The Role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities as Pathway Providers: Institutional Pathways to the STEM PhD Among Black Students Rachel Upton,

The Role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities as Pathway Providers:

Institutional Pathways to the STEM PhD Among Black Students

Rachel Upton, Ph.D. and Courtney Tanenbaum, Ed.D.

American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Overview• Introduction – Blacks in STEM and the Role of HBCUs• Research Questions• Definition of Terms• Methodology and Data Sources• Sample and Analytic Approach• Results• Discussion• Conclusion and Q&A – Share HBCU Issue Brief

Introduction – Blacks in STEM

• Economic growth, technological innovation, and U.S. national security require a strong STEM workforce (American Institutes for Research, 2014).

• By 2060, the U.S. will be a majority-minority nation, with only 43 percent of the population composed of single-race, non-Hispanic Whites (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012).

• Based on the nation’s shifting demographics, the reliance on White, non-Hispanic males to generate the STEM workforce is untenable.

Introduction – Blacks in STEM

• The participation of Blacks and other diverse groups of individuals in STEM doctoral programs is severely lacking.

• Blacks and other underrepresented groups of individuals represent an underutilized source of talent (George et al., 2001).

• In 2008, Blacks represented 12% of the population and 11% of all undergraduate enrollments, but earned only 9% of STEM bachelor’s degrees in 2009 (American Institutes for Research, 2012).

• In 2010, Blacks received: 1) 7% of all bachelor’s in the biological sciences; 2) 5% in mathematics and statistics; and 3) 4% in engineering (NSF, 2011).

• In 2009, Blacks earned 2% of all U.S. STEM doctorates, and less than 2% of doctorates in physical sciences (Washington, 2011).

• This raises questions regarding the extent to which there is equal opportunity, and about educational pathways and characteristics of Black STEM PhDs.

Introduction – Blacks in STEM

Introduction – The Role of HBCUsHBCUs represent just 3% of higher education institutions, receive relatively small

endowments and tend to have low institutional resources than other institutions.

• By 2010: 1. HBCUs: 22% offered doctoral degree programs (Palmer, Hilton, & Fountaine, 2012).

2. HBCUs: 19% of the nearly 9% of all bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering awarded to Blacks (Gasman & Nguyen, 2014).

3. HBCUs: 33% of all Blacks with bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and statistics.

4. HBCUs: nearly 10% of all Black STEM doctorates (SED/IPEDS data).

Research Questions• Black STEM PhDs’ institutional pathways can provide insight on who

earns STEM doctorates at HBCUs, and the extent to which they are supported financially.

• HBCUs produce a larger percentage of Black STEM bachelor’s degrees than predominantly White institutions (PWIs) (American Institutes for Research, 2012; Strayhorn et al., 2012).

• Little research investigates HBCUs’ role in Black students’ movement

from earning an undergraduate STEM degree to a STEM doctorate.

Research Questions1. How many STEM doctorates were awarded to Black

students overall and by discipline of study?

2. What proportion of Black STEM PhD recipients earned their doctorates from HBCUs, and which HBCUs were the top producers of Black STEM PhD recipients?

Research Questions3. What are the institutional pathways of Black STEM PhD

recipients?

4. How do the characteristics of Black STEM PhD recipients, including discipline of study, citizenship status, gender, first-generation college status, and level graduate student debt, differ by the institutional pathway taken to the STEM doctorate?

Definition of TermsPWI: Institution of higher education in which Whites generally

account for 50 percent or more of the student enrollment (Brown & Dancy, 2010).

HBCU: Institution of higher education in the U.S. that was established prior to 1964 and was created with the intention of serving the Black community (White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 2010).

Definition of TermsInstitutional pathway: Type of undergraduate and type of graduate

institution (HBCU or PWI) through which Black STEM PhD recipients passed in the course of earning a doctorate.

-Four institutional pathways of Black STEM PhD recipients are examined:

1. Undergraduate and Doctoral Degree at HBCU

2. Undergraduate Degree at HBCU and Doctoral Degree at PWI

3. Undergraduate Degree at PWI and Doctoral Degree at HBCU

4. Undergraduate and Doctoral Degree at PWI

Definition of TermsCitizenship status: PhD recipients who identified as U.S. citizens or permanent

residents defined as U.S. citizens.

-PhD recipients who identified as non-U.S. citizens and nonpermanent residents defined as non-U.S. citizens.

Graduate debt: Four levels of graduate student debt, or the amount of debt accrued during graduate school, by a student at the time of earning the degree:

1. No graduate debt

2. Less than $20,000 graduate debt

3. Between $20,001 and $30,000 in graduate debt

4. Greater than $30,000 in graduate debt

Methodology and Data Sources• Within-group design: study that examines a single ethnic group or

several ethnic groups that are considered a unit, such as Asian Americans (McLoyd & Steinberg, 1998).

• Examines Blacks as a racial group on its own terms and explores the variation in Black STEM PhDs’ characteristics and pathways to the doctorate.

Methodology and Data Sources• Data were drawn from:

1. NSF’s 2005–2010 Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)

2. National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES) 2010 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)

• The SED provided data on student-level demographics and graduate student funding and indebtedness. The 2010 IPEDS data were used to categorize institution type (e.g., HBCU, PWI).

