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1. What is Going on Here? Exploring Why HBCU Presidents are Successful in Producing STEM Graduates

   Boncana, M.; McKayle, C.; Engerman, K.; Askew, K. (July 2021, The journal of Negro education)

   Taylor, O.; Campone, F.; Retland, N. (Ed.)

   This multiple case study seeks to explore the leadership characteristics of HBCU presidents associated with success of some historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) in producing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates. Success, in this context, is defined by the ability of institutions to recruit and retain students in undergraduate and graduate STEM programs. Using purposive sampling, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with four HBCU presidents by the Center for the Advancement of STEM Leadership (CASL). In addition, the researchers used the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) enrollment and graduation data. Implications for HBCU leadership practices in the recruitment, retention, and graduation of STEM students are considered in relation to HBCU leadership studies. 

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2. Invisibilized Hypervisibility: Black STEM Doctoral Students, HBCUs, and Mentoring

   Merriweather, Lisa; Lambert, Marah; Casey, Shaunelle; Howell, Cathy; Douglas, Niesha (August 2022, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   Background: Even though Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs) make up only 3% of higher education's institutions, they play a pivotal role in producing Black scientists by virtue of the fact that many received either their undergraduate or doctorate degree from a HBCU. HBCUs are credited with providing a more supportive and nurturing environment that thrives on communal mindsets and practices, emphasizing the importance of relationships, offering opportunities for Black students to "see themselves" as part of the academic and social milieu whereas Historically White Institutions (HWIS) are characterized as being hostile and discriminatory. Mentoring is said to be pivotal in the attainment of the PhD. Mentorships have an inherent gatekeeping mechanism, better positioning those who receive effective mentorships while disadvantaging those who do not. It has potential to harm and marginalize when not engaged with deliberate care and a culturally liberative mindset. Mentoring, when not under the thumb of colonizing mindsets, can contribute to more equitable experiences and outcomes for students who hail from AGEP population groups. Literature has indicated that Black students are less likely to have a mentor or be engaged in effective mentorships. The HBCU narrative of supportive environment is consistently told but has scant empirical validation for Black students pursuing STEM doctoral degrees. In fact, the lure of having faculty and peers who look like you is something of an enigma given that even at HBCUs there are limited numbers of Black faculty in STEM. How are same race, same gender mentorships attained when, not unlike their HWIS counterparts, HBCU STEM faculties have a large number of White and Asian men? If the environment is indeed different at HBCUs, is it different for Black STEM doctoral students? Is STEM doctoral mentoring at HBCUs emblematic of anti-Blackness or is it yet another tool used to oppress marginalized students? Theoretical Framework: Anti-black racism and critical capital theory serve as critical theoretical frameworks and were selected because they highlight the ways violence is enacted through taken for granted colonized practices such as mentoring. Fanon understood that thoughts and mindsets are the progenitors of violence and dehumanization is the process through which violence is enacted. Anti-black racism and critical capital theory can be useful in unearthing the structural inequalities that uphold the current system in place for STEM doctoral learning. Research Design: An embedded multiple qualitative case study research project sought to understand the nature and quality of STEM doctoral mentorships at an HBCU. The analysis on the HBCU subcase asked, how are STEM doctoral mentorships understood by Black STEM doctoral students at HBCUs? Black STEM HBCU students were interviewed and completed a mentoring competency assessment survey. In addition STEM doctoral students from three universities also completed the survey. The qualitative data was analyzed using narrative analysis and the survey data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. This project is part of a larger NSF AGEP sponsored research study. Research findings: The findings from this study expose that Black STEM doctoral students at HBCUs have not reached the proverbial Promise Land. In spite of being in a space that is more diverse, they manage to simultaneously be invisible and hypervisible. An unmerited sense of assumed cultural belonging was highlighted with students reporting a lack of selfethnic reflectors in their programs. In many ways the systemic and institutional structures on HBCUs with respect to STEM doctoral programming mirrored the colonial structures more often associated with HWIS. Their culture and cultural-based experiences as domestic students as well as their academic strengths were often not recognized by mentors while that of international students were. Three themes were supported by the data: Conspicuous Absence, Race Still Matters, and Invisibilized Hypervisibility. Implications: Better understanding how STEM doctoral mentoring is facilitated at HBCUs holds the promise of informing a mentoring practice that supports cultural liberation instead of cultural degradation and suppression. It becomes one avenue as the “The Call'' suggests to "confront our own complicity in the colonial enterprise" by holding STEM doctoral mentors and the institutions they represent accountable for socially just mentoring practices. Greater intentionality as well as mandated training informed by the study's results are recommended. HBCU faculty doctoral mentors are challenged to be scholar activists who engage mentoring from an advocacy and accomplice framework. The development of STEM scholar activists is the aspiration of more culturally liberative STEM doctoral mentorships. Black students need mentors who are willing and equipped to be advocates and accomplices in their success. 

