underrepresented minorities to forego science and engineering doctoral study: A pilot study. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 10(3), 273–281. Brown, M. C., & Davis, E. J. (2001). The historically Black college as social contract, social capital, and social equalizer. Peabody Journal of Education, 76(1), 31–49. Brown, M. C., Davis, G. L., & McClendon, S. A. (1999). Mentoring graduate students of color: Myths, models, and modes. Peabody Journal of Education, 74(2), 105–119. Cardon, P. L, & Rogers, G. E. (2002). Technology education graduate education: Factors influencing participation. East Lansing, MI: National Center for Research on Teaching Learning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED462615). Cottrell, R. R., & Hayden, J. (2007). The why, when, what, where, and how of graduate school. Health Promotion Practice, 8(1), 16–21. Council of Graduate Schools (2008). Graduate education and the public good. Eide, E., Brewer, D., & Ehrenberg, R. G. (1998). Does it pay to attend an elite private college? Evidence on the effects of undergraduate college quality on graduate school attendance. Economics of Education Review, 17(4), 371–376. Ellis, E. M. (2001). The impact of race and gender on graduate school socialization, satisfaction with doctoral study, and commitment to degree completion. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 25, 30–45. Ethington, C. A., & Smart, J. C. (1986). Persistence to graduate education. Research in Higher Education, 24(35), 287–303. Fleming, J. (1984). Blacks in college: A comparative study of student success in Black and White institutions. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Fountaine, T. P. (in press). The impact of faculty–student interaction on Black doctoral students attending historically Black institutions. Journal of Negro Education.

Finding Support One Relationship at a Time    115 Fries-Britt, S., & Turner, B., (2002). Uneven stories: Successful Black collegians at a Black and a White campus. Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 315–330. Gasman, M., Baez, B., Drezner, N. D., Sedgwick, K., Tudico, C., & Schmid, J. M. (2007). Historically Black colleges and universities: Recent trends. Academe, 93(1), 69–78. Gardner, S. K. (2007). I heard it through the grapevine: Doctoral student socialization in chemistry and history. Higher Education, 54(5), 723–740. Gardner, S. K., & Barnes, B. J. (2007). Graduate student involvement: Socialization from the professional role. Journal of College Student Development, 48(4), 1–19. Gardner, S. K. (2008). What’s too much and what’s too little?: The process of becoming an independent researcher in doctoral education. Journal of Higher Education 79(3), 326–350. Gardner, S. K. (2009). The development of doctoral students: Phases of challenge and support (ASHE Higher Education Report: 1551-6970). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Gardner, S. K., & Barnes, B. J. (2007). Graduate student involvement: Socialization from the professional role. Journal of College Student Development, 48(4), 1–19. Golde, C. M. (2005). The role of the department and discipline in doctoral student attrition: lessons from four departments. The Journal of Higher Education, 76, 669–700. Golde, C., & Walker, G. (2006). Envisioning the future of doctoral education: Preparing stewards of the discipline. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Harper, S. R., Byars, L. F., & Jelke, T. B. (2005). How membership affects college adjustment and African American undergraduate student outcomes. In T. L. Brown, G. S. Parks, & C. M. Phillips (Eds.), African American fraternities and sororities: The legacy and the vision (pp. 393–416). Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky. Hathaway, R. S., Nagda, B. R., & Gregerman, S. R. (2002). The relationship of undergraduate research participation to graduate and professional education pursuit: An empirical study. Journal of College Student Development, 43(5), 614–631. Herzig, A. H. (2006). How can women and students of color come to belong in graduate mathematics? In J. M. Bystydzienski (Ed.), Removing barriers: Women in academic science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (pp. 254–270). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. Hinton, K. G., Grim, V., & Howard-Hamilton, M. F. (2009). Our stories of mentoring and guidance in a higher education and student affairs program. In M. F. Howard-Hamilton, C. L. Morelon-Quainoo, S. D. Johnson, R. Winkle-Wagner, & L. Santiague (Eds.), Standing on the outside looking in: Underrepresented students’ experiences in advanced degree programs (pp. 184–202). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing. Hirt, J. B., Strayhorn, T. L., Amelink, C. T., & Bennett, B. R. (2006). The nature of student affairs work at historically Black colleges and universities. The Journal of College and Student Development, 47(6), 661–676. Howard-Hamilton, M. F., Morelon-Quainoo, C., Winkle Wagner, R., Johnson, S. D., & Santiague, L. (Eds.). (2009). Standing on the outside looking in: Underrepresented students’ experiences in advanced degree programs. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.

116    C. McCALLUM, D. L. McCOY, and R. WINKLE-WAGNER Huss, M. T., Randall, B. A., Davis, S. F., & Hansen, D. J. (2002). Factors influencing self-rated preparedness for graduate school: A survey of graduate students. Teaching of Psychology, 29(4), 275–281. Ishiyama J. T., Hopkins V. M. (2002). Assessing the impact of a graduate-school preparation program on first-generation, low-income college students at a public liberal arts university. Journal of College Student Retention, 4, 393–405. James, E., & Alsalam, N. (1993). College choice, academic achievement, and future earnings. In E. P. Hoffman (Ed.), Essays on the economics of education (pp. 11– 138). Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research Johnson-Bailey, J. (2004). Hitting and climbing the proverbial wall: Participation and retention issues for Black graduate women. Race Ethnicity and Education, 7(4), 331–349. Kallio, R. E. (1995). Factors influencing the college choice decisions of graduate students. Research in Higher Education, 36(1), 109–124. Kim, M. (2002). Historically Black vs. White institutions: Academic development among Black students. Review of Higher Education, 25(4), 385–407. Kim, M., & Conrad, C. F. (2006). The impact of historically Black colleges and universities on the academic success of African American students. Research in Higher Education, 47(4), 399–427. King, S. E., & Chepyator-Thomson, J. R. (1996). Factors affecting the enrollment and persistence of African-American doctoral students. Physical Educator, 53(4), 170–180. Kuykendall, J. A., & Winkle-Wagner, R. (2009). Financing the dream: The impact of financial aid on graduate education for underrepresented minority students. In M. F. Howard-Hamilton, C. L. Morelon-Quainoo, S. D. Johnson, R. WinkleWagner, & L. Santiague (Eds.), Standing on the outside looking in: Underrepresented students’ experiences in advanced degree programs (pp. 45–62). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing. Louque, A. (1999). Factors influencing academic attainment for African-American women Ph.D. recipients: An ethnographic study of their persistence. Negro Educational Review, 50(3), 101–108. Lovitts, B. E. (2001). Leaving the ivory tower: The causes and consequences of departure from doctoral study. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Litttlefield. McCoy, D. L. (2007). Entering the academy: Exploring the socialization of African American male faculty at HBCUs and PWIs. Journal of the Professoriate, 2(2), 75–91. McWade, P. (1995). Financial aid for graduate study. New Directions for Student Services, 72, 51–57. Milner, R. M. (2004). African American graduate students’ experiences: A critical analysis of recent research. In D. Cleveland (Ed.), A long way to go: Conversations about race by African American faculty and graduate students (pp. 19–31). New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing. Milner, H. R., Husband, T., & Jackson, M. P. (2002). Voices of persistence and self-efficacy: African American graduate students and professors who affirm them. Journal of Critical Inquiry into Curriculum and Instructions, 4(1), 33–39.

