Black Males in Pursuit of Advanced Engineering Degrees

Black males have long been underrepresented in engineering programs and the engineering workforce. Despite attempts to increase Black and other underrepresented student representation, these efforts are limited and have yet to create transformational change. There is little research that has sought to reveal and understand the factors that influence Black males to pursue engineering graduate degrees, and to discover what strengths Black males who have persisted through these programs possess. In this study we sought to understand the factors that influenced 26 Black male engineering faculty to pursue engineering graduate degrees (including 5 chemical/bioengineering faculty) and the capital that they engaged to persist. Using Cultural Capital Theory and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, two themes emerged, benefits of advanced degrees (e.g. increasing and applying knowledge, and career advancement) and social supports (e.g. family and faculty). These findings may assist in creating more innovative interventions for recruiting and retaining Black male engineering graduate students.