For more than three decades, both educational and scientific communities have channeled efforts and resources aimed at increasing the number of African-American students completing STEM degrees and subsequently pursuing STEM careers. As minority populations continue to increase, their participation in the STEM workforce will be critical to the health of the global economy. A significant facet of increasing minority student participation in the STEM workforce is to understand the role faculty should play in preparing these students and assisting with their matriculation to graduation and ultimately their participation in the workforce. Hence, a key emergent question then becomes: What factors are critical for faculty who prepare HBCU STEM majors for graduate and professional school as well as careers in the STEM workforce?

The overarching goal of this research is to create viable solutions to the conundrum of low representation of African Americans in the STEM workforce and to provide formal guidance to all interested stakeholders. Results will provide tangible data and recommendations to assist higher education institutions in their efforts to develop strategies that they, along with internal and external policymakers, can follow to achieve and maintain significant increases in the number of African-American students with STEM degrees.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP), Award #1719512 . The research is a collaborative partnership among faculty from the Roy G. Perry College of Engineering at Prairie View A&M University, the Whitlowe R. Green College of Education at Prairie View A&M University and the College of Education at Texas Tech University.