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Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s)

Are (Almost) an Exception to

The Exclusion of Women from Physics

HBCU’s are extraordinarily productive of woman scientists.

A study by Leggon and Pearson (1997) shows that 75% of all African-American women scientists received their bachelor’s degrees from HBCU’s

Eight of twenty schools with a high proportion of female physics majors (Ivie and Stowe, 2000) are HBCU’s

HBCU’s have demographics in their favor, a larger proportion of African-American college students are female than any other ethnic group. (NSF, 2000, Table 1-5)

We are only educating the students we have. (Male department chair)

But demographics are not the whole story; in most schools women form a much lower percentage of the physics majors than of the student body. Clearly, HBCUs are doing something right by their women students.

Socialization is also part of the answer. Some studies (Hill, 2001) show that African-American families tend to have less polarized gender roles, and socialize their daughters to be more independent. African-American women have traditionally worked outside the home and contributed to their families’ economic support, so they are less confined by European-American gender roles (Hill, 2001).

"Like A Family"
Models of Inclusive, Student-Centered Department Culture
Alternative Paths into the Major
Resources
Results

HBCUs – “Like a Family”

On a daily basis, students get the same type of care and support they get from their families as well as the expertise and skills they need to continue to develop at any level after they leave that historically black college. (Arthur E. Thomas, alumnus and president emeritus of Central State University. Quoted in Jackson, 2001, page 142.)

It’s like a little family down there [in the physics department], we all help each other. (Male student)

As we read about HBCUs and spent time on their campuses, the word we heard over and over, from students, faculty, and administration, was “family.” As we talked to more people, it became clear to us that the word “family” has a somewhat different meaning in the African-American community.

You have to understand that it [family] is also a cultural term for us as a people. I guess the closest thing that I can share with you to help make this point is the African saying, “It takes a whole village to raise a child.” (Female Administrator)

For a number of historical and social reasons, the African-American community follows a more extended, less nuclear model of a family. Adults watch out for children in the community other than their own—a concept Patricia Hill Collins (1991, p. 119) calls “othermothering.” African-American adults are much more likely than white adults to say that an older person other than a parent (grandparent, aunt or uncle, teacher, minister, family friend) was an important influence in their lives. (Manns, 1994). This means that there is a clear model of a non-parental mentor-advisee relationship that does not exist in the larger community.
This means that all members of the HBCU community – administration, faculty, and students have an extraordinary sense of the mission of their institution. Faculty and administration do a particularly good job of caring for each of their students as individuals. This is good for all students, but particularly benefits women.

A mistake that I think is fairly easy for faculty to make is to think of students as a group. If you have a class of 60 students, you have 60 individuals who all have moms and dads who think that they are the greatest things on earth. And I think that you have to accept and deal with each one on his or her own terms. You find that each one has his or her own weaknesses. Each one also has his or her own strengths. (Male professor)

HBCU’s treat students as whole individuals; faculty are concerned with students’ family and financial responsibilities. One department chair told us that they try to employ their students because they have to work, and the department is more likely to retain students if they are working in the department than if they are working in the local Walmart.

They’re trying hard to keep a lot of young Black people in school and try to help us. . . .It affects the community—it all comes back, you know what I’m saying? (Male student)

Students expect older people to be concerned about them and help them. In their turn, they expect to treat older people with respect and to work hard.

HBCUs – Models of

Inclusive, Student-Centered Department Culture

HBCUs do many of the things discussed in the section on department culture, and do them especially well. They pay students to work in the department. They involve student in research, often early in their undergraduate career. They encourage students to work together and help each other. They use alumni (and often older majors) to recruit younger students into the major. They help students to find appropriate graduate programs and careers, on graduation.

[Male professor] came to the [high school] graduation and announced that we got this scholarship and called us up. Last Friday our [high] school was here—maybe 8 or 10 students. We showed them around, introduced them to faculty and stuff like that. . . . They could sit in on classes if they wanted to, or show up at lab. (Female student)

[An older female student, already graduated and working in industry], told me, . . . “You won’t have to worry about getting a job. If you do what you’re supposed to do, people are gonna be looking for you.” (Male student)

[Male professor] introduced me to [younger female student] because she was an incoming freshman and he wanted me to talk to her about physics. . . .And I met [older female student] last year because she was a physics major and I was trying to make my mind up [about] being a physics major, so I kinda talked to her about it. (Male student)

HBCUs – Alternative Paths into the Major

Really you don't start taking a physics class until you take calculus 1. . . It really depends on the person coming in. (Male student)

I was advised to get in intro [the lower level algebra-based course] because I didn’t have any physics background in high school. (Female student)

These two students at HBCUs are describing their starting point in physics. Other students, who come in with a better background, begin with a more traditional calculus-based introductory course. The matter-of fact tone of the two statements above is as important as the actual words; these students treat their poor high school physics preparation as something to be overcome rather than evidence that they should not major in physics.

This is something HBCUs do that we did not observe at other schools; they distinguish between students who are interested and talented in physics, and those who have a good high school physics background. They provide alternative pathways into the major for students who come in with a weak background in high school physics.
While this allows more students to major in physics, there is a cost. One Department Chair told us that students who enter with a deficient background often take more than four years to graduate, or select a less rigorous track in the major.

The institution and the faculty are dedicated to helping students overcome deficiencies in their background without lowering standards

I would define a good faculty member as one that basically is going to cover the content, but be willing to go that extra mile to give the student assistance. . . But they still are going to hold the student to a standard. They are not going to back off of that standard because that student has a deficiency. That’s something I’m always preaching—don’t lower the standards. Physics is physics no matter where you are. (Female Administrator)

HBCUs – Resources

All this is accomplished with a minimum of resources. According to Seymour and Hewitt (1997), lack of financial resources is the single most important factor prompting minority students to abandon majors in science, math and engineering. HBCU’s serve a population that is much less affluent than most schools; Jacqueline King (1999) found that African-American students are more likely than White students to come from poor families (39% and 25%, respectively), to have dependents (41% and 21%, respectively), and to work fulltime (39% and 33%, respectively). The schools themselves have fewer resources; while there are special federal programs that target HBCUs, less than 2% of federal spending on science and engineering goes to HBCUs (NSF 2001). It is remarkable how much is accomplished by dedicated faculty and staff with so little money.

Most of the equipment we have is old. The last lab we had was over collisions. The air track that we used worked, but the gliders, for some reason, were sticking. . . . We actually had two gliders that worked but something else was wrong. (Male student)

I believe our labs were overcrowded. There were too many people to one group. . . And there wasn’t enough equipment to go around for everybody, so everybody had to share, like 15 people on one table. (Female student)

The lack of funding shows clearly in the lab equipment. Instructional lab equipment is often antiquated, and there is rarely enough for students to work in small groups. For several labs, there was only one setup and all students had to gather around. This greatly decreases the hands-on learning experience for students. Advanced laboratory equipment was also severely lacking.
One school we visited had a small grant that was used to keep students in the major by starting them on research projects from their freshman year. This program was incredibly successful, but the money was about to run out and faculty did not know how they would be able to continue the program.
The effect of the lack of resources should not be minimized. Laboratory work is an important component of a physics major’s education, and often provides useful skills for later schooling or employment. The departmental fabric at the HBCUs we visited was sturdy enough to overcome this handicap. But students do notice and care when appropriate facilities are not available to them.
Watching HBCU faculty and administration work with and support their students puts into perspective the claims at much more affluent schools that this or that program is impossible because it is too expensive. It is humbling to see how much is accomplished by dedicated faculty and staff with so little money.

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