Very Few African-American College Students Choose to Major in Black Studies

The stereotypical view of the African-American college student as forgoing mainstream academic pursuits to concentrate on black studies is totally false.

New data from the Department of Education shows that only 1,167, or 0.8 percent, of all African-American bachelor’s degree recipients received their degree in any type of ethnic or gender studies. Therefore, only one out of every 120 bachelor’s degrees awarded to blacks was in ethnic or gender studies.

In fact, there are more blacks who majored in the physical sciences — a field in which there are very few African Americans — than African Americans who earned their degree in black studies. There are more than five times as many blacks majoring in computer science and more than four times as many blacks majoring in the biological sciences than in black studies.

Furthermore, African Americans make up only 14.8 percent of all college students who earn bachelor’s degrees in ethnic or gender studies.

Copyright © 2008. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.