Research & Studies

University of Michigan Study Examines Young Black Women’s Access to Birth Control Resources

A new study found that young African American women tend to live closer to pharmacies than White women, but those pharmacies are less likely to provide easy access to condoms and other resources relating to reproductive health.

Economist Finds Speech Patterns Impact Wages, Particularly for African Americans

A new University of Chicago study found that speech patterns strongly affect a person’s wages, particularly for African Americans. The study found that workers with racially and regionally distinctive speech patterns earn lower wages compared to those who speak in the mainstream.

The Large Racial Gap in Undergraduate Student Attrition Rates

In October 2018, there were 715,000 African American first-year students in all undergraduate institutions, 638,000 African Americans in their second year, 552,000 in their third year and 389,000 African Americans in their fourth year of college.

University of Washington Study Finds That African Americans Face Increased Risk From Air Pollution

A new study by researchers at the University of Washington reports that fine particulate matter from power plants producing electricity is responsible for 16,000 premature deaths each year in the United States. And African Americans are more likely than Whites to be exposed to this pollution.

Education in the Arts Can Provide a Way Forward for Formerly Incarcerated Black Men

The University of Houston study found that formerly incarcerated Black men enrolled in an alternative school with arts-based programming showed healthier social and emotional development and higher academic achievement as they transitioned to adulthood.

Rating the Effectiveness of Ph.D. Bridge Programs in STEM Disciplines

A new study by scientists at California State Polytechnic University, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Southern California, finds that Ph.D. bridge programs can be a potent mechanism to empower students, foster diversity and spur a more holistic approach to graduate education.

Organization Rates Major Medical Schools on Efforts to Promote Racial Equality

The organization White Coasts for Black Lives is a medical student-run organization formed to dismantle racism in medicine. It recently released a report on the efforts of 17 major medical schools to address racial inequality in academic medicine.

George Washington University Study Finds a Major Racial Gap in Financial Literacy

The results of the survey found that African-American adults answered 38 percent of the questions correctly, compared to 55 percent of White adults. Only 28 percent of African American adults answered over one-half of the questions correctly. For White adults, the figure was 62 percent.

Sub-Saharan African Nations Sending the Most Scholars to Teach at U.S. Colleges and Universities

In the 2015-16 academic year, there were 2,057 scholars from sub-Saharan African nations teaching at U.S. colleges and universities. This is up 3.4 percent from the 2014-15 academic year. But the long-term trend is down.

How One Act of Discrimination Can Impact the Lives of College Students

On average, students who encountered unfair treatment were more physically active, interacted with their phones more and spent less time in bed on the day of the event. In many cases, the behavior changes lasted into the second day after the discrimination had taken place.

Black Male Lawyers Face Higher Rates of Discipline by the California State Bar Than Their Peers

The study, conducted by George Farkas, Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine, found that Black male lawyers received more complaints from clients, were put on probation at higher rates and were disbarred at higher rates than their peers.

Students From Sub-Saharan African Nations at U.S. Colleges and Universities, 2018-19

The Institute for International Education reports that in the 2018-19 academic year, there were 40,290 students from sub-Saharan Africa enrolled at colleges and universities in the United States. They made up 3.7 percent of the 1,095,299 foreign students at U.S. colleges and universities that year.

Federal Reserve Study Shows High Student Loan Default Rates in Black Neighborhoods

A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York finds that student loan borrowers from zip codes that are primarily Black are twice as likely to be in default as borrowers from zip codes that are primarily White.

Stanford University Study Examines School Enrollments in Gentrified Urban Areas

The study found that gentrified neighborhoods tended to show a reduction in public school enrollments in the 2000-to-2014 period. But neighborhoods that were gentrified by mostly Black or Hispanic college-educated families showed an increase in public school enrollments.

Federal Data Shows a Huge Racial Disparity in Sexually Transmitted Diseases

It is important for college and university health officials to be aware of this trend so that they may target education and prevention programs for at-risk groups.

The Racial Poverty Gap and Its Impact on Higher Education

In 2018, nearly 30 percent of all African Americans below the age of 18 were living in poverty. For non-Hispanic White children, the rate was 8.9 percent. Many Black children from impoverished backgrounds do not even consider higher education due to the perceived cost.

Study Charges Harvard With Recruiting Black Applicants Who Have No Chance of Admission

Essentially, the study charges Harvard with recruiting large number of Black applicants who had no chance of admission so that Black acceptance rates would decline to more closely match those of White and Asian applicants.

Study Finds a Link Between Racial Discrimination and Suicidal Thoughts of African American Men

Suicide deaths among African American men have risen dramatically during the last 20 years, and racial discrimination may be a contributing factor in many cases, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Michigan.

How Hate-Speech at School Can Lead to Poor Academic Outcomes

The report documents that students who were called a hate-related word at school felt more fear, practiced more avoidance behaviors, stayed home more from school due to fear, and generally skipped classes more than students who were not called a hate-related word.

Academic Study Finds Blacks More Likely Than Whites to Support Teaching Creationism in Schools

In a survey of nearly 10,000 participants, the authors found that a higher percentage of Black (58 percent) and Latino Americans (57 percent) compared to Whites (44 percent) support teaching creationism in the classroom instead of (but not alongside) evolution.

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