Search results

This sixth volume in the Diversity in Higher Education Series is the first of two that specifically addresses the subject of the disproportional decline of Black American males in higher education. As editors, the three of us viewed this topic as so critical and in need of more acknowledgment regarding its serious nature. Though we initially wanted to publish such a volume a year earlier, all three of us had position changes and subsequent workloads that interfered with our devoting time to the project; however, we kept receiving queries as to when could there be an expected publication date for this volume. Given the consistent interest and encouragement, and our own internal need to finish the volume, we forged ahead. This volume and the following one were compelling projects that we sought to complete in spite of the many competing factors for our time. The result is a volume that we believe is better than what we would have produced a year ago.

This volume, Volume 7 – Black American Males in Higher Education: Research, Programs and Academe, is the sequel to Volume 6 – Black American Males in Higher Education: Diminishing Proportions. Volume 7 continues the examinations and discussions initiated in Volume 6. Volume 7 is a collection of 16 chapters where the contributing scholars examine the situation or state of Black American/African American males in higher education, particularly as pertains to higher education environments and those programs and policies that affect them. Additionally, there are discussions of research findings and theoretical concepts that seek to provide explanations for observed outcomes pertinent to African American males in higher education settings.

The first element contributing to the low number of African American men in college is the set of factors that cause Black men to not even consider applying or enrolling. In this volume, Launcelot Brown, Malick Koyate, and Rodney Hopson explore why so many Black men fail to grasp the opportunity to go to college while Rhonda Sharpe and William Darity examine some specific factors affecting the decision not to enroll. Also, Candace Baldwin, Jodi Fisler, and James Patton delineate issues linked to the status and perceptions of Black men in society as a whole that contribute to their absence from our campuses.

Researcher Highlight: Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875–1950)