Finding Support One Relationship at a Time    117 Mullen, A.L., Goyette, K. A., & Soares, J. A. (2003). Who goes to grad school? Social and academic correlates of educational continuation after college. Sociology of Education, 76(2), 143–169. Nettles, M. (1990). Success in doctoral programs: Experiences of minority and White students. American Journal of Education, 98(4), 494–522. Nettles, M., & Millett, C. M. (2006). Three magic letters: Getting to PhD. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Padula, M., & Miller, D. (1999). Understanding graduate women’s reentry experiences. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 23(2), 327–343. Palmer, R. T., & Gasman, M. (2008). It takes a village to raise a child: The role of social capital in promoting academic success for Black men at a Black college. Journal of College Student Development, 49(1), 52–67. Palmer, R. T., & Young, E. (2010). The uniqueness of an HBCU environment: How a supportive campus climate promotes student success. In T. L. Strayhorn & M. C. Terrell (Eds.), The evolving challenges of Black college students: New insights for practice and research (pp. 138–160). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing. Patchner, M. A. (1982). A decade of social work doctoral graduates: Their characteristics and educational programs. Journal of Education for Social Work, 18(2), 35–41. Patton, L. A. & Bonner, II, F. A. (2001). Advising the historically Black Greek letter organization (HBGLO): A reason for angst or euphoria? National Association of Student Affairs Professional Journal, 4(1), 17–30. Patton, L. D., & Harper, S. R. (2003). Mentoring relationships among African American women in graduate and professional schools. In M. F. Howard-Hamilton (Ed.), Meeting the needs of African American women. New directions for student services (No. 104, pp. 67–78). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Perna, L. W. (2001). The contribution of historically Black colleges and universities to the preparation of African Americans for faculty careers. Research in Higher Education, 42(3), 267–294. Perna, L., Lundy-Wagner, V., Drezner, N. D., Gasman, M., Yoon, S., Bose, E., & Gary, S. (2009).The contributions of HBCUs to the preparation of African American women for STEM careers: A case study. Research in Higher Education, 50(1), 1-–23. Poock, M. C. (2000). African American students and the decision to attend doctoral programs in higher education administration. College Student Affairs Journal, 19(2), 51–59. Ridgewell, D. M., & Creamer, E. G. (2003). Institutional culture and the advanced degree aspirations of students attending women’s colleges. College Student Affairs Journal, 23(1), 77–90. Sallee, M. W. (2011). Performing masculinity: Considering gender in doctoral student socialization. Journal of Higher Education, 82(2), 187–216. Schapiro, M. O., O’Malley, M. P., & Litten, L. H. (1991). Progression to graduate school from the ‘elite’ colleges and universities. Economics of Education Review, 10(3), 227–244. Schuh, J., Triponey, V. L., Heim, L. L., & Nishimura, K. (1992). Student involvement in historically Black Greek letter organizations. National Association of Student Personnel Association Journal, 29(6), 274–282.

118    C. McCALLUM, D. L. McCOY, and R. WINKLE-WAGNER Schwartz, R. A., Bower, B. L., Rice, D.C., & Washington, C. M. (2003). “Ain’t I a women, too?”: Tracing the experiences of African American women in graduate school. Journal of Negro Education, 72(3), 252–268. Stoecker, J. L. (1991). Factors influencing the decision to return to graduate school for professional students. Research in Higher Education, 32(6), 689–701. Sulè, V. T. (2009). Oppositional stances of Black female graduate students: Perspectives from social and natural sciences. In M. F. Howard-Hamilton, C. L. Morelon-Quainoo, S. D. Johnson, R. Winkle-Wagner, & L. Santiague (Eds.), Standing on the outside looking in: Underrepresented students’ experiences in advanced degree programs (pp. 147–168). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing. Thomas, G. E. (1992). Participation and degree attainment of African-American and Latino students in graduate education relative to other racial and ethnic groups: An update from Office of Civil Rights data. Harvard Educational Review, 62(1), 45–65. Thompson, P. F. (2009). On firm foundations: African American Black college graduates and their doctoral student development in the Ivy League. In M. Gasman & C.L. Tudico (Eds.), Historically Black colleges and universities: Triumphs, troubles, and taboos (pp. 27–40). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillian. Tinto, V. (1975). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. U.S. Census Bureau. (2008). An older and more diverse nation by mid-century. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov /PressRelease/www/releases/archives/population/012496.html Van Maanen, J. (1978). People processing: Strategies of organizational socialization. Organizational Dynamics, 3, 19–36. Walpole, M. (2003). Socioeconomic status and college: How SES affects college experiences and outcomes. Review of Higher Education, 27(1), 45–73. Webb, M. S. (1993). Variables influencing graduate business students’ college selections. College and University, 68(1), 38–46. Webb, M. S., & Allen, L .C. (1995). Benefits of a graduate business degree: Students’ perspectives and universities’ challenges. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 6(2), 57–71. Williams, M. R., Brewley, D. N., Reed, R. J., White, D. Y., & Davis-Haley, R. T. (2005). Learning to read each other: Black female graduate students share their experience at a White research I institution. Urban Review, 37(3), 181–199. Winkle-Wagner, R., Johnson, S. D., Morelon-Quainoo, C., & Santiague, L. (2010). A sense of belonging: Socialization factors that influence the transitions of students of color into advanced-degree programs. In S. K. Gardner & P. Mendoza (Eds.), On becoming a scholar: Socialization and development in doctoral education (pp. 179–202). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing. Zhang, L. (2005). Advance to graduate education: The effect of college quality and undergraduate majors. Review of Higher Education, 28(3), 313–338.

Chapter 8

Supporting Black Millennial Graduate Students at HBCUs Fred A. Bonner, II Texas A&M University Petra A. Robinson Rutgers University David A. Byrd Texas A&M University

In the end, the Millennials from traditionally underrepresented groups, though different in some aspects than their White counterparts, will nonetheless, as projected, achieve much greatness. They will, as our generation did and all the previous generations have done, take their rightful places as leaders —Aretha F. Marbley, taken from Diverse Millennial Students in College (2011, pp. 280–281)

Interest in the generational cohort we have identified as Millennials has continued to flourish in both academic and non-academic settings. What some have referred to as a “cottage industry,” the sifting and sorting of individuals based on certain group attributes and characteristics that for all

Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, pages 119–132 Copyright © 2012 by Information Age Publishing All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

119

120    F. A. BONNER, P. A. ROBINSON, and D. A. BYRD

intents and purposes explain behavior, has generated widespread interest. According to Hoover (2009), “Ever since the term went prime time about a decade ago, a zillion words have been written about who Millennials are, how they think, and why they always ______________ . In short, Millennials talk is contagious” (para 5). Notwithstanding this Millennial fervor, there has been less fanfare associated with Millennials from diverse populations (Bonner, Marbley, & Howard-Hamilton, 2011). The literature has been virtually silent on Black, Asian American, Latino, Native American, LGBTQ, or bi/multiracial Millennials. Even more problematic in the efforts to provide a more holistic picture of who the Milleninal generation is comprised of is the lack of focus on contexts other than the undergraduate setting. Given the fact the first Millennials entered college somewhere around the years 1999 and 2000, it is safe to assume that many are now matriculating in or have graduated from graduate or professional programs. One of the few articles that have attempted to shed light on Millennials in the graduate school setting was the Chronicle Review piece titled “Millennials as Graduate Students” contributed by William Strauss and Neil Howe (2007). Yet, much like their previous work, including the often-cited Milllennials Rising: The Next Generation, these authors fail to problematize how diversity impacts generational status. The literature has heretofore been lacking in its treatment of Black students in the graduate school setting. Johnson-Bailey, Valentine, Cervero, and Bowles (2009) lament the fact that “much of the research on Blacks in college has focused on undergraduates, who are decidedly different on many levels—age, length of degree requirements, curriculum, and life experiences” (p. 180). Ultimately, this chapter seeks to underscore how historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) can support Black Millennial graduate students. An overview of Black students’ experience in higher education is followed by a more pointed review of Black students’ experience in graduate education. The following sections tackle the complex identity mix of being Black, a Millennial, and a graduate student. The chapter ends with a case study and recommendations and conclusions to generate future continued dialogue about this topic. Black Students in Higher Education The Black experience in American higher education is an unfortunate one in recent history. Although the first institution of higher education, Harvard College, was established in 1636, it was not until the Morrill Act of 1862 and the chains of slavery were overcome in the 1880s that Blacks were provided more expansive opportunities to obtain post-secondary education (Thelin, 2004). The early collegiate opportunities for Blacks were

