People of color are earning advanced degrees at a pace that exceeds
that of Whites, but can the pipeline’s momentum be sustained without
affirmative action?
With hardly any fanfare or notice, the last five years have seen
unparalleled growth among what has been called the credentialed class”
of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans.
Each of these groups has increased the number of master’s and first
professional degrees earned by leaps and bounds — growing by as much
as 10 percent each year (see accompanying table). However. the
unprecedented numbers of advanced degrees is being earned by people of
color just as attacks on affirmative action are raising the question of
whether access to higher education can be maintained.
Still, the sheer numbers are impressive.
“That’s an important trend,” says Dr. Margaret Miller, president of
the American Association for Higher Education, who notes that graduate
and professional schools are “where a lot of people are getting their
credentialing for professional work. That suggests a growing entrance
into the middle class.”
Dr. Christopher Foreman, senior scholar at the Brookings Institute, also is hopeful.
“I wouldn’t want to overstate it, but it’s a very encouraging sign
that once African-Americans make it into postsecondary education, they
can be successful in large numbers,” he says. And Dr. Troy Duster,
professor of sociology at the University of California-Berkeley, adds,
“One of the big issues is between credentialing and employment. If we
could see that people’s advanced degrees connect with the job market,
then it seems to be a significant development.”
