After a summer visit to the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, N.Y., Shawn Mitchell couldn’t wait to plan a future career in technology.
“There were so many inspirational speakers there … they talked about not just the aspect of technology and science but about life and life’s struggles,” says Mitchell, 20, a sophomore at the New York City College of Technology, a branch of the City University of New York (CUNY) also known as City Tech. “It was just very inspiring, very eye-opening (and) I saw and experienced stuff that I never experienced before.”
Laboratory visits are one of many methods used by City Tech’s Black Male Initiative (BMI) program that engages Black male students in the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The BMI program, which targets both potential and existing City Tech students, was recently named one of nine U.S. Model Replication Institutions by NASA and the National Science Foundation for its innovative approaches in attacking the problem of Black male student enrollment and retention.
Dr. Reginald Blake, an assistant professor of physics and BMI project director, says the program’s structure of academic advising, tutoring, summer research internships and mentoring helps keep students actively involved in the STEM fields.
BMI program officials work jointly with City Tech’s recruitment office to identify local high school students who are interested in the STEM disciplines. Through a program called College Now, these students are invited to attend classes and special City Tech campus events.
The mentorship, advising, tutoring and research components of the BMI program focus on the retention of City Tech’s existing students.
“We try to change gatekeeper courses into gateway courses … particularly math courses that our students struggle with because often times these courses force our students to change majors,” says Blake, adding that scheduled trips to various science and technology hubs help students recognize the link between college and the workforce. “We are trying to increase their access and their success in the STEM disciplines, and we need to tackle the problem from different avenues and different areas.”