Methodology and Data Sources• Data examined between 2005-2010 to maximize sample

size and capture most recent years of data available at the time.

• Data suggest that Blacks and other underrepresented minorities exhibited large increase in STEM doctorates, yet constituted only a small percentage of U.S. citizens who earned STEM doctorates.

Sample and Analytic Approach• Final sample size was (n=2,713) of 4,037 Black STEM PhDs.

More than one-third of earned an undergraduate degree at an HBCU.

• About 13% were not U.S. citizens (temporary U.S. residents or non-U.S. citizens with unknown visa status).

Sample and Analytic Approach• 52% of the sample were women, and nearly 40% identified as

first-generation college students.

• Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests of independence used to examine whether the characteristics of Black STEM PhD recipients differed by institutional pathway. • Statistically significant results were reported at the .05 alpha

level.

Results – STEM PhDs Awarded Overall• Slightly less than half of all Black STEM PhDs (44%) earned

PhDs in the biological and biomedical sciences.

• 25% earned PhDs in engineering.

• Remaining PhD recipients earned degrees in the physical sciences (17%), while few earned degrees in the computer and information sciences, agricultural sciences, or mathematics and statistics.

25%

17%

5%4%5%

44%Engineering

Physical Sciences

Computer and Information Sciences

Mathematics and Statistics

Agricultural Sciences

Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Figure 1. Distribution of Black STEM PhD Recipients, by Discipline of Study: 2005-2010

Results – Top HBCU Producers of STEM PhDs

• 12% (about n=326) of all Black STEM PhDs earned their doctorates from an HBCU.

• The majority of Blacks who received a STEM doctoral degree from an HBCU received their PhD from:

1. Howard University (33%)

2. Meharry Medical College (14%)

3. Florida A&M University (9%)

InstitutionPercentage of STEM

Degrees Awarded Among HBCUs

Howard University 33Meharry Medical College 14Florida A&M University 9Alabama A&M University 8Morgan State University 7Clark Atlanta University 6Jackson State University 6North Carolina A&T University 4Morehouse School of Medicine

4

Tennessee State University 3

Table 1. Top Ten HBCU Producers of Black STEM PhDs: 2005–2010

Results – Institutional Pathways• One-third of Blacks who received a STEM PhD earned their

undergraduate degrees at HBCUs, but most earned graduate degrees from PWIs (88%).

• 9% went to an HBCU for their undergraduate and graduate degree.

• 26% went to an HBCU for an undergraduate degree and then earned their doctorate at a PWI.

• 62% attended a PWI for their undergraduate and graduate degree.

Figure 2. Institutional Pathways of Black STEM PhD Recipients: 2005–2010

9%

26%

3%

62%

Undergraduate and Doctoral Degree at HBCUUndergraduate Degree at HBCU and Doc-toral Degree at PWIUndergraduate Degree at PWI and Doctoral Degree at HBCUUndergraduate and Doctoral Degree at PWI

Results – Characteristics of Black STEM PhDs

• Blacks most likely to attend the same type of institution for their undergraduate and doctoral degree.

• Among HBCU doctorates, approximately 72% earned their undergraduate degrees from HBCUs.

• U.S. citizens tended to earn both their undergraduate and graduate degrees from HBCUs than Black non-U.S. citizens (results not shown).

• Black women more commonly earned HBCU undergraduate degrees than Black men (results not shown).

Figure 3. Undergraduate and Doctoral Degree Institutions Attended by Black STEM PhD Recipients: 2005–2010

Doctoral Degree at PWI Doctoral Degree at HBCU0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

71%

28%

29%

72%Undergraduate Degree at HBCU

Undergraduate Degree at PWI

Results – Characteristics of Black STEM PhDs

• Across STEM disciplines, most Black STEM PhDs attended PWIs for their undergraduate and doctoral study.

• Somewhat more common among Black STEM PhD recipients in the agricultural sciences (48%) and physical sciences (39%) to earn an undergraduate degree at an HBCU.

• Earning an undergraduate HBCU degree was more common among first-generation Blacks than those with at least one parent with a college degree (results not shown).

Figure 4. Institutional Pathways for Black STEM PhD Recipients, by STEM Discipline: 2005–2010

Engineering Physical Sciences

Agricultural Sciences

Biological and Biomedical

Sciences

Mathematics and Computer

Sciences

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

7% 10% 18% 10% 2%

22%29%

30%

25%29%

2%

3%

9%

4%2%

69%58%

43%61% 67%

Undergraduate and Doctoral Degree at PWI

Undergraduate Degree at PWI and Doctoral Degree at HBCU

Undergraduate Degree at HBCU and Doctoral Degree at PWI

Undergraduate and Doctoral Degree at HBCU

Results – Graduate Student Debt• Most Black STEM PhD recipients reported having no graduate student debt after

completing their doctoral program (57%) (results not shown).

• A sizable proportion of Black STEM PhD recipients (approximately 21%), however, had over $30,000 in debt (results not shown).

• Across institutional pathways, most students reported having no graduate debt.

