Exploring the Success of HBCU's Development of Black Students Earning Engineering and Computing Graduate Degrees Conference

Jefferson, JP, Strong, AC, Fletcher, TL et al. (2021). Exploring the Success of HBCU's Development of Black Students Earning Engineering and Computing Graduate Degrees .

cited authors

  • Jefferson, JP; Strong, AC; Fletcher, TL; Moten, JR

abstract

  • Project Significance and Research Design To achieve the purpose of this study, we designed a three-phase project that considers the perceptions and experiences of a multiple stakeholders (e.g., current students, alumni, administrators, faculty, staff) to deeply explore the HBCU experience and address four research questions: RQ1. How do Black HBCU undergraduate students in engineering and computing experience preparing for, deciding on, and enrolling in graduate school? RQ2. What are the general perceptions of graduate school for current Black undergraduate HBCU alumni? RQ3. What factors do engineering and computing Black HBCU undergraduate students and other stakeholders believe could influence the students' graduate school experiences? RQ4. What individual, institutional, and cultural factors contribute towards Black undergraduate HBCU students' interest, pursuit and successful completion of engineering and computer science graduate degrees? First, Phase I seeks breadth by collecting survey data from alumni of HBCUs that majored in engineering and computer science backgrounds (we also survey STEM majors overall). Phase II will serve to develop rich insights about three HBCUs through in-depth, interview-based case studies. The institutions selected for Phase II will be informed by the responses and experiences shared through our Phase I survey. Phase III will involve sharing the integrated results from Phases I and II with HBCU students and stakeholders during a validation workshop at the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) National Convention. The empirically informed dissemination workshops will also seek to increase underrepresented minority students' interest and preparedness for graduate programs.

publication date

  • July 26, 2021