Effective Strategies and Best Practices in the Recruitment and Retention of African American Males in STEM. QEM Network Workshop 3/19/10

Transcription

1 Effective Strategies and Best Practices in the Recruitment and Retention of African American Males in STEM QEM Network Workshop 3/19/10 Bryant T. Marks Morehouse College

2 To educate the Negro we must find out exactly what his background is, what he is today, what his possibilities are, and how to begin with him as he is and make him a better individual of the kind that he is. Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-education of the Negro

3 % of Freshmen Intending to Major in STEM AA Male AA Female Wh Male Wh Female 20.0 '87 '91 '95 '99 '01 '03 '05

4 % of College Graduates with STEM Degree AA Female AA Male Wh Female Wh Male 30.0 '87 '91 '95 '98 '01 '03 '05 '07

5 Potential Reasons that AA Males do not persist in STEM Lack of STEM exposure K-12 (e.g., classes, science fairs, field trips) Lack of STEM role models/mentors K-graduate Lack of strong math skills; math phobia Inability for students to delay gratification (i.e., prefer to make money as soon as possible) May take longer to graduate (repeating courses) Stereotypes of science and scientists; peer pressure Low expectations of teachers K-graduate school Cannot see the relevance/application of information

6 Who are Young African American Males? Practice #1: Get to know them Young AA males, like AA s in general, are diverse (e.g., income, education, neighborhood, social & political attitudes, assimilation) Some challenges they face are universal while others vary by subgroup

7 Dimensions of African American Culture (Boykin, 1986) 1. Spirituality: non-material forces influence people s everyday lives 2. Movement: emphasis on the interweaving of rhythm, percussiveness, music and dance as central to psychological health 3. Verve: a propensity for relatively high levels of stimulation and for action that is energetic and lively 4. Affect: an emphasis on emotions and feelings together with a special sensitivity to emotional cues and a tendency to be emotionally expressive

8 Dimensions of African American Culture (Boykin, 1986) 6. Communalism: a commitment to social connectedness, which includes an awareness that social bonds and responsibilities transcend individual privileges 7. Expressive Individualism: the cultivation of a distinctive personality and a proclivity for spontaneous and genuine personal expression 8. Oral Tradition: a preference for oral and auditory modes of communication in which both speaking and listening are treated as performances and in which oral virtuosity the ability to use alliterative, metaphorically colorful, graphic forms of spoken language is emphasized and cultivated

9 Non-Academic Interests of AA Males Music: hip-hop/rap, Rhythm and Blues (R&B), Pop Strong opinions regarding best rappers, regional differences, content (gangsta, conscious, etc.), producers, and videos Clothing: jeans (Sean John, Rocawear, Mecca), athletic wear (NFL & NBA jerseys; sweats), sneakers (Nike, Reebok, Adidas, custom made), boots Regional differences in brand preference and how clothing is worn Social: women, sports, partying, video games, movies, TV (e.g., Family Guy, Boondocks, Everybody Hates Chris), current events, facebook, myspace, twitter, texting, campus events, fraternities, road trips, community service Economic: getting paid, nice house/car, fine wife

10 The Self-Concept height Personal ID physical attractiveness Academic Race Performance Scientist athletic ability Father organizations teams gender Scientist Group ID mentor caretaker Interpersonal ID Deaux, 1996; Hinkle & Brown, 1990

11 Practice #2: Scientist Identity Workshop 22 incoming Morehouse freshmen Majoring in STEM Participating in summer math/science program

12 Black Scientists: Historical View Evidence of mathematics, astronomy, engineering, architecture, physics, navigation and map-making date back 25,000 years ago in southern and central Africa Ancient Egypt Astronomy: approx 4200 BC creation of 365 day calendar Astronomy: 2150 BC provided the names of 36 stars that rise within 10 days of each other Medicine: 3300 BC conducted surgery and set broken bones; 1650 BC mapped the brain Math: created zero symbol 1700 BC

13 Architecture/Engineering: 2750 BC, Step Pyramid of Djoser, designed by Imhotep

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15 Medicine: 2600 BC, Imhotep, architect, mathematician, astronomer, and true father of medicine, writes medical manuals (2200 yrs before Hippocrates)

16 Navigation/Map Making: BC African presence in Central America, Olmec Statue

17 Dr. Daniel Hale Williams African American Scientists Performed first successful open-heart surgery (1893) in a Chicago Hospital that he founded Late 1700 s, Created the first clock; Predicted eclipses; helped design Wash DC

18 The Scientist Describe the personality traits of a scientist Provide a physical description of a scientist Describe the lifestyle of a scientist Are you a scientist? (refer to your I am statements) Write an essay about the first AA male to receive a Ph.D. in your discipline

19 In their own words AA male students prefer, respond to, and learn from teachers who: Have an engaging teaching style Made learning interesting and relevant to student interests and experiences How would Black males teach?

20 Practice #3: Teaching Teams Goal: to increase interest in STEM among AA males in middle school, high school, and first year in college Student teams (comprising one senior and three freshmen per team) develop engaging art/media-based learning modules to teach concepts across the STEM disciplines. Freshmen team members use modules to teach scientific concepts in Morehouse courses as well as to minority males in high school who will then utilize the modules to teach science concepts to minority males in middle-school. These pedagogical modules are compiled in disciplinespecific manuals that will be used by the science departments at Morehouse and possibly other colleges in the future. Sample modules

21 In their own words (cont d) AA male students prefer, respond to, and learn from teachers who: Inspired them to work hard Respect them Are strict and caring (high school AA male) If they (teachers) tell me to be in class, do my work or tell me I can pass their class that I can be somebody words of encouragement telling me things like that that s caring. But somebody that don t care only says you do this or you do that, saying that I ve done well when they know I got the majority of answers wrong. (Delpit, 1988; Noguera, 1996, Polite, 1993)

22 In their own words AA male students prefer, respond to, and learn from teachers who: Are strict and caring (high school AA males): I wished the teachers would have cared more. For example, I went through like my senior year carrying a 3.4 (4.0 scale). I never brought books home and everything was just easy. You know, no teachers cared. (Polite, 1993) if a teacher is scared of me, they can t teach me. I can tell if they are scared, and if they are usually you can do whatever you want in their class. I can respect a teacher that s strict and really tries to get the students to learn something. (Noguera, 1996)

23 80% of Black males feel that teachers do not support/care about them 29% of White females feel that way Noguera, 2008

24 In their own words AA male students prefer, respond to, and learn from teachers who: Are personally supportive, but insistent that their students perform academically D. Bloom was challenging, real challenging. It was hard to get a B in his class. He had us reading every day, but he spent half the course teaching us about the Holocaust and World War II, interesting stuff, but he never taught us about Black things. I don t think that was right, but he was a good teacher. (Foster, 1997)

25 Suggested Practices For Recruiting and Retaining Black Males in STEM 1. Get to know them (e.g., interests, hobbies, challenges) 2. Incorporate their interests/experiences into the classroom (e.g., teaching teams) 3. Scientist Identity Workshop 4. Challenge them in Love

26 The End! Thank You!