Cohorts, university

A few years later in 1983, Whittemore and colleagues11 analyzed data on 50,000 former male students who had attended Harvard University between 1916 and 1950. In a 16 to 50 year follow-up, they compared coffee and tea drinking practices of 126 men in the college cohort, who had subsequently died of pancreatic cancer, with those of 504 surviving class-... 

Vimpani GV, Wigg NR, Robertson EF, et al. 1985. The Port Pirie cohort study Blood lead concentration and childhood developmental assessment. Presented at Lead Environmental Health Current Issues, May, Duke University, Durham NC. 

Negus, N. C. and Berger, P. J. (1988) Cohort analysis environmental cues and diapause in microtine rodents. In M.S. Boyce (Ed.), Evolution of Life Histories of Mammals, Theory and Pattern. Yale University Press, New Haven, pp. 65-1 A. 

Table 3.3 shows striking race differences in the baccalaureate origins of survey respondents. The data confirm the results of previous studies regarding the concentration of whites in same race colleges and universities. The data also reveal a virtual reversal in the racial composition of the undergraduate institutions of African American chemists from the pre-1985 cohort to the 1985-2002 cohort. 

Table 3.3. Percent Distribution by Baccalaureate Origins by Racial Composition of College or University, Cohort and Race [Survey Respondents],...

A Cohort II interviewee who served as a senior administrator at an historically black college/university, which had a j oint program with a neighboring historically white university, made the following observation about African American students taking courses at the latter ... 

Another perspective comes from a Cohort IV graduate of a predominantly white research university, who noted ... 

A Cohort II graduate of a historically white university explained ... 

Conversely to the findings of virtual invisibility of African American faculty at major research universities, interviewees were more likely to report the presence of African American classmates at some point during their doctoral studies. Cohort I graduates reported six African American classmates. The comments of a cohort member are illuminating ... 

Social discrimination in American colleges and universities is one of the most important means by which group attitudes are conditioned in this country (McWilliams, 1948). One Cohort V interviewee gave this explanation of the politics of her department ... 

Beginning in Cohort III, most interviewees first positions were nearly as likely to be in industry as in academe. The trend began much earlier for white chemists. Significant more interviewees in this than previous cohorts held first jobs in predominantly white colleges and universities than historically black colleges and universities and industry. These general patterns continued over the remaining cohorts. 

The comments of one Cohort III interviewee at a predominantly white university are instmctive ... 

One Cohort II interviewee reinforces the latter comments by arguing that many very capable African Americans on the science faculties of major research universities experienced problems recmiting top graduate students. The interviewee asserts They (African American scientists at predominantly white research universities) experienced similar problems. All these people are excellent researchers. What they found was frustration. Because they are black they could not attract the best students. ... 

In the last Cohort (V), one interviewee employed at a predominantly white university explained how being married to another professional influenced his search for the first job in this way ... 

One Cohort V Ph.D. recipient had this to say about an interview at a small private historically white university ... 

Feelings of isolation were common among interviewees at both historically black colleges and universities and historically white colleges and universities. In instances where the chemists were the only persons of color in the department or perhaps the first ones ever appointed to a faculty position in chemistry, many became discouraged and sometimes very depressed. Benjamin (1991) posits that the social isolation faced by many upwardly mobile African Americans often leads to stress, which can manifest itself in physiological disorders, such as hypertension, behavioral disorders, and even suicide. One Cohort V interviewee offered the following comments ... 

One Cohort IV interviewee at a predominantly white research university had this to say regarding attempts to collaborate with white colleagues ... 

When asked about their level of satisfaction with their current or last job, a substantial majority (slightly more than 71%) of interviewees indicated some degree of satisfaction (see Table 4.9). Nevertheless, nearly 20% were unhappy with their jobs. For example, a Cohort III interviewee at an historically black college/university commented ... 

Interviewees working at historically white universities also expressed dissatisfaction with their working conditions, as did one Cohort IV interviewee ... 

Except for interviewees employed at historically white colleges and universities, most interviewees were more satisfied with their influence on departmental rather than institutional policies. Industrial chemists expressed the lowest level of satisfaction in their ability to influence either institutional or departmental policies. One Cohort I interviewee from an historically black college explained that a simple departmental policy decision changed the dynamics of student/faculty interaction ... 

Several interviewees saw the two professional organization as complimentary. One Cohort III interviewee said I think there is a need for both ACS and NOBCChE. I don t think membership in one should exclude the other. I wouldn t say that ACS is that conservative because it has elected a black president... That speaks for itself... There are no racial barriers in ACS. To date. Hill (1975-1977) is the only known African American to serve as a president of ACS. In November 2004, an African American, Isaiah Warner, Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, was a contender for the presidentelect. He was opposed by F. Sherwood Rowland, Bren Research Professor of Chemistry and Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine and... 

One Cohort IV interviewee commented I have seen the research at major research universities... A lot of the faculty is on legacy and not substance. If you are not at one of these places, you must have advocates. A Cohort IV interviewee at a predominantly white university expressed this concern My inability to network with white chemists continues to be a major problem in developing collaborations and getting my research funded. 

One Cohort IV interviewee provides this description If I were proposing the same research at.(Ph.D.-granting department), my proposal would have received higher marks. No matter how good I am, as long as I am at (an historically black college), my research proposal will not be reviewed as favorable as the same one from a maj or predominantly white university. Another Cohort III interviewee said ... 

A Cohort II interviewee believes that some black chemists at historically black colleges and universities use heavy course load as an excuse for lack scholarly productivity. The interviewee explains ... 

A Cohort III interviewee at a historically black college provided this account of a summer experience at a cross-town historically white university ... 

Based on interviews with chemists in historically black colleges and universities, sexism is not limited to predominantly white campuses. Sexism is an issue for predominantly black institutions, even among the faculty, as reflected in the cormnents of a Cohort III female interviewee ... 

The turn of the twentieth century ushered in a period in which a well-educated cohort of African American scientists began conducting research and publishing in peer reviewed journals. Most of the doctoral chemists careers were confined to historically black colleges and universities. However, conditions both in and out of the scientific community were slowly changing. Between World War I and just prior... 

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