Making Black Scientists

Educators, research scientists, and college administrators have all called for a new commitment to diversity in the sciences, but most universities struggle to truly support black students in science. As Marybeth Gasman and Thai-Huy Nguyen show, a number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have proven remarkably adept at helping their students achieve in the sciences-and there is a lot to be learned from them. Making Black Scientists reveals the secrets to their striking successes and offers a bold new agenda for all colleges and universities that want to better serve their black students. Gasman and Nguyen investigate ten innovative schools across the country that have succeeded at increasing the number of black students studying science and improving their performance. Teachers on these campuses have a keen sense of their students' backgrounds and circumstances. And this familiarity with the specific challenges that their students face allows them to avoid the high rates of attrition that plague so many science departments. Their commitment to encouraging black achievement has often borne fruit. The most effective science programs at HBCUs emphasize teaching over research in hiring and promotions and encourage collaboration over competition among students. Finally, HBCUs offer more opportunities for black students to find role models among both professors and peers. Making Black Scientists makes the case that key pieces of this model can be successfully adapted at other schools and offers a blueprint that points the way toward a new, more inclusive future for science education.--