Dartmouth College Study Finds Cosmetic Surgery to Look Whiter Fails to Boost Women’s Self-Esteem
In a study of 63 women in Venezuelan, 24 who had undergone a rhinoplasty and 39 who wanted to have one, Dr. Lauren Gulbas, assistant professor of anthropology at Dartmouth College, found that all the women of African descent believed that having a nose job would improve their self-esteem.
University Survey Examines Poverty in Africa
The Afrobarometer was co-founded by Michael Bratton, a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University. Nearly half of all African respondents this year said that they go without food, medicine, or drinking water at least occasionally.
Census Data Shows Need for Further Efforts to Attract Blacks Into STEM Fields
New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that while while Blacks are 10.8 percent of all employed workers, they make up only 6.4 percent of all employees in STEM occupations. Blacks make up an even smaller percentage of all workers in specific STEM jobs.
Outreach Programs for Parents Can Reduce School Mobility Among Black Students
Students who change schools often have problems adjusting to the new educational environment and this can impact their academic performance. Programs that reach out to Black parents can reduce the likelihood that children will change schools.
Factors That Foster Educational Success Among Youth From Low-Income Families
A new study conducted by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles, has identified five factors that have a major impact on whether or not students from low-income families succeed in higher education.
Harvard Study Finds Different Neural Activity When Subjects View Black and White Faces
Researchers in the department of psychology at Harvard University have found a region of the brain where neural patterns changed when test subjects viewed either a Black or White face.
How Racial Bias Affects the Perception of Fairness in Economic Decisions
In an ultimatum game, participants were more likely to regard low financial offers from Black proposers as unfair and were thus more willing to "punish" the Black proposer by leaving them with no money.
Gender Differences in Acceptance of Black Students at Predominantly White High Schools
The research found that stereotypes about African American boys' prowess in sports and their general perception as being "cool or street smart," helps them cope in social situations better than African American girls.
Study Finds Childhood Poverty Affects Adult Brains’ Ability to Control Emotions
This study is particular important to African Americans. Some 21 percent of all American children under the age of 18 are now being reared in poverty. And Blacks are three times as likely to be poor as Whites.
Emory University Study Finds Huge Racial Disparity in Rates of Lupus
A study led by researchers at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta finds that African American women were three times as likely as White women to contract lupus, a serious autoimmune disease.
Georgia Tech Surveys Its Campus Community on Diversity Issues
The Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta recently completed a survey of members of the campus community that showed a high level of satisfaction with the university's diversity efforts and climate for inclusiveness.
African American College Students Are Increasingly Studying Abroad
According to the Institute of International Education, in the 2011-12 academic year, Blacks made up 5.3 percent of the total of 283,332 students who studied abroad. This is up from 3.5 percent six years earlier.
Students From Sub-Saharan Africa at U.S. Colleges and Universities
In the 2012-13 academic year, there were 30,585 students from sub-Saharan Africa enrolled at colleges and universities in the United States. They made up 3.7 percent of the 819,644 foreign students at U.S. colleges and universities.
Report Documents 20 Years of Research on Black Fraternities
The report, published by the Center for the Study of the College Fraternity at Indiana University, offers an extensive bibliography documenting 20 years of scholarly research on Black Greek-letter organizations.
Report Documents Huge Shortage of Black Women Faculty in STEM Disciplines
The gap between the percentage of Black women in STEM faculty posts and the percentage of Black women in the general working-age population is wider than for any other racial or ethnic group.
A Huge Racial Gap in STEM Degree Program Attrition Rates
New data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that almost two-thirds of Black students who start out in STEM-related bachelor's degree programs do not complete their studies in these fields.
Racial Disparities in Cancer Patient Treatment
The data showed that Blacks were 10 percent less likely than Whites to have primary tumor surgery, 17 percent less likely to undergo chemotherapy, and 30 percent less likely to receive radiotherapy.
Sub-Saharan Nations Sending the Most Scholars to Teach in the U.S.
In 2011-12, there were 1,887 scholars from sub-Saharan African nations teaching in the U.S. This is down from 2,750 just four years ago. Nigeria sent 315 scholars to teach in the U.S., the most of any sub-Saharan African nation.