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3. A Review of the Literature on Students’ Experiences in Historically Black Colleges and Universities Dual-Degree Engineering Programs

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--46485  

   Headley, Makayla; Fletcher, Trina; Benson, Lisa (June 2024, ASEE Conferences)

   Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have faced challenges in developing and maintaining engineering programs due to the lack of equitable resources including funds and technology. Partnerships between HBCUs and Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) have emerged as a way to increase the number of Black students in engineering through Dual Degree Engineering Programs (DDEP), often classified as 3-2 programs. Students in these programs attend an HBCU to complete all pre-engineering courses (typically three years) and spend their final undergraduate years (typically two) at a PWI. At the end of the program, students would have earned two bachelor’s degrees, one from the HBCU in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field and the other from the PWI in an engineering discipline. While there are many advantages to institutional collaborations, HBCU students must learn to adapt to an entirely new system and culture at the PWI. This scoping literature review examines research on Black students as they matriculate into a PWI from an HBCU while pursuing an engineering degree. The primary objective of this literature review is to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of Black students in DDEPs bridging HBCUs and PWIs. The review specifically sought to address students’ motivations for enrolling in DDEPs, the benefits and challenges involved with making the transition from an HBCU to a PWI, the factors contributing to their decision to pursue such a program, and their expectations regarding these experiences at the two distinct types of institutions. A total of 19 articles were identified and reviewed. Three main categories surfaced from the literature review, with two subcategories within the first theme: 1) references to HBCU DDEPs without the inclusion of student experiences; 1a) goal of increasing the number of Black students in STEM; 1b) engineering degree pathways; 2) HBCU student support and resources; and 3) the experiences of HBCU students in DDEPs. Synthesizing the literature revealed a crucial need for additional research on HBCUs in general. The study’s results emphasize the necessity for exploring the lived experiences of students in HBCU DDEPs. Further exploration could focus on the support and resources provided by institutions to students during their transfer to PWIs. This exploration of DDEPs promises to offer valuable insights into how DDEPs between HBCUs and PWIs can effectively and successfully prepare Black engineering students for their future careers. The findings from this literature review identify areas for future research. 

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4. The HBCU Student STEM Success Survey: Developing and Validating a Measure of the Academic, Social and Cultural Experiences of STEM Students at HBCUs

   Ivory A. Toldson, Mahlet Megra (July 2021, The Journal of Negro education)

   Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are important for diversifying the science technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. This study aims to develop a scale to understand the experiences of HBCU STEM students to spur research on the factors associated with HBCUs’ success with recruiting, retaining, and graduating Black STEM students. Nearly 3,000 undergraduate STEM students across 30 HBCUs participated in this study. The authors conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to examine the construct validity. The survey had a seven-factor structure with a comparative fit index of 0.9 and high reliability with Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.68-0.91. Five factors significantly predicted student outcomes, indicating predictive validity. The resulting survey, HBCU Student STEM Success Survey, provides a reliable and valid measure for HBCU STEM students’ experiences. 

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5. Belongingness Uncertainty: A Comparative Study of African-American Engineering Students’ Experiences at PWI and HBCU

   Kumar, Revathy; McKether, Willie; Adams, Aaron (April 2019, Annual meeting program American Educational Research Association)

   The study examines institutional and professional belongingness as it relates to the perceived interpersonal, instructional, and institutional opportunity structures available for African-American (AfA) engineering students at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI), and a Historically Black University (HBCU) within the Phenomenological Ecological Systems theory (PVEST). A stratified random sample of 65 AfA students (79% male) participated in 11 focus group interviews. Phenomenological analyses of students’ responses to open-ended questions revealed that HBCU students experienced a stronger sense of institutional belonging than PWI students. Students from both institutions discussed opportunities and obstacles to embrace a “Black Engineer” identity. HBCU students unlike their PWI counterparts, reported faculty mentoring designed to enhance professional belongingness. The significance of these findings for engineering institutions are discussed. 

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