Qualitative Research Interview

Marybeth Gasman and Ufuoma Abiola’s article Colorism Within the Historically Black Colleges and Universities it investigates the significant of color prejudice at HBCUs. This article examines the origins, manifestations and damaging results of colorism on black college campuses. In this article the authors are trying to find a way to solve the problem of colorism at HBCUs and create an environment where students can be success regardless of whether they are dark skin or light skin. After they do this they offer recommendations for future research.

The United States of America often forgets that historically black colleges and universities were created out of necessity. It has only been a couple of decades since African Americans have been allowed to get degrees from predominantly white institutions. Millions of African Americans have given their blood, sweat, and tears in hopes of gaining basic rights like education to their descendants. America has come a long way within the past fifty years but there is still a disconnect when it comes to believing what the average African American can accomplish as an individual. When it comes to historically black colleges and universities there is still a stigma that the education is less rigorous and

Cultural consciousness must flow from faculty development. Culturally responsive faculty development should assist educators in developing cultural consciousness; in other words, understanding one’s own culture and how it affects his or her interaction with others (McCalman, 2007). Faculty should learn that class and race differences are not solely the problem between them and students; professors must be able to acknowledge power imbalances are pervasive in society, institutions and policies,

In this particular study conducted on state funding per student in North Carolina, the funding of UNC-Chapel Hill (PWI), North Carolina A&T (HBCU), and North Carolina Central University (HBCU) were reviewed. The findings showed that UNC budgeted $27,826, A&T $10,400 and NCCU $13,378 per student. The larger size of PWIs means that more money is available for student programs and activities. PWIs provide opportunities in a more mainstream environment and thus more realistically mirror the real world. After four years of study at a PWI, students have the confidence and are prepared to enter the real world as contributing members. This may be a very broad and generalized claim, but there is documented evidence to back it up. Using black female students as an example, journal article (what journal article???) stated the benefits for this group. It read, “These articulate, interpersonally adept women gained more from the academic experience on White campuses (Allen, W.R.).”

What was your rationale for selecting this particular study to analyze over the others identified in the search results?

Some of the major challenges that African American women face in higher education are (a) being able to balance family, community, and career (b) hiring and promotion (c) sexism and racism and (d) isolation and tokenism. First, I will begin this the literature review with a brief explanation of how the literature review was conducted. Second, I will provide a historical synopsis of African American women in higher education. Third, I will discuss the barriers affecting African American women administrators in higher education associated with recruitment, retention and

In some workplaces in the United States, there appears to be a lack of diversity amongst employees. Although it might not be intentional, an example of this can be seen in college campuses. “While the numbers of undergraduate and graduate students of color on college campuses have risen over the years, the growth in the numbers of faculty of color has lagged far behind” (Antonio, 2003; Villalpando & Delgado Bernal, as cited in Jayakumar, Howard, Allen, and Han, 2009). Having a more diverse faculty and staff would increase the sense of connection among others, as well as decrease the amount of privilege certain groups have over others. Employees would be able to see things from different types of perspectives, rather than one point of view. According to Nancy Cantor, a former college administrative officer in Michigan, "Diversity really is intellectual and social diversity, and that is what interdisciplinarity does.

Similarly, Strayhorn et al (2008) undertook the task of looking at African American student relationships with faculty of color and the benefits of these relationships. Through the author’s exploration, the theoretical framework of “Othermothering” emerged (Strayhorn et al, 2008). According to Strayhorn et al (2008), Othermothering is a pattern of care that dates back to slavery, where mothers had to entrust the care of their children to other individuals. This same compassion for others has become the role of some faculty and administrators in institutions today. According to the authors, African American students are viewed as family, and the relationships forged go beyond just caring; a moral and ethical obligation to advocate for African American Students (Strayhorn et al, 2008). Under this theory, African Americans are motivated to develop these relationships to help move college students through their experiences successfully. Moreover, there is a moral need to give back to the community by pushing African American students to perform at best potential. In this study, the researcher hopes to explore if this concept of Othermothering exists within African American faculty, students, and administrators here at South University.

