Scholars who study HBCUs must pursue data sovereignty and develop new ways to evaluate the social and economic impact the institutions have on society.
That was one of the key takeaways from an online panel Wednesday that kicked off the HBCU Research Network Virtual Conference hosted by the HBCU Center Research Network at Howard University.
Dr. Natasha K. McClendon, director of the Center of Excellence for Black Women in STEM at Spelman College, urged conference attendees not to become dependent on big firms or the federal government to produce the data needed to gauge institutional performance.
“We can collect our data and create some data sovereignty for ourselves so that we're not dependent on if IPEDS comes out or not, if they're holding the economic data hostage,” McClendon said in reference to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, a federal database that tracks various outcomes, such as graduate rates and institutional finances.
McClendon also urged attendees to value what they learn in communities. As an example, she touted “The HBCU Effect,” a 2022 report she co-authored for the United Negro College Fund, which found HBCU alumni reported “overwhelming satisfaction” with their HBCU networks and workforce experiences.
McClendon made her remarks during a “sister scholar circle” conversation on advancing Black women’s research leadership in HBCU research and policy.
Dr. Sosanya Jones, associate professor of higher education leadership and policy studies at Howard University, told attendees it’s important for them to find ways to reshape the conversations about how HBCUs are being assessed.
“We have to be in these spaces and realize how we are being measured and legitimized, but we also have to do some education,” Jones said. She mentioned insights she has gained from her experience as a consultant for third parties who are doing outcome assessments to determine performance-based funding, a method in which institutions are funded based on how they perform on various measures.
“They have very deficit[-based] language until you challenge them and you say, you know, this scholar looked at this institution a whole different way, a whole different set of metrics that shows its strengths,” Jones said. “Not only it's strengths, but the strengths that align to state goals, the things y'all claim y'all care about: workforce development, citizenry, civic engagement.
“These are things HBCUs are doing that are not being reflected in your performance metrics. They're not being reflected in your hierarchy or ranking. So how can we change how we're talking about this to reflect all of the things you claim you care about?”
Dr. Sherice Janaye Nelson, a higher education consultant and adjunct professor at Harris-Stowe State University, said irrespective of how much power Black women have as scholars, their ability to wield that power is constrained when it’s not recognized or acknowledged. To illustrate her point, she used an example of not being able to exchange U.S. currency in a foreign country.
“I can have a million dollars in U.S. dollars. It’s not going to matter … if no one's willing to exchange it with me,” Nelson said.
The panelists praised the boldness and candor behind “The Beginning of the End of Spelman College,” a Substack article written by Spelman student Gabrielle Cassell for a website she calls The Pan-African Futurist. In the article, Cassell lambastes Spelman for cultivating “Black excellence ambassadors” who “go on to be incorporated into the very systems that subjugate us.”
McClendon said the article reminded her that “just because you love something doesn’t mean you won’t critique it,” but that those critiques can still be done out of love.
“We have to believe we are strong enough for their critique,” said moderator Dr. Melanie Carter, associate provost and director of the Center for HBCU Research, Leadership and Policy at Howard University. “Because otherwise, we will never grow.”
Nelson, the higher education consultant, touched on similar points made in the Spelman article, namely, a certain tension that exists for African Americans as they navigate two “clashing” cultures.
“There is a diabolical clash because being American is Eurocentric and being African is being African from the continent, so oftentimes, what we value in those two clashing culture systems, we have to choose: What do we value?” Nelson said. She urged attendees to not “consistently value being American” without understanding how that affects what it means to be a descendant of Africans.
Panelists also discussed the ins and outs of publishing in academic journals deemed as “prestigious” in order to get tenure as opposed to open source journals that are not behind a paywall, and whether HBCUs need to concentrate on attaining higher research classifications within the The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