Supporting Black Millennial Graduate Students at HBCUs    121

limited due to the false promises of separate but equal as defined by the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) decision. While this landmark Supreme Court decision opined that populations could be segregated within institutions so long as equal opportunities were afforded to all citizens, the unfortunate reality is that access and services were rarely equal, but always separate. Although a few Black colleges existed before the Civil War, it was predominantly from this segregated world that institutions emerged to provide higher education to Blacks (Gasman & Tudico, 2008). Today, there are 103 HBCUs in the United States that range in size from several hundred to over 10,000 in enrollment and account for roughly one-quarter of the college degrees awarded to Blacks (Betsey, 2008). Historically Black Colleges and Universities Since their inception, HBCUs have developed a proud legacy upon which countless Blacks have been lifted to a higher social standing through educational opportunity that often was not available anywhere else in academe. As Gasman and Tudico (2008) stated, “For nearly 150 years, these institutions have trained the leadership of the Black community, graduating the nation’s [Black] teachers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, and college faculty” (p. 1). Institutions such as Fisk University and Spelman College were originally funded through missionary efforts of churches and through the advocacy of the Freeman’s Bureau. As these funds withered, HBCUs found new support through northern White industrial philanthropists such as Rockefeller and Carnegie (Gasman & Tudico, 2008). Through the late 19th and early 20th century, a debate raged on HBCU campuses around the philosophical approach that should be taken in educating students. Booker T. Washington advocated for industrial education at Tuskegee, while leaders such as W. E. B. DuBois felt the emphasis should be placed on a liberal arts curriculum (Lewis, 1994). Regardless of the approach, the core belief was that the Black race would be uplifted through higher education—the mission of HBCUs. Although HBCUs only account for 3% of the higher education campuses in America, they continue to enroll approximately 14% of Black students (Bonner, in press). HBCUs face their share of critics in this modern world of increased accountability in higher education (see LeMelle, 2002). However, the historical ability of HBCUs to provide increased educational opportunity and the importance to Black society cannot be denied (Bonner, in press). Wilson (2007) conducted a study on the effect of attending an HBCU on student outcomes and found that students are just as likely to persist and graduate at an HBCU as a predominantly White institution (PWI).

122    F. A. BONNER, P. A. ROBINSON, and D. A. BYRD

Predominantly White Institutions During the 1800s, there were Black students who were allowed to attend mostly northern PWIs. For example, in 1888, W. E. B. DuBois enrolled, and in 1890 graduated from Harvard College (Lewis, 1994). However, Black post-secondary students were mostly limited in their enrollment in PWIs prior to the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. More precisely, Black college students were excluded from being admitted and matriculating to the majority of colleges and universities in the United States until desegregation was mandated by the Federal Government. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled through Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas (1954) that “separate but equal” was unconstitutional. Although this landmark decision started the desegregation movement, the reality was very different in practice. As Roebuck and Murty (1993) demonstrated, it took the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Higher Education Act of 1965 to actually enforce the desegregation movement in higher education. The struggle for Black enrollment in PWIs played out in courtrooms and the classroom throughout the years following the Second World War. An example of this legal battle was the case of Sweatt v. Painter (1950). Herman Marion Sweatt filed suit against the University of Texas at Austin (UT) when President Theophilus Painter refused to admit him to the institution’s law school because Texas did not allow integrated education. While the state court was busy hearing the case, the state established a law school in Houston specifically for Black students through Senate Bill 140 in 1947 (Texas Southern University, in press), which became Texas Southern University and the Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Notwithstanding these developments, Sweatt v. Painter (1950) went to the Supreme Court. Although the Court did not mandate that University of Texas at Austin (UT) admit Sweatt, the Court found that the two law schools were not “substantively equal”—UT Law employed 16 full-time faculty compared to the Black law school’s five. The UT Law library contained 65,000 volumes compared to the 16,500 in Houston. Beyond the demonstration of higher education’s separate and unequal segregation of the 1950s, Sweatt v. Painter also demonstrated the lengths to which state governments in the South would travel to ensure their institutions of higher education remained segregated and opportunities were reserved for White students. The legal fight to end de jure segregation continued well into the late 20th century. On the heels of the legal victories to end segregation in higher education, PWIs in the South often implemented admissions requirements that historically precluded attendance for Black students. For example, United States v. Fordice (1992) found the State of Mississippi in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because the three flagship universities in the state required a minimum American College Testing (ACT)

Supporting Black Millennial Graduate Students at HBCUs    123

score that was well above the average score achieved by Black students. The state universities were unable to argue an educational reason why the ACT requirement was higher at the PWI flagships compared to the regional and HBCU campuses (Kaplin & Lee, 2007). The court ruled that the admissions policies adopted by the state were a form of de jure segregation leftover from the former power system in place before the Civil Rights Act. Of concern to HBCUs is that the court felt that to end all segregation, the duplication of programs should end, thereby creating the question of what role HBCUs should play in the modern context (Roebuck & Murty, 1993). To understand the contemporary university campuses in which millennial Black students are enrolling, it is vital to understand the historical underpinnings that have created this modern context. Although the majority of Black students enrolled in higher education are currently attending PWIs, this is a rather recent phenomenon, and the opportunities for today’s students of color were provided only through a tenuous and contentious struggle for social justice. Black Students and Graduate Education Overview of Engagements with Graduate Education Despite antidiscrimination legislation, affirmative action, and even the inception of Brown v. Board of Education, Black students have struggled because of racial disparities that infiltrate all levels of schooling. Research indicates that Black students continue to be overrepresented in certain special education programs and underrepresented in programs for the gifted and talented (Ford, 1998; Shealey, 2009). Across the spectrum, there is also a significant underrepresentation of Black students in graduate education when compared to their White counterparts. Indeed, much of the literature on the experiences of graduate students of color has focused on issues of recruitment, support through financing and academics, mentorship, and culturally relevant curriculum and instruction (Daniel, 2007; Johnson-Bailey, 2004; Tyler, Smith, & Pion, 2003). These are most pertinent to the discussion on the engagement of Black students in graduate education. Of grave significance is the fact that the recruitment and retention of Black students in graduate schools remains a significant problem (Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992; Carter & Wilson, 1994; Onwuegbuzie, 1999). Racial and social inequities have been implicated in the problem of low academic status among Blacks in higher education in the United States. Higher education institutions and graduate education in particular are greatly influenced by a larger social, cultural, and historical context. In exploring the engagements of Black students in graduate education, it is

