¶ … gender discrepancies in regards to African-American education. There has been a noticeable, growing increase of the presence of African-American women in undergraduate and graduate education while the gap between African-American males and females has widened. The dissertation will use a mixed methods, grounded theory perspective to determine why this is the case. The overall theoretical perspective of the work will be rooted in critical race theory and poststructuralist concepts.
Quantitatively assessed questionnaires and coded qualitative interviews will attempt to answer the question of why African-American male participation in higher education lags behind that of African-American females. These trends will be contextualized in the overall, larger trend of increased female participation as a whole on the undergraduate and graduate levels, to the point that women are now graduating in greater numbers than their male colleagues.
As well as research questions specific to the dissertation, the relative merits of qualitative and quantitative research are briefly discussed, along with a comparison of non-experimental, experimental, and quasi-experimental research designs (this particular project uses a quasi-experimental design). The paper concludes with a discussion of ethical questions germane to the research methods used.
The African-American gender gap in higher education:
Proposing and justifying a research method and design
Introduction
One of the most hotly-debated issues in higher education today is the question of the extent to which race may impact the ability of a student to obtain a degree and to fully participate in the opportunities of the future workplace. According to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, not only is there a race and class divide between African-Americans in higher education and Caucasians but also a gender divide within the African-American community itself: "data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that in 2011, 18% of Black men over the age of 25 had obtained at least a bachelor's degree. For Black women over the age of 25, 21.4% were college educated" (The gender gap, 2012, Journal of Blacks in Higher Education). In other words, the percentage of female African-Americans obtaining college degrees had exceeded those of male African-Americans.
Of course, this statistical trend is to some extent keeping with general demographic trends which indicate that more and more women are obtaining undergraduate degrees in greater proportion than their male counterparts. Overall, "by the age of 23, 23% of women surveyed earned a bachelor's degree -- compared with only 14% of men," making women 60% more likely to obtain B.A.s (More women earn B.A. degrees than men, 2013, Huffington Post). But that general statistic hides the racial demographics behind these numbers, namely that the gap specific to African-Americans is much wider and is likely to remain so.
In fact, if the statistics regarding young African-American women are compared with young African-American males, the numbers are even more striking. "A generation or two ago, the gender gap in African-American degree attainments heavily favored men…. [But] for younger African-Americans is far more pronounced. If we look at degree attainments for African-Americans ages 25 to 29, we find that 16.1% of Black men hold at least a four-year college degree. For Black women ages 25 to 29, 22.9% are college educated" (The gender gap, 2012, Journal of Blacks in Higher Education). The gap is even wider at the graduate level: "some 56,000 young Black women aged 25 to 29 hold master's degrees compared to only 23,000 young Black men" (The gender gap, 2012, Journal of Blacks in Higher Education). This proposed dissertation will seek to determine why this is the case using a mixed methods design that will fuse both qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Envisioned methodology and design
This proposed research will deploy a mixed methods approach: first of all, there will be a statistical analysis of trends in higher education at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Next, questionnaires will be submitted to a random selection of graduates and undergraduates of all races to better understand what motivates a person to seek higher education, what barriers exist, and what factors enhance or inhibit retention in school. This will be followed by a qualitative, experientially-based interview process in which male and female African-American students will submit to semi-structured interviews to discuss their experiences in higher education. Student perceptions of their parents vs. their teachers vs. their own expectations of education will be assessed: For example, in a "random survey of 500 teachers…almost six out of every ten teachers did not believe that Black males would go to college. However, 80% of parents who responded to the survey believed that their sons would attend college; this result was nearly...
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