Exploring How Social and Aspirational Capital Appears in Black Graduate Students' Experiences within Academia

• In Event: Experiences of Black Scholars in Academia

Abstract

In 2019, Black doctoral students made up only 9.2% of degree recipients in the United States, while their White counterparts represented 65.7% of doctoral graduates (National Center for Education Statistics, June 2020a). Recent data also revealed a notable gap in master's degree retention, with Black graduate students making up 13.5% of graduate recipients, while White graduate students made up 64.3% (National Center for Education Statistics, June 2020b). Only 21% of full-time faculty are people of color, among whom Black faculty represent merely 6% (National Center for Education Statistics, 2023). These statistics provide a glimpse into the disparity in representation between faculty of color, who are a staple in strengthening social and aspirational capital efforts for Black graduate students. This presentation aims to explore how Black graduate students in the southern U.S. utilize social and aspirational capital to navigate their academic experiences in higher education.

Author

• DAngelo Alexander Gillam, University of North Carolina at Greensboro