Characteristics of African-American Doctorate Recipients

In recent weeks, the JBHE Weekly Bulletin has reported key statistics on the status of African Americans in graduate doctoral programs. We have noted that according to data from the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, in the latest year, the number of black doctorates showed a significant decline of 10 percent. Here are some other statistics on blacks who were awarded doctoral degrees in 2005.

• The average age of a black Ph.D. recipient in 2005 was 36.7 compared to 33.8 for all Americans.

• It appears that the predominantly white faculties of our major research universities prefer white teaching assistants over black teaching assistants. About 16 percent of white Americans who earned doctorates in 2005 served as college teaching assistants during their doctoral study. Only 7.5 percent of black doctoral students served as teaching assistants.

• Black Americans on average took 12.7 years to earn a doctorate after receiving their bachelor’s degree and 10.5 years after they first entered graduate school. The average time for all white Americans was 10.4 years after they earned their bachelor’s degree and 8.3 years after first entering graduate school. Disparate economic burdens on black and white Ph.D. candidates probably account for much of the difference.

• Some 22.7 percent of all white Americans who earned doctorates in 2005 plan postdoctoral study. For blacks, 16.2 percent plan on postdoc study.

• Nearly 59 percent of all blacks awarded doctorates in 2005 plan careers in academia. Only 47 percent of white doctorate recipients planned to teach at the university level. More than 11 percent of white Ph.D. recipients plan to secure a job in business or industry compared to 6.5 percent of blacks who earned doctorates.

Copyright © 2007. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.