Black Men vs. White Men Pursuing Undergraduate STEM Programs in the Ivory Tower: The Academic and Social Impediments Regarding Our Divergent Success

The Cumulative and Damaging Effects of Discrimination

“…Previous literature indicates that Black men enrolled in STEM undergraduate degree programs encounter faculty advisors and students who negatively affect Black men’s academic success and well-being (McGee 2016; Spencer 2023; Strayhorn et al, 2013). The Black men featured in this article dealt with a gross amount of social and racial inequality as undergraduate students.…”

“…However, many Black male students attempt to disprove stereotypes held against them by excelling in STEM precisely to exceed people’s expectations of them (McGee and Martin, 2011a). Black men also engage in self-advocacy as STEM majors to ensure they receive the academic and social support they need to excel given the racial discrimination they experience in the academy (Spencer 2023).…”

“…The disparate and racialized treatment that Black men regularly encounter as graduate students in STEM programs is also present for them at both the undergraduate and K-12 levels. At the undergraduate level, Black men in STEM majors are often ignored across their race and gender, negatively and harshly stereotyped, do not receive adequate academic resources and support, and do not feel they belong due to the relative absence of same-race faculty and peers (Fries-Britt 2017; Lundy-Carter 2013; McGee 2016; Spencer 2023; Strayhorn et al, 2013; Williamson 2010). At the K-12 level, Black boys are oftentimes educated by teachers who hold biased assumptions and stereotypes about their ability to learn and apply STEM theoretical concepts while simultaneously having to combat feelings of isolation and alienation, which ultimately impacts how these Black boys perceive themselves in their science classes (Berry et al, 2011; Copur-Gencturk et al, 2019; Kane 2015; Wright et al, 2017).…”