The HBCU-UP Education Research Project: An Empirical Investigation of the Success Factors Impacting African American Students in Engineering and Technology at HBCUs aims to identify factors that most significantly contribute to the success of academically gifted African American students in STEM disciplines enrolled at HBCUs. The study will apply a mixed methods approach utilizing qualitative and quantitative measures. The investigators will utilize focus groups, interviews, virtual chats, as well as web based instruments to gather information.
This project hopes to better understand how to structure the collegiate experience, and has the potential of impacting not only HBCUs, but also the wider academic community.
The goal of this Education Research Project was to identify factors that most significantly contribute to the academic success of African American students majoring in STEM fields at HBCUs. This research is significant in that it provides tangible data that can be used to assist higher education institutions in their efforts to develop and structure programmatic initiatives that support the participation, retention, and graduation of more African American students in STEM fields. This study was built on research conducted by Bonner (2001), which identified six factors (Relationships with Faculty; Peer Relationships, Family Influence and Support, Factors Influencing College Selection; Self-Perception, and Institutional Environment) that contribute to the academic success of academically gifted African American students in STEM disciplines at HBCUs. From these emergent categories a central research question was developed: What are the factors that most significantly impact the success and graduation of academically gifted African American students in STEM disciplines who are enrolled in HBCUs? Faculty and students from eight (8) HBCUs with ABET accredited Colleges or Schools of Engineering were interviewed using protocols developed by the research team. The resulting data was mined to identify the emergent factors that were listed by the faculty and students as key contributors as well as barriers to student academic success. Derived from these emergent factors, a faculty and a student survey were developed and made available to faculty and students at the all 87 four-year HBCUs online and administered at selected STEM conferences. Responses were received from approximately thirty-eight percent of the HBCUs that have STEM programs. The project team collected a rich data set that is continuously being analyzed and disseminated to national and international audiences. The protocols and surveys that were developed have been made available for use by other researchers. The project team continues to maintain and update the website developed to disseminate the research results and other pertinent information about African American students in STEM at HBCUs. The results of this study have been published in journals, as book chapters and presented at national and international conferences.
