Racial Gap

Authored by Frank Harris III, professor of postsecondary education at San Diego State University, and Tina King, president of the San Diego College of Continuing Education, the report draws on data from several prior studies to shed light on how institutions and policymakers can ensure "all Black students can go to college and succeed without sacrificing or leaving their cultural assets behind."'

JBHE has compiled Black student graduation rates at the nation's 30 highest-ranked universities. At 29 of the 30 universities, the Black student graduation rate is 85 percent or higher. Nineteen have Black student graduation rates of 90 percent or higher.

Breast cancer deaths among Black women aged 20-49 dropped from 16.54 deaths per 100,000 women in 2010 to just 3.41 deaths per 100,000 women in 2020. However, Black women's breast cancer mortality remains notably higher than that of White women, whose morality rate in 2020 was only 1.16 deaths per 100,000 women.

Scholars from the University of Pennsylvania have found patient outcomes directly related to nursing care are worse at Black-serving hospitals, including those with strong nursing resources.

For every 100,000 children, 11.7 Black children and 2.1 White children died by firearm in 2023. Among youth homicides, 8.9 Black children and one White child died by firearm per every 100,000 children in 2023.

"Increasing trust among Black communities requires the medical profession to become more trustworthy," the study authors write. "Part of building trust is increasing the opportunity for members of underrepresented groups to be in positions of authority, including as principal investigators and physicians."

The Black-White infant mortality gap has significantly increased since the 1950s. As of the 2010s, Black infants are more than twice as likely to die as White infants in the United States.

In an online experiment using two short documentary films, viewers consistently rated Black women scientists as less warm and less competent than Black men and White scientists of both genders, particularly when they introduced a White test subject.

When an online platform uses a five-star rating scale, non-White gig workers receive lower ratings, on average, than their White counterparts, resulting in a 9 percentage point income gap. However, changing the rating scale to a simple thumbs up/thumbs down nearly eliminates this racial disparity.

As of 2023, the homeownership rate of Black Americans is 44.7 percent - significantly lower than that of White (72.4 percent), Asian (63.4 percent) and Hispanic (51.0 percent) Americans.

The "Black Minds Matter 2025" report from EdTrust-West has outlined the state of education for Black Californians, documenting the barriers facing Black students in TK-12 and higher education settings.

The study authors argue that "there is no justification needed [to explain present-day racial health disparities] beyond the key role of structural racism experienced directly by African Americans today."

A new study has found Black children get less sleep and experience greater variability in their sleep routines compared to children from other racial groups. As sleep is an essential component of pediatric health, the authors believe their findings suggest pediatric clinicians should inquire about sleep habits when working with children from diverse racial backgrounds.

The study authors write, "Addressing the social determinants of health factors unique to Black women will not only increase mammography screening and improve breast cancer outcomes for this population but may lessen the economic burden that disparate health outcomes create."

While Black Americans represent nearly 14 percent of the total U.S. population, they represent just 5.5 percent of all top staff positions in the personal offices of U.S. House members and senators.

Only 25 films out of the top 100 highest-earning movies in 2024 featured a nonwhite lead or co-lead actor. These 25 films feature a combined 26 protagonists, 10 of whom are Black.

In an examination of six different kinds of school discipline and punishment, three comparison groups, and 16 subpopulations, a new study has found that "no matter how you slice it, Black students are overrepresented among those punished and excluded."

"To achieve a workforce that reflects the diversity of the U.S. population, academic medicine must transform its culture and the practices that surround faculty appointments and promotions," write the study authors, who found White male medical professors are more likely than their peers from nearly every other racial or gender group to receive a promotion.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2022 less than 195,000 of the 5.9 million employer firms in the United States in 2022 were owned by Black Americans.

A team of scholars led by researchers at Emory University in Atlanta has found Black athletes are five times as likely as White athletes to experience a heart attack or die from sudden cardiac complications.