Racial Disparities in Sleep Duration Impact Overall Health Inequalities
A new study led by researchers at Yale University finds that Black people had the highest prevalence of both short sleep duration [fewer than 7 hours] and long sleep duration [more than 9 hours]. The percentage of Blacks with inadequate sleep duration has grown significantly in recent years.
Tracking Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Exposure to Harmful Pesticides
The researchers found that higher exposure to pesticides has potentially serious health effects. Twelve out of 14 markers for harmful pesticides, tracked over the past 20 years, were found in the blood and urine of Black and Mexican Americans at levels up to five times higher than those found in White Americans.
During the Pandemic, There Was a Large Racial Gap in the Use of Telemedicine
The research team examined electronic medical records from 55 individual clinics in six different counties in Texas. They found that African Americans were 35 percent less likely than Whites to use telemedicine. But the main reason for the disparity was not mistrust of the medical establishment, but rather the racial digital divide.
Survey Shows Medical and Science Fields Need to Do More to Gain the Trust...
History has given the African American community plenty of reason to distrust the science and medical communities. A new survey from the Pew Research Center documents the level of trust Black Americans have with these groups today.
The Troubling Decline of Black Men in Academic Medicine
A new study led by Sophia C. Kamran, an assistant professor of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School and a radiation oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, finds that over the past generation while female representation rose dramatically in U.S. medical schools, the number of Black men in academic medicine stagnated or decreased.
A Significant Racial Difference in Who Receives CPR From Bystanders
Researchers found that when the cardiac arrest occurred in public, 46 percent of Black and Hispanic people received CPR compared with 60 percent of White people. A White person going into cardiac arrest in a community that was more than 50 percent Black and Hispanic was still more likely to get bystander CPR.
Study Finds Higher Levels of Black Maternal Mortality Due to Effects of Racism ad...
The data revealed a much greater disparity between women of color and White women than had been determined in other studies. The authors found that maternal mortality rates for Black women in their early 20s are consistent with those of White women in their mid-30s or older.
National Academies Report Finds Low Defense Department Research Funding for HBCUs
The National Academies analysis used data from fiscal years 2010 to 2020. It indicated that there has not been a significant expansion in the funding for research projects or research capacity awarded to the vast majority of HBCUs, despite legislation and departmental efforts with this stated intent.
Study Looks at the Mental Health and Help-Seeking of College Students of Color
Researchers found that the mental health of college students across the United States has been on a consistent decline over the past eight years. Mental health issues take a particular toll on African American and other students of color.
How Stress in the Academic Environment Impacts the Health of Black Women
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Texas have found that the high-stress environment of higher education may negatively impact the mental and physical health of Black women in the academic world.
Student Loan Debt is Not the Only Financial Concern for Young Black Americans
Black millennials report carrying substantially more medical debt compared to other generations. Of those respondents who could estimate their medical debt, Black millennials self-reported they have on average $11,469 in medical debt.
Study Finds Telemedicine May Be Closing the Racial Gap in Primary Care Visits
A study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that racial gaps in access disappeared for their patients during the initial phase of the pandemic. Once “normal” in-office appointments returned, the historic inequities stayed erased.
New Study From The Century Foundation Shows the Cities With the Most Racially Segregated...
The Century Foundation study finds that the de facto separation of students by race continues to be commonplace. As of the 2018–19 school year, one in six public school students attended schools where over 90 percent of their peers had their same racial background.
How Racial Disparities in Income and Wealth Impact Educational Attainment in the United States
A new study finds that the United States is falling behind many countries in the developed world in terms of higher education attainment. Much of the decline in educational attainment is attributed to unequal income and wealth which limits the ability of Blacks and other underrepresented groups to afford a college education.
Firearm Homicide Rates for Blacks Spiked During the Early Stages of the Pandemic
A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that from 2019 to 2020, the overall firearm homicide rate increased 34.6 percent, from 4.6 to 6.1 per 100,000 persons. For African Americans, the firearm homicide rate increased from 19.0 to 26.6 per 100,000 people.
Study Finds a Large Racial Gap Among Young Adults Who Have a Good Job
A new study by researchers at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce finds that it takes Black/African American workers until their mid-30s to have roughly the same chances of having a good job as White workers have by their mid-20s.
Report Finds That Remote Learning During the Pandemic May Widen Racial Gaps in Achievement
A new report finds that high-poverty schools both spent more weeks in remote instruction during the early pandemic and suffered large losses in achievement when they did so. Districts that remained largely in-person, however, lost relatively little ground.
How Affirmative Action Admission Bans Impacted Health Disparities During the Pandemic
In the year before the bans were implemented in eight states, underrepresented students made up an average of 14.8 percent of the total enrollment of those states’ public medical schools. By five years later, enrollment of underrepresented students at those schools had fallen by 37 percent.
