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Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were established to provide African Americans with higher education access. This article used phenomenological analysis to illuminate HBCU provosts’ perspectives on leadership styles and successes to broaden STEM participation within higher education’s historical hegemony. A diverse group of provosts representing public and private HBCUs was interviewed. The conservation of resources (COR) theory was used as an analytic framework. Findings showed that provosts exhibited nurturing behaviors in STEM leadership, characterizing their leadership styles as collaborative, supportive, and inclusive. Provosts used personal resources to facilitate STEM success, focusing on students’ potential through purposeful perspective-taking. The strategy of purposeful perspective-taking has implications for future research and leadership training. 

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are noted for their success in broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). A multiple case study approach was used to identify institutional and leadership characteristics that may drive the success of small HBCUs in broadening participation in STEM. Data on 15 HBCUs were obtained from websites, including institutional websites, and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Factors common to many institutions included external STEM education funding, STEM-/research-focused missions, commitment of leaders to STEM education, partnerships to support STEM education, STEM faculty professional development, and STEM student support strategies. These characteristics also predicted the percentage of STEM graduates. Implications for future research include illuminating the pathways by which institutional and leadership factors influence student outcomes. 

Over the last few years, there has been a growing interest in caring within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. While current attention is affixed on developing pedagogical caring, concerns must also be given to the caring orientation of academic managerial leadership within STEM education. Thus, this qualitative study examines caring in STEM leadership from the perspective of academic management at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The data used for the analysis were based on semi-structured interviews of eight academic deans conducted by the Center for the Advancement of STEM Leadership (CASL). The findings suggest evidence of multidimensional caring in STEM-related academic managerial leadership. Implications and future studies related to caring-oriented STEM leadership practices are discussed. 

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. 

This year-long leadership development program was designed to enhance the cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of leadership self-efficacy of HBCU STEM leaders to broaden the participation of African American undergraduates in STEM. Learning outcomes guided the development of curricular resources including on-line learning, multi-day residencies, individual leadership assessment, and an action learning project. Mixed-method evaluation showed significant gains on all learning outcomes, with the highest post-test ratings in application of leadership skills, leading faculty in STEM teaching strategies, leading instructional innovation, developing programs for broadening participation in STEM, and increasing campus awareness of national challenges related to STEM. 

Coaching is an important and valuable component of leadership development programs and training for emerging leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Based on the results from individual and focus group interviews of nine participants, we found that coaching is valuable for the leadership growth of emerging STEM leaders from nine historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The participants described the outcomes from coaching as a component of value-based leadership that can inspire and motivate professional growth. They emphasized overwhelmingly that coaches were valuable in improving individual and institutional outcomes through effective leadership. Other themes that emerged from the study include coaching through modeling, inspirational motivation, intentional reflection, resourcefulness, authentic trust, and success-orientation. Results have practical and leadership implications for leadership training to broaden participation in STEM. 

cience, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are essential to a nation’s economy, defense, global competitiveness, and the quality of life for its citizens. Given the importance of STEM in today’s world, sustaining a nation’s leadership in science and engineering requires the presence of a critical mass of scientists at the cutting edge of their fields. Scientists have the capacity to advance the frontiers of scientific knowledge, innovation, and application. The role of colleges and universities is central to supporting a nation’s STEM enterprise. Colleges and universities are responsible for producing well-prepared generations of individuals to support and advance every major STEM field. This special issue of The Journal of Negro Education explores a range of strategies advanced by many of our nation’s historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to lead efforts to produce STEM graduates of color, especially African Americans. Their efforts are particularly important in view of the nation’s changing demographics which reflect enormous increases in racial and ethnic diversity. 

HBCUs have outpaced all other institutions of higher education in graduating Black students who are empowered to pursue graduate programs and contribute to the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) ecosystem. These successes are due, in part, to Black presidents who are at the helm of these institutions. This study examined the practices of thirteen Black HBCU presidents or senior administrators. The authors interviewed these leaders and relied upon Gallos and Bolman’s four frameworks to explore university presidents’ decision-making to understand the skillsets and values that enabled them to create educational environments where Black STEM students thrived. These HBCU presidents utilize multiple leadership frames concurrently, while operating under a race-conscious approach to understand, identify, and counter the structures of systemic racism.