Image: Brian Burt, assistant professor of higher education at Iowa State University, shared the research underpinning his article in American Educational Research Journal, "It Takes a Village: The Role of Emic and Etic Adaptive Strengths in the Persistence of Black Men in Engineering Graduate Programs” that was released in the fall 2018. Dr. Burt spoke at the Institute on March 8 to an audience the included colleagues from across the university, who participate in STEM graduate programs. His research sought factors that influence the persistence of Black males in engineering graduate programs. He notes that he this pool is roughly 1% of STEM matriculates and then another 1% from that population that remain to graduate with advanced degrees. Drawing on the Bowman Role Strain and Adaptation Model (BRSAM), he sought to find common support structures that enabled students to persist in the racialized experiences often encountered in PWIs. His initial research indicates universal factors of support of family and undergraduate mentors and cohort-specific support structure in faith-based communities. His research continues in several possible directions as he adds to his sample and conducts more interviews. He notes that his research complements but is distinguished from other work because he looks not at the pipeline, but at the product to find what common experiences and supportive structures might lead to more persistence in the STEM fields. Future directions are exciting and numerous: within the engineering field there are many specializations and within the population there are wide variations in backgrounds. Type of News/Audience: General News Tags: EPS
