Siloed Voices With a Resounding Experience: A Phenomenological Analysis of the Experiences of Black HBCU Aviation Students (Poster 4)

• In Event: AERA Promising Scholarship in Education Research: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research

Abstract

The aviation industry lacks racial and gender diversity. It is White-male dominated with 94% of professional pilots identifying as White male and only 3.4% identifying as Black or African-American. Research centralizing the participation rates and experience(s) of Black Americans in aviation higher education is scant. Decades of research has been conducted examining student retention, but many of these studies neglected the experiences of Black Americans attending non-Predominately White Institutions. Consequently, there is a paucity of research understanding the experiences of Black students, specifically Black aviation students, attending Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs). The purpose of this study is to understand the experiences of undergraduate Black HBCU aviation students. The central research question that guided this study asked what has been the experience(s) of Black students enrolled in collegiate aviation programs located at HBCUs? A phenomenological approach is used to capture the phenomenon via semi-structured interviews of 17 participants to answer the aforementioned question. This resulted in 12 themes emerging. The findings from the research reveal the experiences of most Black HBCU aviation students has been enjoyable; some had a less than enjoyable experience because of academic and/or social struggles. Students either had a great initial experience or a rough start within their first two years of college academically and socially because of feeling overwhelmed and not having many connections within the collegiate environment, respectively. These findings inform several recommendations for theory, policy, and practice aviation, education, and government leadership should consider to improve racially minoritized experiences.

Author

• Theodore W. Johnson, University of Nebraska - Omaha