124    F. A. BONNER, P. A. ROBINSON, and D. A. BYRD

essential to therefore consider how higher education is influenced by these influential contexts. The cyclical and persistent nature of bias faced by Black students permeates through primary, secondary, and even higher education. It infringes on the recruitment, retention, and matriculation of Black students in graduate and professional programs. There is evidence of incessant losses of non-Asian minority students, and, as Ongwuegbuzie (1999) highlights, their retention rate is 50% to 75% lower than that of White students. This is also especially obvious as exemplified by the low representation of Black scholars among the faculties of major research universities. The underrepresentation of Black faculty in higher education institutions in the United States is not a new phenomenon and is generally well documented (Astin, Antonio, Cress, & Astin, 1997; Astin, Korn, & Dey, 1991; Blackwell, 1981; Sax, Astin, Arrendo, & Korn, 1996). This underrepresentation has the effect of reducing the probability that Black students will complete graduate school at the same rate as their White counterparts. According to Blackwell (1981), the most persistent, statistically significant way to project Black graduate student enrollment and graduation rates is the presence of Black faculty. Faculty mentorship plays a key role in academic success and socialization of Black students (Davis, 2010). Further, colleges and universities with Black faculty are more successful at recruiting, retaining, and matriculating Black students than those with few or no Black faculty. It is important to note that the underrepresentation of Black faculty in higher education institutions outside of HBCUs is “acute” (Allen, Epps, Guillory, Suh, & Bonous-Hammarth, 2000, p. 125). This indicates the persistence of race-related problems affecting Black graduate students. Graduate Education in the HBCU Context The findings on whether HBCU attendance increases post-baccalaureate outcomes are mixed. While Ehrenberg and Rosthein (1994) concluded that HBCU attendance did not increase the probability of enrollment in graduate school, Constantine (1995) found evidence to the contrary. Research by Matthews and Jackson (1991) and Brazziel (1983) support the notion that graduates of Black institutions are more likely to attend graduate school than are Black students at White institutions. Furthermore, Black students who receive baccalaureate degrees from HBCUs have greater PhD completion rates than Black students at non-HBCU Black students (Baker, 1995). It is no surprise then that the majority of Black doctoral students come from Black institutions (Brazziel, 1993). HBCUs make up only 3% of U.S. higher education institutions (Abelman & Dalessandro, 2009); they are small and often troubled by limited

Supporting Black Millennial Graduate Students at HBCUs    125

resources, yet “many of the top baccalaureate-origin institutions of Black science and engineering doctorate recipients are HBCUs” (Chubin, May, & Babco, 2005, p. 76). Notwithstanding, HBCUs have been subject to much critique from the rest of the higher education community and are in need of what Minor (2005) calls a “rejuvenated institutional commitment and new-found vision” (p. 3). This complicates matters for Black students attending HBCUs, which are struggling with issues related to accreditation (Nichols, 2004), underprepared and disadvantaged students, low enrollments (Nichols, 2004), and leadership autocracy (Minor, 2005). Research shows that underrepresented minority graduate students face the same challenges (among others) as their White counterparts (Maton, Wimms, Grant, Wittig, Rogers, & Vasquez, 2011), but the empirical literature regarding the experiences and perspectives of graduate students in general and graduate students at HBCUs, including students of color, is limited. Considered in total, Black students who attend HBCUs will continue to benefit from intellectually stimulating environments, and more peer interaction as well as more faculty–student contact, compared to Black students at PWIs (Seifort, Drummond, & Pascarella, 2006). The literature shows that HBCUs offer a more affordable and accessible route to higher education for Blacks. Blacks, Millennial, Graduate Students: The HBCU Context Each of the three statuses highlighted here in this section connote an abundance of particularities and nuances that make for not only critical challenges but also novel opportunities for higher education institutions. The framework provided by Howe and Strauss (2000) articulate seven characteristics that underscore who the Millennial generation is and how they tend to function in society; namely, Millennials are special, sheltered, confident, conventional, team-oriented, achieving, and pressured. Bonner (2011) troubled these characteristics in their application to Black male Millennials, especially those who were enrolled in HBCUs. He stated, “Each has to be problematized and treated individually as a totem of the Millennial experience in the HBCU context.” Addressing these three variables concomitantly requires: 1. A focus on the Black male experience in P–16 education. 2. A focus on the alignment or misalignment of the Black male experience with Howe and Strauss’ framework. 3. A focus on how both #1 and #2 are embedded in the HBCU context. (p. 114)

126    F. A. BONNER, P. A. ROBINSON, and D. A. BYRD

In addressing how Black graduate student Millenials can be supported in the HBCU context, a very similar approach has to be implemented. A focus on the Black experience across the P–16 continuum readily reveals how many of the interactions that Black students have had with school have been, at best, tepid and, at worst, chilly. Where the HBCU comes in, especially at the graduate level, is to offer a very different educational experience. According to Stewart, Wright, Perry, and Rankin (2008), “Students that attend HBCUs benefit from increased levels of engagement with peers and faculty and faculty diversity. As a majority on the campus, students at HBCUs do not have to cope with assimilating in addition to other collegiate pressures” (p. 26). The HBCU provides the setting for students and faculty to engage in relationships that support their academic success. Thus, in the HBCU setting what Howe and Strauss (2000) refer to as being treated special as well as being sheltered from harsh environs becomes a truism for the Black Millennial graduate student. A third characteristic attribute of Millennials is that they are confident. The present conceptualization of this term as expressed by Howe and Strauss purport that Millennials are confident due to life experiences that have consistently affirmed their self-esteem and self-perception (Bonner, in press). For the Black student, these affirmations have not been as readily available in school contexts. What postsecondary education often finds across their Black student enrollees are the resultant effects of more than 12 years of schooling that has left them anything but confident. A choice for many Black students to attend a PWI for graduate school often continues this cycle of debilitation in student confidence levels (Allen, Epps, & Hanniff, 1991; Bonner & Bailey, 2006; Cuyjet, 2006). Where the HBCU circumvents this downward trajectory is through its provision of a crucible in which Black students can experience success and enhance their levels of confidence around faculty and peers who support their development. LeMelle (2002) posits, “The HBCU has now come full circle in fulfilling its mission—the production of highly competent Black students who have no ambivalence about who they are and how they should use their skills and talents to maximize their own and their community’s interests” (n.p.). Too, the HBCU in its promotion of excellence among Black graduate student populations addresses yet another characteristic; namely, Black students in this environment are able to see themselves as achieving. Fifth and sixth characteristics reported by Howe and Strauss (2008) to explain the Millennial generation must also be viewed, if applied to Black Millennial graduate students, from their perspective. In essence, these authors’ explain how the Millennial generation is pressured to succeed due to being reared in high-stakes testing and fiercely competitive environments. They also speak to their affinity for team-oriented experiences in which they are afforded the opportunity to forge mutually beneficial collaborative re-

Supporting Black Millennial Graduate Students at HBCUs    127

lationships. Perhaps the most significant aspect of the HBCU experience for student enrollees is their ability to learn in an academic crucible that not only promotes but also demands their success. However, the academic challenges presented to these students in the HBCU context are met with a commensurate level of support (Jennings, Bonner, Lewis, & Nave, 2007; Sanford, 1968)—mediating feelings of being pressured. The final characteristic, conventional, highlights an adherence to a more rules-oriented and authority figure-centered approach to life that Millennials have tended to embrace. According to DeBard (2004), “Millennials have come to accept the social rules that have been imposed upon them because the Boomer authority figures who have defined the rules also have the power and resources to support such good behavior by supporting those who follow convention” (p. 36). Although the application of the previous statement warrants scrutiny in its use with Black graduate student populations, it is important to recognize how many Millennials, despite their matriculation and subsequent graduation from an undergraduate institution, still strongly adhere to the voice(s) of authority. How the HBCU can effectively use the Millennials’ knack for convention is to capitalize on the mentoring and role modeling that these institutions are known to provide for Black students (Palmer, Davis, & Maramba, 2010). The reliance on authority figures who serve as guides to assist in the navigation of the educational terrain, as well as mentors who embrace while gently motivating students from dependence to interdependence, are hallmarks of the HBCU context. Case Study Tamara is a 21-year old Black female from a low-income family. She is a recent HBCU graduate and the first to attend and graduate from college in her family. Tamara has great ambitions to pursue graduate-level education. When she started her undergraduate work, she wanted to be a social worker, but now she has her eyes set on being a professor. To everyone in her family and wider community, she is seen as the beacon of hope. Everyone expects Tamara to succeed, and she is known by all in her small community as a smart, outgoing, self-confident, and friendly person. Today, Tamara is faced with making the decision of where she will go to school to pursue her graduate work. She wants to move to the city and attend the PWI, because she thinks there are more resources, better facilities, and greater opportunities there than at her alma mater. She is torn because on her college visits, no one looked like her or sounded like her—very few of the students, none of the advisors, and certainly none of the professors. Her other option that she is considering is another HBCU that was very similar to her undergraduate experience. This institution provides Black

