Where are the Black men on campus?

According to data from the US Department of Education, women currently make up 55% of the undergraduate student population at most U.S. colleges and universities and 60% of the graduate school pool. 

Given that that the gender demographics of the United States have not changed — the latest census shows women making up 50.5% of the country and men 49.5% — this makes for a pretty fascinating phenomenon.

 

Based on the most recent the U.S. Dept. of Ed’s data, and recent trends, women will continue to outnumber men at colleges for the near-term future.  In 1979, women officially overtook men as the dominant sex on U.S. campuses.

 

At FAMU, the female/male gender gap is 66 percent to 34 percent for fall 2020, which is nearly 2 to 1.  Just 10 years ago, fall 2010, FAMU’s female/male ratio was 60 percent to 40 percent.

Even sectors of higher education where Black men have traditionally been overrepresented --community colleges and for-profit universities—have also seen sharp declines in their Black male enrollment in the past few years. In the year following the start of the pandemic, community colleges saw a 19.8 percent decrease in Black male enrollment.

 

The growing gap between the participation of Black men and Black women in higher education is leading to a drastic imbalance between college-educated Black women and Black men and is beginning to alter the social dynamics of the Black community. 

 

Aside from all-male Morehouse College, only 12 HBCUs had male enrollment of at least 50 percent in 2017.  

 

When men in the classroom are few, one drawback for students — and not just the female ones — is the narrower range of perspectives represented. 

 

To combat this disparity in the classroom, some colleges have begun to create programs designed specifically to retain men, especially African-Americans.  For example, North Carolina Central University has created a Men’s Achievement Center (MAC) which provides Black males a mix of mentoring, academic advising, professional development, study-skills training and opportunities for students to bond with their male peers from similar backgrounds.

Vanishing Black teachers
Black men make up only 2 percent of public school teachers across the nation.
 
The National Center for Education Statistics reports that in 2017–18, about 79 percent of public school teachers were white, 9 percent were Hispanic, 7 percent were Black and 2 percent were Asian.
 
There is a tremendous need for Black men to be involved in education. Research shows that when students have a Black male educator, especially in middle school and elementary school, they are more likely to come to school more and get suspended less and literally more likely to attend college.
 
“It’s my belief that every Black man has a right to passage — some type of effort — where they are investing in the next generation,” said Ivory Toldson, Ph.D., professor of counseling psychology at Howard University. “Even if you don’t want to be a teacher you can be a mentor, volunteer — so many opportunities. Again, in my experience I don’t think we put that word out enough. You can be a teacher, mentor or volunteer.”
Toldson said that long story short “it’s important that Black men, first of all, know that they are needed.”
 
It starts in high school
In the current environment, even the most gifted Black students, with the most dedicated parents, can leave high school underprepared and have trouble getting into four-year colleges.

The most recent Department of Education “Civil Rights Data Collection”, suggests that opportunity gaps between Black and white males exist in three key areas:

• Schools with largely Black student populations routinely offer a less rigorous curriculum, omitting classes required for college admission. 
• Schools discipline Black males more harshly, suspending them for behaviors, like tardiness, that rarely result in suspensions for white males.
• Black students disproportionately have the lowest-paid teachers with the fewest years of classroom experience. Many of those become teachers through alternative teacher-certification programs.

A national survey by the Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics revealed that Black students lag behind their peers in taking college-preparatory classes. For instance, 53 percent of Asian students, 24 percent of white students, 16 percent of Hispanic students, and 12 percent of black students were taking precalculus or calculus by the 11th grade.

What’s more, systemic inequities prevent Black males from being properly advised to attend colleges that best match their academic potential.

“Given the inequalities they face, African-American boys and men have proven their resilience and drive,” said Toldson. “ Imagine what they could do if given the resources they deserve.”