In the first session, Altha Stewart, M.D. (University of Tennessee Health Science Center), set the stage for the workshop by discussing the psychological challenges that can impede progress by Black men and women in science, engineering, and medicine (SEM) careers, as well as the ways to protect young people from being adversely affected by these challenges. Planning committee member Kevin Cokley, Ph.D. (University of Texas at Austin), discussed Black intellectual achievement and the myths that disparage such achievement. Ebony O. McGee, Ph.D. (Peabody College), presented her research on the impact of financial stressors on the mental health of high-achieving Black graduate students. Planning committee member Thomas Vance, Ph.D. (The New School), served as respondent.
OPENING KEYNOTE: FOCUSING ON STRENGTHS, OVERCOMING “ACES”
As a Black woman and a practicing psychiatrist for more than 40 years, Dr. Stewart shared how she draws on her life experience and professional knowledge in the search for solutions to support the careers of Black men and women. She reminded the group, as a point of reference, that Black women make up only 2 percent of all science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals, and more than 500,000 low-income and minority high school students are missing from Advanced Placement math and science courses. The percentage of Black physicians, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges, has remained at 5 percent, essentially unchanged since 1940.
Dr. Stewart highlighted psychological barriers that contribute to this underrepresentation, amplifying several points made by Dr. Vivian Pinn in her introduction (see Chapter 1). Early childhood experiences and environments are critical, she noted. “The adultification of Black youth disrupts normal child development that is the clear pathway to successful outcomes career-wise,” Dr. Stewart stated. Chronic environmental stressors, which she termed adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), contribute to the development of anxiety, depression, and substance use. For many Black young people aspiring to careers, she cautioned, “the ACEs get in the way,” starting as early as kindergarten. Educational barriers, including lack of academic opportunities and strict disciplinary processes that are different for Blacks than for white counterparts, can result in different outcomes, lower graduation rates, and less likelihood to go on to higher education, she added.
Racialized microaggressions, sexism, and discrimination can weaken academic self-concept, especially in the developmental years, she continued, pointing to the constant devaluing of what would otherwise be cultural capital. For example, a student hearing that “you will never excel” leads to a belief that the pursuit is not worth trying. “In a society and medical culture that is so deeply rooted in systemic racism and structural barriers that are based on race, the [low] number of Black doctors should come as no surprise,” she asserted. Workshops such as this, she contended, are compelling the profession to take a hard look at strategies and solutions that will prove effective in improving the numbers.
According to Dr. Stewart, a SEM identity begins very early in life, showing up as small seeds of interest. “It is up to us to grow and nurture them [Black children] and to stay with them throughout the long journey once they begin on this path,” she urged. “We know this is not an easy journey. Programs are deeply rooted in systems in which white supremacy and racism contribute to the creation of very oppressive environments that are experienced by all students of color, and certainly in different ways by Black students.” She asked more experienced Black professionals to remember the support they received along their pathways to success and provide similar support to young people.
Dr. Stewart related that her own journey began as a candy striper volunteer at St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis, where she became comfortable around science and scientists. A high school science teacher expanded her thinking that she could not only work in a lab, but run one. Although she faced “bumps” from people who thought she should not aspire to be a doctor, she recounted, a health careers summer program at Harvard University was pivotal to her future. She particularly credits meeting psychiatrist Alvin Poussaint, M.D., who challenged her to not be stopped by obstacles along the way. Her family and community also provided critical protective factors, especially unconditional love and support, that allowed her to achieve her goals without falling prey to ACEs, she added.
Growing up in Memphis in the late 1950s, Dr. Stewart attended a previously all-male Catholic high school. Another teacher suggested she not set her career goals too high. “He said he did not want me to get hurt, but, in other words, he was stealing my cultural wealth,” she asserted. “It’s that cultural wealth that allows students to feel positive about their abilities to succeed.” Racism cannot be denied, but what we have to do is provide support both on the content and skills development side and on the emotional psychological support side. Mentors must become enmeshed in overall
support for their mentees. “I see medical students all the time who are the first generation to go to college who have such high hopes but also heavy burdens to be a success. They are literally killing themselves to achieve. We have to be the protective factors for this cohort of young people who we want to recruit, retain, and be successful as our colleagues in the field.”