The Devastating Effects of the Pandemic on Black Enrollments in Higher Education
This spring there were 4.2 percent more first-year students enrolled in American higher education than a year ago. But for Blacks, first-year enrollments are down 6 percent this spring compared to a year ago. This comes on top of a 13 percent decline from 2020 to 2021.
California Scholars Have Developed a School Segregation Index
The Segregation Index, developed by researchers at the University of Southern California and the Stanford Graduate School of Education shows that White-Black segregation between schools within large school districts increased 35 percent over the past 30 years.
Arizona State University Study Finds Black Girls Are Often Teased and Bullied About Their...
The prevalence of verbal teasing or bullying was dwarfed by touching Black girls’ hair without permission. Touching of hair without permission was reported by 78 percent of 10-year-olds, 50 percent of 11-year-olds, 81 percent of 12-year-olds, 65 percent of 13-year-olds and 70 percent of 14-year-olds.
Purdue University Study Examines Barriers to Gifted Education for Black Students
Black students' opportunity to access gifted education programs is severely limited because they go to schools that do not offer gifted education programs. In addition, the study found that in schools that offer gifted education, many Black students are overlooked.
Racial/Gender Differences in Qualifications for Appointment to the Federal Bench
A new study by scholars at the University of Louisville, Yale University, and Oregon State University finds that women of color appointed to the federal judiciary typically have a greater depth of professional experiences and are more likely to have previously served as a judge than their White male counterparts.
Student and Faculty Diversity Reduces the Black-White College Graduation Rate Gap
A study led by Nicholas A. Bowman, Mary Louise Petersen Chair in Higher Education at the University of Iowa, finds that college graduation gaps between Black and White students tend to shrink when there are more students of color or faculty of color on campus.
Many African American Families Are Struggling to Pay Back Parent PLUS Loans
In the month they were surveyed, 37 percent of Black parent-borrowers said they expected to be unable to make a partial payment on their student loan bills, compared to 20 percent for all other groups.
Like Other Problems, the Baby Formula Shortage Has a Greater Negative Impact on Blacks
The percentage of White babies who receive all their food from breast milk during their first four months of life is double the percentage for African American babies. This fact alone shows that African American mothers are more dependent on the availability of formula.
Tracking the Gender Gap in Enrollments at HBCUs
For the fall of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted enrollments in higher education, women were 64.3 percent of all students at HBCUs, compared to 62.7 percent in 2019, before the pandemic took hold.
Blacks Make Up a Small Percentage of MD/Ph.D. Student Matriculants
The researchers found that between 2009 and 2018, the percentage of underrepresented minority matriculants went from 9.8 percent in 2009 to 16.7 percent in 2018. But the majority of that change was led by Latinx/Hispanic populations, with Black and Native American populations experiencing lower increases.
HBCUs Provide Other Universities With a Roadmap for Success for Black STEM Students
The HBCU practices that lead to success include establishing a safe and nurturing environment, creating a scientific identity, and instilling self-worth in students.
Are School Choice Programs Compatible With the Goal of Racial Integration?
School choice programs are often touted as a means to address systemic inequities in schools, but they largely operate as unregulated “open enrollment” programs. Without regulation, and without an explicit focus on the goal of better-integrated school environments, segregation becomes more pronounced.
Academic Study Finds Significant Racial Bias in Artificial Intelligence Programs
The research, led by Johns Hopkins University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of Washington researchers, is believed to be the first to show that robots loaded with an accepted and widely-used model, operate with significant gender and racial biases.
Boston University Study Finds Shortcomings in Federal Data Collection on Race
The Boston University report, “Toward Evidence-Based Antiracist Policymaking: Problems and Proposals for Better Racial Data Collection and Reporting,” emphasizes the need for a robust and standardized system of racial data collection, reporting, and monitoring.
Department of Education’s Latest Data on Campus Hate Crimes
In 2019, of the more than 27,000 criminal incidents that occurred on the campuses of postsecondary institutions and were reported to police or security agencies, 757 incidents were classified as hate crimes. Of these, 400 were motivated by race or ethnicity.
How Educational Attainment Impacted COVID-19 Mortality Rates Among African Americans
The research team found 68 percent of COVID-19 deaths in the first year of the pandemic were low socioeconomic positions adults (those with no education beyond high school) employed in labor, service, and retail jobs that required on-site attendance and prolonged close contact with others.
Academic Study Finds Blacks Have Less Access to Quality Care for Strokes
Residents in predominantly Black communities are more likely than those in predominantly White communities to live near a hospital with a certified stroke center. However, a new study shows that when residents in these Black communities have a stroke, they are at greater risk of receiving care at a less-resourced hospital.
Does Racial Segregation in Schools Contribute to Disparities in Heart Health?
A new study finds that the racial segregation of schools may impact cardiovascular health later in life. The research team notes that school segregation may increase stress, constrain socioeconomic opportunities, and negatively alter health behaviors.