The African American professors attempt to prove themselves to their students by demonstrating their knowledge and competence. If they succeed, then they do not reinforce negative attitudes towards black people and their intelligence (Harlow, 2003. 368-370). The inequality African American professors experiences includes being underestimated and challenged by their students and possibly their colleagues.

Rob Nelson brought this article with an extrinsic ethos in it based on the character of the author. Rob Nelson is a well known African-American editor in Chief of Chapel Hill’s Daily Tar Heel newspaper. Its estimated print readership of 38,000 makes it the largest community newspaper in Orange County (DTH Media, 2011). This is a well-known magazine for the audience; therefore, all the information and article from Daily Tar Heel must be reliable to the audience. Since he was born and raised in an African- American community, Nelson usually reflects on issues about race and practicing racism in his writing. Later on, the article was re-published in the academic journal, the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, a journal that has a high academically reliable and strong authority. The readers knew about Nelson and his authority before they read his article.

Racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately underrepresented in higher education leadership roles. In the absence of minorities successfully leading American colleges and universities, student recruitment, persistence, and graduation are compromised (Sandeen, 2004; Zusman, 2005). Historically, this shortage of minority leaders in leadership roles at higher education institutions comes from the initial college admissions criteria. What started off as an institution that granted access exclusively to white, wealthy Christian gentlemen is now a place where a more diverse student body can be seen in terms of race, culture, gender, ability, religion, language, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation (Thelin, 2011). However, even though there has also been an increased emphasis on diversity as demonstrated by the implementation of affirmative action, race-based considerations in the higher education admissions process and Title IX, minorities continue to struggle to secure leadership positions at colleges and universities (Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, & Gurin, 2002). The most recent report produced by the American Council on Education (ACE) on college presidents states that the leadership within the higher education system remains white-dominated with only 13% of the presidents being racial and ethnic minorities (Cook & Kim, 2012).

In a publication titled ‘Black Women in Academe’, author Yolanda Moses describes how “isolation, invisibility, hostility, indifference, and a lack of understanding of the Black women’s experiences are all too often part of the climate Black women may face on campuses” (Moses, 1989). The detrimental environment surrounding these women frequently results in sullenness, lack of social assertiveness, and belief that they are less competent than male students. Even if time spent at an academic institution is minimal, with this kind of prejudice faced at an early age, any woman- black or otherwise, would suffer the rest of their life. In response to the discrimination faced at universities, some have created programs to aid black students and other minorities; these programs tend to generalize the needs of all its black students and do not fully support black women specifically.

In order to study the need of a racially and culturally diverse college campus, the journey and battles fought must be dicussed. While there is a lack of diversity on college campuses today, they are not completely devoid of people of color. However, there was a time when college campuses were one hundred percent Caucasian. Jonathan R. Alger, Jorge Chapa and a team of researchers conducted studies on various college classrooms. They then went on to publish their findings in a book titled Does Diversity make a Difference? The purpose of their paper was to discuss the importance of diversity and reveal the effects of non-diverse campus. They begin their book by taking a look into the history of diversity in America. The start of the Civil Rights movement along with President Lyndon B. Johnson’s war on poverty took place in the mid 1960s. These events forced the country to face the reality of the people of color in America. These Americans of color did not have equal access to education, jobs, housing, or other valued resources (Alger et al. 2000). College administrators and faculty were starting to understand the necessity of a diverse campus. The realized that people of color had just as much to offer to the United States as the Caucasian majority. During that time, “many higher education faculty members and administrators were deeply concerned that abandonment of race sensitive admissions and hiring, at a time when most minority groups continue to be unrepresented in higher education, will severely limit campus diversity and would undermine the learning environment for all students.” (Alger et al. 2000). Additionally, a lot of the traditionally white colleges and universities were provoked and questioned by the concerns of their students. The universities and colleges began to notice their inability to extend the same educational

-Why was the study conducted? –What was the margin of error? –What was the sample size? -What sampling design was used? –What was the response rate? –What was the frame that was used? -Who paid for the survey? –From the sample that was selected, what was the population?

Outcomes of Advancing Women Faculty in Engineering and Technology at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A Retrospective Analysis of ADVANCE-PAID Participants