What Are We Doing Wrong: The Need for Policy to Address Black STEM Retention in PWIs.

Abstract

Since the 21st century, there has been a decrease in the number of Black people who have not only enrolled in college for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) degrees, but also retained a STEM major throughout their collegiate careers. Present literature has showcased numerous policies of the government’s intent to increase Black STEM representations from the 70s to present time. Furthermore, the literature discusses the role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the number of Black STEM degree earners, the factors that lead to a more successful outcome of Black students staying in STEM majors, and the correlation of the idea of natural geniusness and STEM participation for Black people, known as the brilliance problem, on student experiences. There has not been, however, as much research into why the policies are no longer keeping the rates of Black students into STEM at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIS). Looking at data from the National Longitudinal Survey Of Freshmen and the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman & Senior Survey, this thesis utilizes pruned decision trees and OLS regressions to examine prominent factors that would make a student more likely to stay in a STEM major, and whether these factors substantially change depending on the type of institution: PWI or HBCU. Results indicate that at HBCUs, academic difficulties led to a higher likelihood to switch, whereas at PWIs it was factors in the classroom such as: uncomfortableness with professors or classmates because of race, effort in college, difficulty talking to professors, and stereotypes of students about them because of race.