128    F. A. BONNER, P. A. ROBINSON, and D. A. BYRD

faculty members who reached out with a willingness to serve as a mentor during her visit, and the campus provided a comforting feel. Tamara’s situation is a very real scenario that millennial Black students encounter as they contemplate the multitude of graduate campuses across the country. Although the transition from an HBCU undergraduate program to a PWI graduate school can be an intimidating process filled with unique transition issues, the challenging opportunity may provide different opportunities that are overshadowed by the fear of change. Conclusion and Recommendations This chapter explores the critical intersections of generational and racial status contextualized in an academic setting—the historically Black college and university. Unique to this discussion is the treatment of Black Millennials, a population who to date are rarely a focus in the extant literature. Adding the additional monikers graduate student and historically Black college and university renders the literature at best scant and at worst non-existent. Thus, the information included in this chapter serves as a foundation upon which additional work related to the Black Millennial in the HBCU context should be developed. To proffer suggestions for future research and scholarship, the following recommendations are offered: • Explore the intersectionality of multiple statuses. Understanding what it means to be a Black, Millennial graduate student is critical not only to the generation of research but also to the creation of environments that are beneficial to the student’s academic progression. Additionally, these concomitant statuses must be situated in an HBCU context. Although the literature does not specifically provide a focus on these combined identity vectors—the information that does exist tends to primarily focus on Black populations at the undergraduate level in predominantly White institutional settings. • Generate scholarship that focuses on Black graduate education and graduate students in HBCUs. A review of the literature reveals the lack of research that focuses on graduate education in HBCUs. A number of the HBCUs in the country offer graduate-level education; however, a focus on these programs has rarely been undertaken. Beyond a listing of the programs that are currently being offered in these institutions, it would be beneficial to develop some sense of the quantitative and qualitative contributions they are offering to the graduate education landscape. In addition, data that excogitate methods that explore who comprises the graduate population and their motivations for pursuing study in these institutions is warranted.

Supporting Black Millennial Graduate Students at HBCUs    129

• Develop literature focusing on the experiences of Black Millennial students. The Millennial literature has primarily focused on the experiences of traditional-aged, White students from middle- to upper-middleclass backgrounds. The foregrounding of the experiences of this Eurocentric cohort has virtually silenced the voices of those representing diverse communities. Thus, providing data that speak to the nuanced experiences of Black Millennial students will provide a clearer picture of how institutions can devise educational environments that foster their success. • Create opportunities to train administrators, faculty, and staff on college student development theory. Theory that promotes a holistic understanding of how college students learn, grow, and develop must become an essential part of educating the campus community. Programs and workshops for academic and student affairs administrators as well as faculty and staff should be offered. The goal of these training opportunities is to make the college student development process more intentional across key campus constituencies. References Abelman, R., & Dalessandro, A. (2009). The institutional vision of historically Black colleges and universities. Journal of Black Studies, 40(2), 105–134. Allen, W. R., Epps, E. G., Guillory, E. A., Suh, S. A., & Bonous-Hammarth (2000). The Black academic: Faculty status among African Americans in U.S. higher education. Journal of Negro Education, 69(1/2), 112–127. Allen, W., Epps, E. G., & Haniff, N. Z. (Eds.). (1991). College in black and white: African American students in predominantly white and historically Black public universities. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. Astin, H. S., Antonio, A. L., Cress, C. M., & Astin, A. W. (1997). Race and ethnicity in the American professorate, 1995–1996. Los Angeles, CA: University of California–Los Angeles, Higher Education Research Institute. Astin, H.S., Korn, W.S., & Dey, E.L. (1991). The American college teacher: National norms for the 1980–1990 HERI faculty survey. Los Angeles, CA: University of California–Los Angeles, Higher Education Research Institute. Baker, J. G. (1995). Minority science paths: The NSF minority graduate fellows of 1978– 1981. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Betsey, C. L. (Ed.). (2008). Historically Black colleges and universities. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. Blackwell, J. E. (1981). Mainstream outsiders: The production of Black professionals. Bayside, NY: General Hall. Bonner, F. A. (2012). Standing in the intersection: Black, male, millennial, college students. In R.T. Palmer & J. L. Wood (Eds.), Black men in colleges: Implications for HBCUs and beyond (pp. 107–121). New York, NY: Routledge.

130    F. A. BONNER, P. A. ROBINSON, and D. A. BYRD Bonner, F.A., & Bailey, K. W. (2006). Enhancing the academic climate for African American men. In M. J. Cuyjet & Associates (Eds.), African American men in college (pp. 24–46). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Bonner, F. A., Marbley, A. F., & Howard-Hamilton, M. (Eds.). 2011). Diverse millennial students in college: Implications for faculty and student affairs. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing. Bowen, W. G., & Rudenstine, N. L. (1992). In pursuit of the Ph.D. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Brazziel, W. (1983). Baccalaureate college of origin of Black doctoral recipients. Journal of Negro Education, 32, 102–109. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). Carter, D., & Wilson, R. (1994). Minorities in higher education, 1993: Twelfth annual status report. Washington, DC: American Council on Education. Chubin, D. E., May, G. S., & Babco, E. L. (2005). Diversifying the engineering workforce. Journal of Engineering Education, 94(1), 73–85. Constantine, J. (1995). The effect of attending historically Black colleges and universities on future wages of Black students. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 48, 531–546. Cuyjet, M. J. (2006). African American college men: Twenty-first-century issues and concerns. In M. J. Cuyjet & Associates (Eds.), African American men in college (pp. 3–23). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Daniel, C. (2007). Outsiders-within: Critical race theory, graduate education and barriers to professionalization. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 34(1), 25–42. Davis, D. J. (2010). The Academic influence of mentoring upon African American undergraduate aspirants to the professoriate. Urban Review, 42, 143–158. DeBard, R. (2004). Millennials coming to college. New Directions for Student Services, (106), 33–45. Ehrenberg, R. G., & Rothstein, D. S. (1994). Do historically Black institutions of higher educations confer unique advantages on Black students? An initial analysis. In R. G. Ehrenberg (Ed.), Choices and consequences: Contemporary policy issues in education (pp. 89–137). Ithaca, NY: ILR Press. Ford, D. (1998). The underrepresentation of minority students in gifted education: Problems and promises in recruitment and retention. Journal of Special Education, 32(1), 4–14. Gasman, M., & Tudico, C. L. (Eds.). (2008). Historically Black colleges and universities: Triumphs, troubles, and taboos. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Hoover, E. (2009, October 11). The millennial muddle. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 11. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/The-MillennialMuddle-How-/48772/ Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials rising: The next great generation. New York, NY: Vintage Books. Jennings, M. E., Bonner, F. A., Lewis, C. W., & Nave, F. M. (2007). The historically Black college and university: A question of relevance for the African American millennial college student? National Association of Student Affairs Professionals Journal, 10(1), 85–96.

