Chapter 11: “Because Representation Matters”: Supporting Black Males to and Through STEM Graduate School

Researchers have studied Black¹ students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for decades. Yet, their findings continue to demonstrate similar patterns of structural and institutional racism and anti-Blackness in STEM. These symptoms of systemic racism often serve as mechanisms for disrupting the STEM pathways of Black students. For Black boys, in particular, societal narratives about Black men increase the likelihood that a Black male student will be perceived as aggressive, violent, and unfit for the classroom. These explicit biases are demonstrated by the disproportionate numbers of Black boys suspended from schools (Wood et al., 2018). In addition, Black boys are also disproportionately represented in remedial STEM coursework, have lower graduation rates, and are the least likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree following high school graduation (Adelman 1999, 2006; Oakes, 1990; Riegle-Crumb, 2006). Moreover, the collegiate experience of Black males is inherently antagonistic as Black males are often hyper-visible, yet also invisible at many predominantly White colleges and institutions (PWI, Brooms, 2017), and the antagonistic nature of the PWI is magnified within STEM classrooms (Jett & Davis, 2020).