Historically Black Universities

The principal mechanism utilized was to subcontract company funded research on gallium arsenide to two historically black universities—Howard and North Carolina A T. 

At FAMU-FSU, increasing the diversity of the students through greater numbers of women and minority students in the engineering program is also seen as a goal by two administrators. With the merging of a historically black university, FAMU, and a traditional university, FSU, administrators... 

Many African American scientists regard Julian s appointment at Glidden as the watershed for the employment of Aftican Americans outside of science departments at historically black colleges and universities. According to physicist Branson (1955), Julian was the most successful African American employed in the chemical industry, and the most prolific African American producer of scholarly scientific papers. 

This period also marked the expansion of scientific employment opportunities for African Americans outside of historically black colleges and universities (Atkins, 1949). These changes did not come without pressure from the federal government, however. In fact, much of the progress has been attributed to the efforts of the FEPC, which was mandated to draw on all of the United States human resources during a national crisis. In short, a critical shortage of scientists and engineers expedited the recruitment of African American scientific talent (A Monthly Summary of Events and Trends in Race Relations, 1945, p. 6). 

The relevance of Zuckerman s conclusions for African American chemists is questionable. Most studies of U.S.-born doctoral scientists do not include racially comparative samples (see Long, 2001 Sonnert Holton, 1995). One of the few exceptions is Pearson s (1985) study of the career patterns of a national sample of 722 white and 565 African American Ph.D. scientists. The results of the study call into question the extent to which the U.S. scientific community adheres to the norm of universalism. While some African American Ph.D. scientists were employed in other than historically black colleges and universities, most believed that their careers were restricted in some way because of their race. Manning s (1983) excellent biography of Ernest E. Just raises serious questions regarding the extent to which American science is guided by the norm of universalism. 

Although six in ten interviewees had their baccalaureate origins in an historically black college, there were marked differences along gender lines. For example, data in Fig. 3.3 show that males are more likely than females to earn their bachelor s degrees at historically black colleges and universities. 

These authors conclude that African American students at historically black colleges and universities tend to have positive social and psychological environments comparable to those experienced by white students at historically white colleges and universities. They argue that students generally thrive in enviromnents where they are valued, socially cormected, protected and accepted. In short, Allen and Wallace assert that historically black colleges and universities... 

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 ... 

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. 

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