The Dilemmas of African-American Men from Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Completing Doctoral Degrees from Predominately White Institutions

This paper examines the experiences of two African-American men in their pursuit of doctoral degrees from predominantly white institutions. It presents an overview of other studies that discuss the unique challenges experienced by African American students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs at these institutions. It also includes a case study that describes the struggles and difficulties of these two men, who completed their undergraduate degrees from two separate Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and completed their Ph.D. programs in separate Predominately White Institutions (PWI’s). The authors share their thoughts on the factors they felt were instrumental to their success, such as overcoming social isolation, having caring mentors, and receiving financial support. The paper concludes by offering suggestions to doctoral programs and their administrators on recruiting and graduating African-Americans from their doctoral programs