Supporting Black Millennial Graduate Students at HBCUs    131 Johnson-Bailey, J. (2004). Hitting the proverbial wall: Participation and retention issues for Black graduate women. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 7(4), 331–349. Johnson-Bailey, J., Valentine, T., Cervero, R. M., & Bowles, T. A. (2009). Rooted in the Soil: The Social Experiences of Black Graduate Students at a Southern Research University. Journal of Higher Education, 80(2), 178–203. Kaplin, W. A., & Lee, B. A. (2007). The law of higher education (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons. LeMelle, T. J. (2002). The HBCU: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Education, 123(1), 190. Lewis, D. L. (1994). W. E. B. DuBois: Biography of race, 1868–1919. New York, NY: Henry Holt. Marbley, A. F. (2011). From one generation to another generation. In F. A. Bonner, A. F. Marbley & M. Howard-Hamilton (Eds.), Diverse millennial students in college: Implications for faculty and student affairs (pp. 270–281). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing. Maton, K., Wimms, H., Grant, S., Wittig, M., Rogers, M., & Vasquez, M. (2011). Experiences and perspectives of African American, Latina/o, Asian American, and European American psychology graduate students: A national study. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 17(1), 68–78. Matthews, W., & Jackson, K. W. (1991). Determinants of success for Black males and females in graduate and professional schools. In R. Allen, & N. Z. Haniff (Eds.), College in Black and White (pp. 197–208). Albany: State University of New York Press. Minor, J. T. (2005). Discerning facts about faculty governance at HBCUs. Academe, 91, 3. Nichols, J. C. (2004). Unique characteristics, leadership styles, and management of historically Black colleges and universities. Innovative Higher Education, 28(3), 219–229. Onwuegbuzie, A.J. (1999). Statistics anxiety among African American graduate students: An effective filter? Journal of Black Psychology, 25(2), 189–209. Palmer, R. T., Davis, R. J., & Maramba, D. C. (2010). Role of an HBCU in Supporting Academic Success for Underprepared Black Males. Negro Educational Review, 61(1/4), 85–106. Plessy v. Ferguson. (1896). 163 U.S. 537. Roebuck, J. B., & Murty, K. S. (1993). Historically Black colleges and universities: Their place in American higher education. Westport, CT: Praeger. Sanford, N. (1968). Where colleges fail: A study of student as person. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Sax, L.J., Astin, A.W., Arrendo, M., & Korn, W.S. (1996). The American college teacher: National norms for the 1995–1996 HERI faculty survey. Los Angeles, CA: University of California–Los Angeles, Higher Education Research Institute. Seifert, T.A. Drummond, J., & Pascarella, E.T. (2006). African American students’ experiences of good practices: A comparison of institutional type. Journal of College Student Development, 47(2), 185–205. Shealey, M. (2009). Voices of African American doctoral students in special education: Addressing the shortage in leadership preparation. Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Education, 12(3), 349–361.

132    F. A. BONNER, P. A. ROBINSON, and D. A. BYRD Stewart, G., Wright, D., Perry, T., & Rankin, C. (2008). Historically Black colleges and universities: Caretakers of precious treasure. Journal of College Admission, 201, 24–29. Strauss, W., & Howe, N. (2007). Millennials go to college (2nd ed.) Great Falls, VA: Life Course Associates. Sweatt v. Painter. (1950). 339 U.S. 629. Texas Southern University. (n.d.). About TSU. Retrieved from http://www.tsu.edu Thelin, J. R. (2004). A history of American higher education. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins. Tyler, N.C., Smith, D.D., & Pion, G.M. (2003). Doctoral students in special education: Characteristics and career aspirations. Teacher Education and Special Education, 26(3), 194–205. United States v. Fordice. (1992). 505 U.S. 717. Wilson, V. R. (2007). The effect of attending an HBCU on persistence and graduation outcomes for African American college students. The Review of Black Political Economy 34(2), 11–52.

Chapter 9

A Quantitative Investigation of Predictors for Engagement and Persistence at HBCUs Tiffany Patrice Fountaine Morgan State University

Over the last two decades, scholars have learned a substantial amount about the academic and social experiences and graduation outcomes of Black students who attend historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Research studies (Jackson, 2001; Outcault & Skewes-Cox, 2002; Palmer & Gasman, 2008; Terenzini, Yaeger, Bohr, Pascarella, & Nora, 1997) have indicated that Black students who attend HBCUs perform better academically, build more meaningful relationships with faculty and staff, are more engaged in the campus environment, and have a better sense of reassurance and connection than Black students who attend predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Further, HBCUs have been cited as being able to provide Black students with an educational experience that is unachievable at

Black Graduate Education at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, pages 133–151 Copyright © 2012 by Information Age Publishing All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

133

134   T. P. FOUNTAINE

PWIs (Allen, 1992) and have been credited with cultivating supportive and engaging environments (Hall & Closson, 2005) where Black students have a strengthened self-esteem and stronger sense of racial pride (Hirt, Strayhorn, Amelink, & Bennett, 2006; Palmer & Gasman, 2008). In general, recent trends in higher education have shown indicators for continual and impressive progress for the future of Black doctoral students (Golde & Walker, 2006; National Opinion Research Center [NORC], 2007; Roach, 1997; Thompson, 1999), and although much of the aforementioned research has been focused at the undergraduate level, the role of HBCUs in graduate education has been equally impressive as they have been a critical force in the production of Black graduate and first professional degree recipients. The National Center for Education Statistics [NCES] (2005) showed HBCUs produced 6,900 master’s recipients (5,034 for Blacks), accounting for roughly 10% of master’s degrees awarded to Black students that year. HBCUs have also been a principal producer of Black doctorates; between 1992–1993 and 1997–1998, HBCUs increased their number of doctoral graduates by 15.2% (St. John, 2000). In fact, in the 1997–1998 academic year, two HBCUs were listed among the top 15 Black doctorate producers with the largest one-year percentage increase: Jackson State University in Mississippi with an increase of 144%, and Clark Atlanta University with an increase of 95.5% (St. John, 2000). According to the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), Howard University has been the largest on-campus producer of Black PhD recipients in the United States, awarding more than 340 doctorate degrees in all fields of study over that time span (CGS, 2007). While Blacks have made continuous progress in earning doctorates, optimism for the future may be premature at this time. HBCUs have made considerable strides in the production of Black doctorates over the last 20 years, but overall, progress has been slow. Blacks’ total share of doctorate recipients increased from 3.8% in 1977, to only 4.8% in 2000 (Nettles & Millett, 2006). The literature has also pointed out doctorate attainment among Blacks lags considerably behind that of White students (Adam, 2007; Carter & Wilson, 1993; Ottinger, Sikula, & Washington, 1993). Background and Context As a graduate of two PWIs—at the undergraduate and master’s level—and doctoral recipient at a historically Black university, I was absolutely fascinated by much of the aforementioned data as I recognized many parallels, and some differences, with my own experience. I completed my undergraduate studies at a very large, research intensive PWI in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. With an enrollment upwards of 30,000 students, the

Predictors for Engagement and Persistence at HBCUs    135

institution, at that time, was less than 10% Black. Nonetheless, I enjoyed my undergraduate experience tremendously. Born and reared in an inner city, poverty stricken, and predominantly Black environment, my undergraduate experience provided me with an opportunity to engage, academically and socially, with a diverse (i.e., racially and ethnically, socio-economically, sexually, culturally) group of students, faculty, and administrators. I found faculty to be moderately engaging, did not experience any negative transition or adjustment issues, was reasonably involved on campus, and performed well academically. Conversely, my experience in my master’s program was drastically different. I attended a smaller liberal arts PWI in the mid-Atlantic region of the country. I was one of two Black students in my entire cohort. I did not find the faculty or students to be welcoming or engaging, and certainly not vested in my success. Nonetheless, I performed very well academically and progressed quickly through the program. However, my performance and progression were met with very hurtful and unhelpful commentary regarding my final thesis defense, allegations of cheating, and accusations of my circumventing departmental policy—all of which I was eventually vindicated. Yes, I use the term vindicated, as I truly felt I was on trial for my academic integrity. My master’s program experience rests is summed up in parting words of a faculty member who made attempts to convince me not to consider pursuing a doctorate; apparently, at least in her opinion, no one would ever consider me for admission to any doctoral program as my work was subpar and not of quality. In other words, “I shouldn’t have even been thinking about a PhD.” Those words were lasting and powerful, but served as a catalyst for future success rather than a deterrent for my doctoral pursuits. I attended a medium sized, research extensive, historically Black university located in the mid-Atlantic section of the country. I would characterize my experience as phenomenal! I echo the sentiment of the participants in Palmer’s (this volume) study, highlighted in chapter three. When reflecting on the totality of my academic career, I honestly feel that my time at an HBCU allowed me a unique educational experience that would have been unattainable at a PWI. The faculty members in my program were extremely encouraging and supportive, and demonstrated a vested interest in my academic success, personal and professional development, and successful completion of the program. As I navigated the doctoral process and approached the dissertation phase, I was excited about the future as I would soon re-enter the workforce, now equipped with a heightened sense of empowerment, new knowledge and understanding of theory that I was eager to test, and, most importantly, an earned PhD. Notwithstanding, I recognized some of the challenges associated with the doctoral process for Black students—within the institution I was attending as well as the higher

