INCREASING AFRICAN AMERICAN ADVANCED STEM PROFESSIONALS: A CASE STUDY OF TWO PREDOMINANTLY WHITE FLAGSHIP UNIVERSITIES IN THE SOUTH

Abstract

This qualitative multiple-case study explores how two select predominantly white institutions (PWIs) have learned to be successful in advancing undergraduate African-American students to advanced degrees in the life sciences. This study utilized an integrated theoretical framework developed from Birnbaum’s (1988) cybernetic loop of institutional interaction and Marsick and Watkins’s (2003) seven constructs of organizational learning. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine participants and informed by data from institutional profiles. These interviews produced six themes and four sub-themes that informed the following research question: How have interventions that influence African-American students to doctoral degrees in Life Sciences shaped select Predominantly White Institutions as learning organizations? Findings from this study revealed that the two PWIs behaved somewhat like a learning organization as characterized by Marsick and Watkins, but with some meaningful additions. Major thematic findings are as follows: (1) Attitudes towards diversity in science fields are shaped by assumptions, personal comfort in talking about diversity, traditions, norms, and biases, as well as by population mirroring in science fields; (2) Learning about issues affecting URM students and faculty success in science fields is facilitated by data and training from inter/intra-institutional processes, as well as by exchanging best practices in an inclusive way; (3) Learning to increase representation is science fields requires ways to collect, measure, and share information in order to present assumptions and challenge conclusions; (4) Learning to increase representation is science fields requires trust and support for faculty and students to operate in an environment where opinions are valued, concerns have responses, and advocacy increases morale; (5) Substantially improving underrepresentation in science areas is brought to fruition with a collective and unified focus on outcomes and accountability; and (6) Increasing minority representation in science areas requires external funding for activities that specifically focus on URMs. The implications for theory and practice inferred from the findings include a new model for how certain higher education institutions operate as learning organizations and the processes and systems by which these select PWIs might evolve their campuses to be among the most successful in advancing African-American students to completing doctoral degrees in life science areas.