• PhD holders who earned their doctorate at an HBCU (30%) reported having more than $30,000 in graduate debt relative than their counterparts who earned doctorates at PWIs.

Figure 10. Institutional Pathways for Black STEM PhD Recipients, by Graduate Level Funding: 2005–2010

Undergraduate and Doctoral Degree at

HBCU

Undergraduate Degree at HBCU and Doctoral

Degree at PWI

Undergraduate Degree at PWI and Doctoral

Degree at HBCU

Undergraduate and Doctoral Degree at PWI

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

53% 56% 53% 59%

12%17%

8%

17%5%3%

9%

5%30%

23%30%

19%

Over $30,000$20,001 to $30,000Less than $20,000No Debt

DiscussionSuccess of HBCUs in producing Black STEM PhD recipients, particularly among U.S.-born Blacks, females, and first-generation students, may be because of their:

• Focus on student support and in fostering academic and social integration in science and engineering among Blacks (compared to PWIs).

• Avoidance of the traditional model of STEM education that promotes the competitive, “survival of the fittest” mentality that is more common at PWIs (Gasman & Nguyen, 2014).

– HBCUs require fewer “weed-out” courses than most PWIs.

DiscussionSuccess of HBCUs in producing Black STEM PhD recipients may also be because:

• HBCUs provide more same-race and same-sex mentors, and more collaboration among Black students and faculty members (Allen, 1992; Allen & Jewell, 2002; Gasman & Nguyen, 2014).

• The transition from HBCU undergraduate programs to PWI graduate programs can be difficult for Black women in STEM.

-Black women commonly report academic difficulties and social isolation at

PWIs after leaving an HBCU (Brown, 2000; Joseph, 2007; MacLachlan, 2006; Ong, Wright, Espinosa,

& Orfield, 2011).

DiscussionThere are additionally several disadvantages in attending HBCUs:

• PWIs generally enjoy larger endowments, academic and financial resources for students, and often lead to stronger career prospects (Allen, 1992; Allen & Jewell, 2002; Strayhorn, 2008).

• Black PWI graduates tend to have higher average earnings than those from HBCUs (Strayhorn, 2008).

• This fact may be important since research suggests that Blacks, particularly those who attend HBCUs, have more economic barriers and financial need (Allen, 1992; Freeman, 1999).

Conclusion and Q&A – Share HBCU Issue Brief

• Future research - examine factors contributing to HBCUs’ success in retaining Black STEM PhDs, and assess student debt among HBCU PhDs to determine what mechanisms could be put in place to increase graduate funding and tuition support.

Appendix

Figure 5. Institutional Pathways for Black STEM PhD Recipients, by Citizenship Status: 2005–2010

U.S. Citizen Non-U.S. Citizen0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

10% 3%

26%22%

4%

1%

60%74%

Undergraduate and Doctoral Degree at PWIUndergraduate Degree at PWI and Doctoral Degree at HBCUUndergraduate Degree at HBCU and Doctoral Degree at PWIUndergraduate and Doctoral Degree at HBCU

Figure 6. Institutional Pathways for Black STEM PhD Recipients, by Gender: 2005–2010

Male Female0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

8% 10%

21%29%

3%4%

68%57%

Undergraduate and Doctoral Degree at PWIUndergraduate Degree at PWI and Doctoral Degree at HBCUUndergraduate Degree at HBCU and Doctoral Degree at PWIUndergraduate and Doctoral Degree at HBCU

Figure 7. Institutional Pathways for Black STEM PhD Recipients, by First-Generation College Status: 2005–2010

First Generation College Not First Generation 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

11% 7%

29%24%

3%3%

57%66%

Undergraduate and Doctoral Degree at PWIUndergraduate Degree at PWI and Doctoral Degree at HBCUUndergraduate Degree at HBCU and Doctoral Degree at PWIUndergraduate and Doctoral Degree at HBCU

Definitions and TermsTuition support: The level of tuition remission a student received during his or her graduate program tenure (“No tuition support” means a student did not receive any tuition remission; “partial tuition” means less than one third tuition remission, between one third and two thirds tuition remission, or more than two thirds tuition remission; and “full tuition” means 100% tuition remission.)

Four levels of graduate student funding and tuition support are defined: 1. No funding and no tuition support2. Funding but no tuition support 3. Funding and partial tuition support 4. Funding and full tuition support

Figure 8. Institutional Pathways for Black STEM PhD Recipients, by Level of Graduate Funding: 2005–2010

Undergraduate and Doctoral Degree at

HBCU

Undergraduate Degree at HBCU and Doctoral

Degree at PWI

Undergraduate Degree at PWI and Doctoral

Degree at HBCU

Undergraduate and Doctoral Degree at PWI

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

14% 8%19% 12%

25%

14%

17%16%

6%

10%

9%11%

56%67%

55% 61%

Funding, Full TuitionFunding, Partial TuitionFunding, No TuitionNo Tuition

Figure 9. Level of Graduate Student Debt for Black STEM PhD Recipients: 2005–2010

57%

16%

5%

21%

No Debt

Less than $20,000

$20,001 to $30,000

Over $30,000