The Doctorate Production and Baccalaureate Origins of African Americans in the Sciences and Engineering

Abstract

INTRODUCTION For years, scholars and policy makers have been commenting on the dismal future of African American faculty production. However, as large numbers of college faculty approach retirement in the waning years of the 20th century, the opportunity to increase the number of Black professors presents itself. The key that opens one of the first doors to these faculty positions is the doctoral degree, yet little is known about the Black doctorate production of the 1980s--the decade from whence the faculties of the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century will emerge. Important research has been done on the career paths of select samples of professionals by Astin (1969) on women doctorates, Astin and Leland (1991) on women leaders, Berger (1990) and Riley (1988) on sociologists, McGrayne (1993) and Zuckerman (1977) on Nobel Prize-winning scientists, O'Connell and Russo (1983, 1988, 1990) on women psychologists, and Ryan and Sackrey (1984) on professors from working-class backgrounds. While each of these works identify factors that influence career paths, none focus primarily on Black scholars. However, as Conyers (1986) points out, empirically based studies of Black scholars are needed to establish a baseline from which practitioners and researchers, in years to come, can evaluate the magnitude, direction, and significance of changes which seem to occur with respect to Black professionals, their social and educational origins and the process by which they are recruited (p. 304). In recent years, some attention has centered on the graduate school experiences of underrepresented minority groups. A primary concern has been the declining enrollment of African Americans, particularly Black males, in graduate school (Blackwell, 1991; Thomas, 1987, 1992). A few studies have shown that Blacks are underrepresented in all fields of graduate school, especially the sciences(1) and engineering (Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992; Brown, 1987, 1988; Carter & Wilson, 1994; Chipman & Thomas, 1984; Clewell, 1987; Dix, 1987; National Science Foundation, 1990; Nettles, 1990a, 1990b; Oakes, 1990; Task Force on Women, Minorities, and the Handicapped in Science and Technology, 1989; Thomas, 1986, 1992). One of the important steps on the road to the doctorate is the baccalaureate degree. Indeed, there have been numerous studies of the baccalaureate origins(2) of science doctorates dating back to the 1950s and continuing to the early 1980s (Brazziel, 1983; Conyers, 1986; Hall, 1984a, 1984b; Hardy, 1974; Holland, 1957; Jay, 1971; Knapp & Goodrich, 1951; Pearson, 1985; Pearson & Pearson, 1985; Tidball, 1986; Tidball & Kistiakowsky, 1976). While Tidball (1986) and Tidball and Kistiakowsky (1976) looked specifically at educational origins of women scientists, they did not study minority females. Brazziel (1983), Conyers (1986), and Pearson and Pearson (1985) examined Black scientists but not Black female scientists. Pearson (1985) and Jay (1971), however, examined both Black women and men in doctoral science. While most of the work on African American doctorate production and baccalaureate origins examines the period from 1876 to 1980 (Brazziel, 1983; Conyers, 1986; Jay, 1971), no one to date has examined the period from 1980 to 1990. This article extends the existing research by answering the following question: What is the status of the 1980s Black doctorate science production from U.S. universities? This question will be answered by meeting two objectives: (1) updating the baseline information by presenting an overview of African American doctorate production from U.S. universities generally as well as specifically in the sciences and engineering from 1980 to 1990; and (2) examining the baccalaureate origins of African American doctorates generally and specifically in the science and engineering fields. This study differs from earlier work in that it brings the research on Black doctorate production and baccalaureate origins to the 1990s. …