136   T. P. FOUNTAINE

education landscape overall. I knew that many of my counterparts at HBCUs faced barriers to completing the doctorate such as perceived poor customer service, resource and financing disparities, and negative student–faculty/administrator interactions, as outlined in Palmer (this volume). The current line of inquiry initially lay in my curiosity about other students and whether or not they shared my experiences; I simply wanted to know more. I started with a goal of understanding what Black doctoral students were saying about their experiences at HBCUs. Were they approaching the process with the same excitement, enthusiasm, and passion that I was? Did they feel welcomed, nurtured, and empowered as the literature had indicated? How would they characterize their relationships with faculty and other students in the program? Most importantly, what was their outlook on completing this process, and what factors influenced their thoughts and perspectives? After an initial review of the extant literature and research, I found that often, data collected on graduate student outcomes are at the aggregate levels and neglect to distinguish the accomplishments and successes of doctoral students versus master’s students. In addition, relatively few studies have concentrated on factors influencing the experiences and persistence for doctoral students, and even fewer have scrutinized those factors for minority populations, with the exception of institutionally comparative analyses—historically Black institutions versus predominantly White institutions (DeSousa & Kuh, 1996; Patterson-Stewart, Richie, & Sanders, 1997; Watson & Kuh, 1996). But even that research has been focused more at the undergraduate level than at the post-baccalaureate level. Further, much of the research that actually has examined Black graduate education has not necessarily investigated the impact of an HBCU setting (Ellis, 2000; Nerad & Miller, 1996; Nettles & Millett, 2006; Turner & Thompson, 1993). These gaps in the literature fail to expand the knowledge base of Black student experiences that could prove critical to matriculation and completion of the doctorate for these students. In addition, the literature offers minimal understanding of current and prospective Black students to deal with the personal and professional challenges of doctoral study. The problem in this investigation centered on the fact that there was not a clear understanding of the factors that impact the academic and social experiences or the perceived persistence of Black doctoral students attending HBCUs. The purpose of this ongoing investigation was to examine how Black doctoral students described their experiences and to determine if factors, specifically pre-entry experiences, educational financing, student-faculty engagement, and student-peer interaction, were predictive of Black doctoral students’ experiences and influenced their belief that they would complete their doctoral studies. This chapter discusses the inferential analysis and differentiation among each of the four factors and their critical roles in doctoral students’ experiences and thoughts about persisting at HBCUs. The chapter will include an overview of

Predictors for Engagement and Persistence at HBCUs    137

the study’s theoretical framework and guiding research questions, highlight the methodological design, and share the inferential data analysis. Recommendations for practice and future research are offered. Theoretical Framework A synthesis of Tinto’s (1975) theory of student departure, Bean and Metzner’s (1985) model for student attrition, Baird’s (1993) integrated model for student development, and Tinto’s (1993) model for doctoral student attrition guided this inquiry and, in particular, informed the selection of independent and dependent variables. Tinto (1975) suggested that a student’s academic success is impacted by the varied experiences, personal attributes, and goals he or she has upon entering a program. The researcher argued that the greater the level of a student’s integration into the academic and social domains of an institution, the greater the persistence. While elements of Tinto’s (1975) model have been appropriate for explaining attrition for the typical student at a residential institution (Munro, 1981), other researchers (Bean & Metzner, 1985; Grosset, 1989) suggested that his model may not be as effective in explaining attrition for other kinds of students. Bean and Metzner (1985) developed a conceptual model for student attrition and suggested that attrition variables were likely to differ for subgroups such as minority students at different types of institutions. Further, the researchers proposed that financial resources might also influence a student’s decision to remain at an institution. Baird’s (1993) integrated model for student development was also an appropriate guide for this inquiry, as it incorporated a newer subgroup not mentioned in the prior persistence paradigms—doctoral students. In this model, graduate faculty members are considered a vital force for conducting doctoral student socialization. Faculty members model the roles of academics in the discipline and provide practical help and advice. According to Baird (1993), the other socialization agents, who were rarely formally recognized, were the graduate students’ peers. The last model to guide this investigation was Tinto’s (1993) sociologically oriented model of doctoral student attrition, which described three general stages after program admission: (1) transition to membership into the graduate community in the first year, (2) the attaining of candidacy through development of competence, and (3) active research. In the first stage, attrition and slower progress were linked with low levels of social and academic interactions with the doctoral program community and a low commitment to degree and career goals. Later, attrition was linked to inadequate interactions concerning the student’s academic competence. In the last stage, the actions of a specific faculty member were determining

138   T. P. FOUNTAINE

factors. These outcomes served as additional support to the significance to this investigation as well the selection of variables. Research Questions Four research questions, and subsequent null and alternative hypotheses, were developed to guide the current inquiry: Research Question 1: Is pre-entry experience associated with doctoral experience and persistence perception for Black students attending an HBCU? Research Question 2: Is educational financing associated with doctoral experience and persistence perception for Black students attending an HBCU? Research Question 3: Is faculty agency associated with doctoral experience and persistence perception for Black students attending an HBCU? Research Question 4: Is peer agency associated with doctoral experience and persistence perception for Black students attending an HBCU? Method A non-experimental, correlation survey design was used to examine a nonprobability purposive sample of Black doctoral students (N = 190) attending thirteen doctorate degree-granting private and public historically Black universities. Participants completed a web-based survey with questions relating to the study’s four independent variables—pre-entry experience, educational financing, faculty agency, and peer agency—as well as questions geared to measure participants’ satisfaction with their doctoral experience and expectations for completing their doctoral studies. Participants were invited to partake in a web-based questionnaire. Instrument A questionnaire was developed through the extraction of a battery of items from the Survey of Doctoral Student Finances, Experiences and Achievement (Nettles & Millett, 2006), the Survey on Doctoral Education and Career Preparation (Golde & Dore, 2001), and the Survey of Earned Doctorates (NORC, 2006). Because the current study’s final instrument consisted of multiple items extracted from multiple instruments and because some items were modified and others were deleted, Cronbach’s alpha was calculated for each set of items measuring the independent and dependent variables to

