Factual Friday, The Future is Now Edition: Recent Statistics on the Changing Demographics of Achievement

The following statistics, from the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (JBHE), strongly indicate that in the very near future the color and gender of scholarship and leadership on U.S. college campuses and beyond in changing more rapidly than ever before in the history of the United States.

• Percentage of all African-American full professors in 2005 who were women: 36.2%
• Percentage of all African-American assistant professors in 2005 who were women: 54.9%
(U.S. Department of Education)

• Number of master’s degrees awarded to blacks in 1990: 15,336
• Number of master’s degrees awarded to blacks in 2006: 58,976
(U.S. Department of Education)

• Percentage of all African Americans ages 18 to 24 who were enrolled in college in 1981: 19.9%
• Percentage of all African Americans ages 18 to 24 who were enrolled in college a quarter-century later in 2006: 32.6%
(U.S. Department of Education)

• Male percentage of total enrollments at all of the nation’s historically black colleges and universities in 1980: 45.6%
• Male percentage of total enrollments at all of the nation’s historically black colleges and universities in 2005: 38.5%
(U.S. Department of Education)

• Percentage of all master’s degrees awarded at the nation’s historically black colleges and universities in 2006 that were awarded to women: 72.5%
(U.S. Department of Education)

• Percentage of white parents of fifth-grade students who report that their child does schoolwork at home five or more times per week: 44.7%
• Percentage of African-Americans parents of fifth-grade students who report that their child does schoolwork at home five or more times per week: 55.4%
(U.S. Department of Education)

Posted by Ajuan Mance