Chapter 7: Finding Support One Relationship At A Time

In recent years, researchers have paid closer attention to graduate student experiences. Scholars have examined students’ attrition and completion rates (Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992; Golde, 2005; Lovitts, 2001), socialization processes (Antony, 2002; Austin, 2002; Ellis, 2001), advising relationships (Baird, 1995), disciplinary differences (Gardner, 2007; Golde, 2005;

Golde & Walker, 2006), and concerns involving the dissertation (Boote & Beile, 2005; Nettles & Millet, 2006). However, there remains minimal research on Black students’ experiences in graduate and professional programs (Howard-Hamilton, Morelon-Quainoo, Johnson, Winkle-Wagner & Santiague, 2009).

The lack of emphasis on Black students is problematic given that there is a long history of a significant disparity in terminal degree completion between Black and White people in the United States (Thomas, 1992). Blacks comprised over 12% of the United States population in 2007, yet held less than 6% of the nation’s conferred doctorates (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). In comparison, Whites held over 79% of the doctorates during that same year, but only comprised roughly 60% of the population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). In general, White people are almost twice as likely to have earned a doctoral degree as Black people. For those Black students who do earn doctoral and professional degrees, they are more likely to have graduated from a historically Black college or university (HBCU) than they are from a predominantly White institution (PWI) (Gasman, Baez, Drezner, Sedgwick, Tudico, & Schmid, 2007).