Predictors for Engagement and Persistence at HBCUs    139

test reliability. A reliability coefficient of .70 or higher was regarded satisfactory for the reliability scores for this instrument. Variables Independent Variables Pre-entry experience (PREEXP) measured participants’ experiences prior to enrolling in a doctoral program. Items pertained to students’ level of awareness and understanding of program requirements and expectations. Responses were scored on a four-point Likert scale such that 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, and 4 = strongly agree. Educational financing (EDUFIN) related to the adequacy or inadequacy of financial support sources such as federal and state aid, assistantships, and personal savings. Responses were scored on a two-point scale such that 1 = inadequate and 2 = adequate. Faculty agency (FACAGE) contained items concerning faculty feedback, progress toward degree completion, and amount and quality of time spent between the student and the faculty advisor. Peer agency (PEEAGE) quantified the level of involvement students had with the other students and the student community. Replies to FACAGE and PEEAGE items were scored on a four-point Likert scale such that 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, and 4 = strongly agree. Respondents could also select not applicable for all items measuring the independent variables. Dependent Variables Doctoral experience (DOCEXP) referred to the degree to which participants had a positive experience during their doctoral studies and the satisfaction they had for the overall doctoral process. Responses were scored on a four-point Likert scale such that 1 = strongly disagree or very dissatisfied, 2 = disagree or dissatisfied, 3 = agree or satisfied, and 4 = strongly agree or very satisfied. Persistence perception (PERPER) contained items related to program progress, degree completion expectations, and program progress inhibitors and responses were scored on a four-point Likert scale such that 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, and 4 = strongly agree. Respondents could also select not applicable for all items measuring the dependent variables. Analytical Procedures A factor analysis was calculated to statistically reduce the 41-item FACAGE variable to determine if there were underlying constructs and to allow for a more manageable data set for inferential analysis. Factor analysis is a statistical approach used to examine interrelationships among a large

140   T. P. FOUNTAINE

number of variables and to explain these variables in terms of their common underlying dimensions (Hinkle, Wiersma, & Jurs, 2003). The goal is to find a way to condense the information included in a number of original variables into a smaller set of dimensions or factors with a minimum loss of information. In general, when conducting factor analyses, the researcher is examining the pattern of correlations between the observed measures. Measures that are highly correlated are likely influenced by the same (common) factors, while those that are relatively uncorrelated are likely influenced by different factors (DeCoster, 1998). In this study, post-reduction analysis for the FACAGE variable yielded seven components: (1) Selection Engagement (SELENG), or the interaction between a student and a faculty member during the time the student selected a particular faculty member as his or her advisor; (2) Internal Engagement (INTENG), or the level of involvement between a student and an advisor with regard to academic program progress and research practices; (3) External Engagement (EXTENG), or the social components for student success that were external to a student’s program and research practices; (4) Interpersonal Engagement (ITRENG), or the level of interpersonal interaction between the student and faculty advisor; (5) Advisor Engagement (ADVENG), or the overall interaction between the student and the advisor; (6) Resource Engagement (RESENG), or the contact between a student and a faculty member in terms of skill building and resources such as faculty assistance with securing funding for research and with writing grant and contract proposals; and (7) Negative Engagement (NEGENG), or any negative interaction between the student and faculty. Similarly, the 21-item DOCEXP variable was also statistically reduced. The analysis resulted in four underlying constructs: (1) Community Experience(COMEXP), or the academic environment and atmosphere, including interaction with students and faculty, as well as the student feeling a sense of belonging; (2) Academic Experience(ACAEXP), or items dealing with academics such as class scheduling and receipt of feedback on scholarly projects; (3) Social Experience (SOCEXP), or the student’s intellectual development and ability to make friends with others in the program; and (4) Financial Experience (FINEXP), or student satisfaction with departmental financial support. In the coding process discussed earlier, the factor analysis calculated for doctoral experience yielded four components. However, only two items (original variable responses) correlated with social experience, and just one item correlated with financial experience. Because of the limited number of items that loaded onto each of these components, it was determined that the underlying constructs did not explain a significant amount of variance within the doctoral experience variable. For the purposes of inferential statistical analysis, doctoral experience remained as one interval variable consisting of

Predictors for Engagement and Persistence at HBCUs    141

21 items—consistent with the items comprised in community experience, academic experience, social experience, and financial experience. Results Correlation and multiple linear regression were used to better explain the relationship between PREEXP, EDUFIN, FACAGE, and PEEAGE and two dependent variables, DOCEXP and PERPER. Significance was determined at α = .05. The findings concluded significant correlation existed between each of the independent variables and the dependent variables with the exception of educational financing; the educational financing of Black students attending an HBCU was not significantly correlated with doctoral experience or persistence perception. Tables 9.1 and 9.2 illustrate regression findings for pre-entry experience and educational financing. It was concluded PREEXP was predictive of both DOCEXP (b = .580, t = 3.225, p = .001) and PERPER (b = .135, Table 9.1  Multiple Linear Regression Analysis: Pre-Entry Experience Unstandardized Coefficients Independent Variable

Dependent Variable

Pre-Entry Experience

Constant Doctoral Experience Constant Persistence Perception

Pre-Entry Experience

Standardized Coefficients

b

Std. Error

Beta

t

p

9.480 .580

4.408 .180

.173

2.151 3.225

.033 .001

2.538 .135

1.647 .067

.122

1.541 2.016

.125 .045

Table 9.2  Multiple Linear Regression Analysis: Educational Financing Unstandardized Coefficients Independent Variable

Dependent Variable

Educational Financing

Constant Doctoral Experience Constant Persistence Perception

Educational Financing

Standardized Coefficients

b

Std. Error

Beta

t

p

9.480 .140

4.408 .164

.046

2.151 .856

.033 .393

2.538 .062

1.647 .061

.061

1.541 1.008

.125 .315

142   T. P. FOUNTAINE

t = 2.016, p = .045). EDUFIN was not associated with DOCEXP (b = .140, t = .856, p = .393) or PERPER (b = .062, t = 1.008, p = .315). Table 9.3 displays the regression analysis for the components of the FACAGE variable. INTENG (b = .478, t = 2.539, p = .012), EXTENG (b = .517, t = 3.192, p = .002), and ADVENG (b = .789, t = 3.520, p = .001) were predictive of DOCEXP. SELENG, ITRENG, RESENG, and NEGENG were not associated with DOCEXP. Table 9.4 illustrates that INTENG (b = .153, t = 2.177, p = .031), EXTENG (b = .193, t = 3.183, p = .002), ITRENG (b = -.201, t = –2.615, p = .010), and ADVENG (b = .195, t = 2.325, p = .021), were predictive of PERPER. SELENG, Table 9.3  Multiple Linear Regression Analysis: Faculty Agency, Positive Doctoral Experience Unstandardized Coefficients Independent Variable Constant Selection Engagement Internal Engagement External Engagement Interpersonal Engagement Advisor Engagement Resource Engagement Negative Engagement

Standardized Coefficients

b

Std. Error

Beta

t

p

9.480 –.056 .478 .517 –.146 .789 –.238 –.696

4.408 .055 .188 .162 .205 .224 .248 .378

–.068 .197 .317 –.060 .241 –.057 –.111

2.151 –1.020 2.539 3.192 –.712 3.520 –.960 –1.842

.033 .309 .012 .002 .478 .001 .338 .067

Table 9.4  Multiple Linear Regression Analysis: Faculty Agency, Perceived Program Persistence Unstandardized Coefficients Independent Variable Constant Selection Engagement Internal Engagement External Engagement Interpersonal Engagement Advisor Engagement Resource Engagement Negative Engagement

Standardized Coefficients

b

Std. Error

Beta

t

p

2.538 .021 .153 .193 –.201 .195 .065 –.168

1.647 .020 .070 .061 .077 .084 .093 .141

.077 .190 .356 –.248 .179 .047 –.081

1.541 1.023 2.177 3.183 –2.615 2.325 .706 –1.189

.125 .307 .031 .002 .010 .021 .481 .236

Predictors for Engagement and Persistence at HBCUs    143 Table 9.5  Multiple Linear Regression Analysis: Peer Agency Unstandardized Coefficients Independent Variable Dependent Variable Peer Agency Peer Agency

Constant Doctoral Experience Constant Persistence Perception

b

Std. Error

9.480 .898 2.538 .218

4.408 .163 1.647 .061

Standardized Coefficients Beta

.325 .238

t

p

2.151 5.520 1.541 3.588

.033 .000 .125 .000

RESENG, and NEGENG were not predictive factors of persistence perception. The outcomes indicated that PEEAGE was predictive of both DOCEXP (b = .898, t = 5.520, p