According to U.S. Census Bureau (2004) projections, African American, Hispanic, and Asian American populations are expected to grow rapidly over the next few decades. In fact, those populations will comprise approximately 50% of the total U.S. population by the year 2050. Given this rapid growth of racial/ethnic minority populations, it is important that research document factors that promote retention and persistence for minority students at all levels of the educational pipeline.
While there has been a plethora of research in recent years focusing on factors encouraging the academic success of minority students, specifically African American males, in the context of K-12 and undergraduate postsecondary education (“The progress of,” 2004; Freeman, 1997; Garibaldi, 1991; Garibaldi, 1992; Harper, 2005; Palmer & Strayhorn, 2008), research delineating the experiences of African American males in graduate postsecondary education has not kept pace (Hood & Freeman, 1995). Researchers have generally concentrated their efforts on strengthening access and persistence for African American males at one end of the educational pipeline, without providing similar focus on African American males at the opposite end of the pipeline.
While there is the need to provide context about the experiences and success factors for African American males in K-12 and undergraduate postsecondary education, given the change in the nation’s racial demography, it is equally important to provide context about the experiences and, more importantly, success factors for African American males in doctoral programs. Research has shown that African Americans have obtained graduate degrees in education more than in any other field, yet they remain under-represented in the proportion of doctoral degrees awarded in the field (Hood & Freeman, 1995).
According to the National Council for Education Statistics (NCES) (2007), African Americans earned 3.8% (1,253) of all doctoral degrees awarded in the United States in 1976, with men making up the majority (61%) of them. Thirty years later, it was a very different picture. NCES reported that, of the 3,122 doctoral degrees earned by African Americans in 2006, the majority (62%) were awarded to women.
Accordingly, although the number of African American male doctoral degree recipients increased approximately 1% over the past three decades, the number of African American females receiving terminal degrees more than doubled. As such, African American women earned 487 doctoral degrees in 1976 and 30 years later there were 2,011 degrees conferred on their behalf. The inadequate number of African American male doctorates should serve as an alarming reality for students, faculty, and administrators in higher education. If the pattern continues, the rate of African American male doctoral degree attainment presents a bleak future for the African American community. We must develop strategies to help improve the number of African American male doctoral degree recipients.
While previous research on African Americans’ PhD attainment has examined their experiences in comparison to other minorities (Abedi, 1987; Attiyeh, 1999; Baker, 1998; Bowen & Rudentstine, 1992; Clewell, 1987; Hood & Freeman, 1995; Nettles & Millett, 2006), few studies have examined the persistence of African American males from both historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and predominately White institutions (PWIs) through the lens of the student. We offer the following recommendations:
Dr. Adriel A. Hilton is the Assistant Vice President for Inclusion Initiatives at Grand Valley State University Division of Inclusion and Equity. Other contributors to this article include: Brandon D. Daniels, PhD, Association of Governing Boards; Ivan L. Harrell II., PhD, Lone Star Community College CyFair; Ted N. Ingram, PhD, Bronx Community College, CUNY; John Michael Lee, Jr., PhD, Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and Robert T. Palmer, PhD, State University of New York-Binghamton.
