Do African American women enjoy an educational advantage over
African American men? According to the Frederick D. Patterson Research
Institute of The College Fund/UNCF, Black women are at least earning
more degrees.
In 1993, African American women earned 45,000 B.A. degrees,
compared to 23,505 degrees for African American men. Headlines put it
bluntly: “Black Women Earning College Degrees at Twice the Rate of
Black Men.”
The numerical edge that African American women experience in
education isn’t limited to the bachelor’s degree. More than twice as
many African American women received Ph.D.s in 1995 than in 1975. In
the same time period the number of African American men increased only
slightly — by less than 5 percent.
But before anyone pops out the champagne and concludes that Black
women have got it made and that the number of Black Ph.D.s is soaring,
consider those numbers carefully. In 1995, more than 40,000 doctoral
degrees were awarded. Of those, 872 (2.2 percent) went to African
American men, while 926 (2.3 percent) went to African American women.
In 1975, when some 30,000 degrees were awarded, 851 went to African
American men, and 360 went to African American women.
Clearly, African American women experience a numerical edge in the
number of degrees awarded. Does this translate to an edge in
professional attainment, in societal power and influence, to an
advantage in another realm? Do these degrees Black women get protect us
from the stereotypes and glass ceilings that limit our achievement?
One might ask Alexis Herman, the stellar African American woman
that President Clinton nominated to join his cabinet as Secretary of
Labor in January, 1997. More than six weeks after she was nominated,
Ms. Herman was the only Clinton nominee not to have her confirmation
hearings scheduled.
After concentrated pressure from women’s groups, Herman’s
confirmation hearings were scheduled for March 18, and by the time this
article is printed, she may well have been confirmed. But for more than
six weeks, Herman twisted in the wind, her record of achievement, her
associations, her reputation picked apart.