Study Finds Limited Success for Faculty Diversity Efforts at U.S. Medical Schools
A new study by researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania, finds that the faculty diversity efforts established in recent years at U.S. medical schools have had only limited success.
Many Black Women College Students Are Hesitant About Breastfeeding Their Future Children
Dr. Urmeka Jefferson of the University of Missouri surveyed African American women college students on their attitudes toward breastfeeding and whether they intended to breastfeed their infants if and when they had children.
Rutgers University Study Finds Increase in “Concentrated Poverty”
More than 11 million Americans, 4 percent of the total U.S. population, live in these high poverty neighborhoods and 67 percent of the 11 million people in these high poverty areas are either Black or Hispanic.
University of Iowa Survey Finds Widespread Racial Disparities in Children’s Health
The survey found that African American and Latino children experience lower health status, lower quality of care, higher unmet need for care, and more food insecurity than White or Asian children in the state.
Academic Study Finds Racial Differences in How Doctors Converse With HIV Patients
Healthcare providers talked about strict adherence to a drug regimen with Black patients more so than they did with White patients, regardless of whether there had been a problem with sticking to the regimen.
New Government Data Shows a Racial Gap in Home Internet Use
New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that 83.6 percent of the non-Hispanic White population in the United States has Internet access in their home. For Black Americans, the figure is 68 percent.
The Advanced Placement Tests on Which Black Students Have Been More Likely to Succeed
Of the 34 AP examinations offered in 2013, African Americans scored the highest on several foreign language tests. Also the racial gap in AP scores were the lowest on many of the foreign languages tests.
For Those With Ph.D.s in STEM Fields, Blacks More Likely to Work in Academia...
A new study of more than 400,000 doctoral recipients of all races from 1959 to 2010 finds that 49 percent of Black women and 46 percent of Black men with Ph.D.s in STEM fields hold academic positions.
Will Healthcare Reform Eliminate Racial Disparities in Cardiac Care?
A new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the Howard University College of Medicine finds that healthcare reform in Massachusetts, which has many similarities to the federal Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare), has not reduced racial disparities in cardiovascular care.
New Report Examines Ways to Increase Retention of Black and Other Minority Teachers
The Center for American Progress has released a new study documenting the importance of efforts to retain Black and other minority teachers in our nation's public schools. The report also lists recommendations on what can be done to increase retention rates.
For Ph.D.s in STEM Fields, Blacks Are More Likely Than Whites to Have Non-STEM...
A new study finds that one of every six students who graduate with a Ph.D. in a STEM discipline pursues a career in a non-STEM field. For Blacks with doctorates in STEM fields, one in five pursue a career path outside STEM.
Black Degree Attainments in Engineering: Long Way to Go to Reach Parity
In 2005, Black earned 5.3 percent of all bachelor's degree awarded in engineering. In 2012, Blacks earned only 4.2 percent of all bachelor's degrees awarded in the discipline. Blacks did slightly better in graduate degrees in engineering.
New York University Program Improves Black Participation in Medical Studies
A new program developed at the New York University College of Nursing uses a peer-driven recruitment and education program that focuses on the problem of disproportionate involvement of African Americans in HIV/AIDS medical studies.
A Blueprint for Advancing the Educational Success of Black Males
A consortium of seven research centers on education have issued a report that offers an assessment of the educational status of African American males at all levels of education and offers recommendations on what can be done to improve their prospects for success.
A Check on the Status of Black Enrollments in U.S. Graduate Schools
The Council on Graduate Schools reports that 40,584 African Americans enrolled in graduate programs for the first time in the fall of 2013. Of these, 69 percent were women.
Tracking Black Student Graduation Rates at HBCUs
At half the HBCUs in our survey, the Black student graduation rate is 34 percent or lower. There are seven HBCUs in our survey where less than one in five entering Black students earn a bachelor’s degree within six years.
Center for African American Research and Policy Examines “Intersectionality”
The Journal of Progressive Policy & Practice, recently released a special issue on intersectionality titled, “Informing Higher Education Policy & Practice Through Intersectionality.”
University Study Finds Black Cancer Patients May Be Under-Diagnosed for Depression
A new study led by researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland examined the mental state of Black and White cancer patients at the Northeast Ohio Medical Center. They found that standard mental health tests may fail to identify depression among Black patients.
