A new study that follows 21 Black men pursuing graduate degrees in engineering explores themes of structural racism, unfair treatment, unwelcoming environments and feelings of isolation.
When Dr. Brian A. Burt, assistant professor in Iowa State University’s School of Education, was in graduate school, he noticed that African-American graduate students in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) seemed to spend a lot of time together. He wondered if this were a form of retention.
Burt also wondered what the experiences were that drove the graduate students’ need to socialize on a frequent basis. He came to realize that rather than the institution working to retain these students, these students were retaining each other.
While there is solid evidence of this experience at the undergraduate level, he found a dearth of material on graduate students and set out to investigate.
“That’s how this growing research idea came: How do students retain each other and what are they retaining each other from?” asked Burt.
He is the lead author of “Into the Storm: Ecological and Sociological Impediments to Black Males’ Persistence in Engineering Graduate Programs.”
The study, co-authored by Dr. Krystal L. Williams of the University of Alabama and Dr. William A. Smith of the University of Utah, has been published in the American Education Research Journal.
