Preparing Underrepresented Students of Color for Doctoral Success: The Role of Undergraduate Institutions

Abstract

Since the late 1980s, there has been a significant increase in the number of doctoral degrees conferred upon underrepresented minority (URM) students. However, White students still account for the vast majority -approximately 80 percent -of all doctoral degrees conferred in the United States. As education stakeholders seek to diversify the professoriate, an updated examination of the baccalaureate origins of successful URM students is warranted to improve our understanding of where they are best prepared for doctoral degree programs. We used data from the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to identify the baccalaureate origins of African American, Latina/o, and Asian/Pacific Islander students who received doctoral degrees between 1995 and 2005, distinguishing the top ten producing institutions for each racial/ethnic group. Using extant research, we then identified and examined institutional characteristics of those top ten producers. Findings both confirm and build upon past research showing that institutional characteristics such as sector, racial/ethnic composition, selectivity, and geographic location matter in terms of producing successful URM doctoral students. The implications of the findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are presented for institutions that wish to recruit and retain URM students to their doctoral degree programs.Material published as part of this publication, either on-line or in print, is copyrighted by the Informing Science Institute. Permission to make digital or paper copy of part or all of these works for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage AND that copies 1) bear this notice in full and 2) give the full citation on the first page. It is permissible to abstract these works so long as credit is given. To copy in all other cases or to republish or to post on a server or to redistribute to lists requires specific permission and payment of a fee.

Insights into Implementing Research Collaborations between Research-Intensive Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions

“…Salters’ (1997) findings as reported by Lundy‐Wagner et al (2013) indicate that African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Latina/o doctoral students receive fewer teaching and research assistantships than their White counterparts. Other studies reported have shown that foregone research and teaching opportunities for URMs can limit their scholarship and/or persistence, which are necessary for progression into faculty roles (Antonio, 2002; Ellis, 2001; Margolis and Romero, 1998).…”

“…According to a 2013 report by the NCES, HBCUs educated 16% or more of all African American undergraduates despite representing only 3% of all postsecondary institutions (Lundy‐Wagner, 2015). Historically Black colleges and universities are also well known for greater diversity of college and university faculties (Lundy‐Wagner et al, 2013; Perna, 2001). Perna (2001) found that 9% of full‐time African American faculty earned their doctorates from HBCUs and that more than half of them returned to their degree‐granting institution as teaching faculty.…”

“…Lundy‐Wagner et al (2013) examined institutional characteristics that related to the success of sending URMs to graduate schools. Lundy‐Wagner et al, (2013) reported that according to Wolf‐Wendel (1998) institutional racial and gender composition were the most important characteristics, although there was variation across groups.…”

“…Lundy‐Wagner et al (2013) examined institutional characteristics that related to the success of sending URMs to graduate schools. Lundy‐Wagner et al, (2013) reported that according to Wolf‐Wendel (1998) institutional racial and gender composition were the most important characteristics, although there was variation across groups. Additionally, Lundy‐Wagner et al, (2013) reports Brazziel (1983) and Solórzano's (1994, 1995) claims that undergraduate institutions located in states with high numbers of Black residents are frequent producers of African American doctoral students.…”

Coming Out of the Shadows: Rethinking the Education Policy Agenda for Diversity and HBCUs

“…HBCUs are also well known for diversifying various professional fields; the contribution of HBCUs in preparing Black doctoral degree recipients and college and university faculty is well known (Lundy‐Wagner, Vultaggio, & Gasman, ; Perna, ). The role of HBCUs in Black teacher preparation (Gasman et al., ) and in increasing the number of Blacks in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pipeline is also notable (Lundy‐Wagner, ; Perna et al., ).…”