This, Dr. Stewart noted, is what Dr. Poussaint did for her. She urged the creation of STEM programs that take into consideration things that students do not openly share, such as the ACEs in their lives, pressures from home, and the micro- and macroaggressions they experience every day. “Let’s remember we have to talk about those things,” she said. “They cannot be single-dose interventions if we are going to help students learn to use their cultural wealth. We have all heard about grit as this thing that we just barrel and push through, but it comes at a great psychological cost. I can tell you with certainty that we cannot continue to inspire our young people to ‘have grit’ without understanding the cost.”
She noted that both targeted and systemic solutions are needed to help students in today’s fast-paced environment. “When students are in challenging situations, our job is not just to tell them to buck up,” Dr. Stewart said. “Our job is to help them identify issues, get help if they need it, and not feel afraid, ashamed, or stigmatized. This allows students to have self-efficacy, self-confidence, and autonomy in thought.”
IMPORTANCE OF THE MISSION: SETTING THE STAGE FOR CHANGE
The Interplay of Psychological and Environmental Factors for Black Students
Dr. Cokley discussed promoting resilience as critical to increasing the participation of Black youth in SEM. He began by underscoring that psychological factors cannot be divorced from the environment in which people live. “The onus is placed on the youth themselves without considering the environmental factors that impinge upon them,” he commented. His presentation touched on the myth of Black anti-intellectualism, environmental risks, being a Black student in a SEM major, racial identity and SEM achievement, the imposter syndrome and stereotype threat, and Black student resilience in SEM.
Dr. Cokley noted that it is often asked why capable Black students fail to perform as well as white and Asian students. He said the reasons
offered relate to preparation, ability, genes, motivation, peer culture, and psycho-social factors. “The dominant narrative surrounding Black students is characterized by deficit thinking,” he said. “Deficit thinking focuses on presumed reactive racial identity that is believed to negatively impact achievement. No other group of students has been more studied or written about, but more misunderstood or more maligned.”
Research paints a different picture, Dr. Cokley countered. For example, his own research affirms that Black students are intellectual, inquisitive, and engaged (Cokley, 2015). Culturally competent teachers can bring out students’ best achievement, he said, which points to the importance of representation. Environmental risks that make full STEM participation difficult include systemic racism, racialized sexism, discrimination, and racial microaggressions, he added (Cokley, 2016). He also highlighted research on challenges related to being Black in STEM majors. For example, Basile and Black (2019) showed how Black students who try to join study groups or attend instructor office hours are frequently met with hostility and the message they do not belong. Dr. Cokley quoted a first-generation Black engineering student who said he received support from Black faculty and students elsewhere on campus, but none from his own department (McCoy et al., 2017). Dr. Cokley added, “This is indicative of the messages that Black students in STEM majors often receive.”
Dr. Cokley’s research has shown that “racial identity can be both a risk and a resilience factor in STEM achievement.” It becomes a risk factor when students internalize miseducated stereotypes and “start to believe the negative chatter,” he explained. In contrast, a racial identity that embraces being Black, has strong Black consciousness and awareness of history, and is aware of the reality of racism can serve as a positive factor. “I am not suggesting that a person has to primarily define themselves by their racial identity,” he clarified. “What I am suggesting is that having a negative identity is bad for academic achievement.” He noted Basile and Black (2019) identified three forms of racialization: (1) receiving messages that racial identity is only valued on paper, such as in recruitment; (2) receiving open or coded messages that Black students do not belong in SEM spaces; and (3) receiving messages of being considered special and unique because of race but also expected to assimilate to white ideals.
In recent years, Dr. Cokley reported, imposter phenomenon or syndrome has been identified as “the experience among academically or professionally successful individuals of feeling like a fraud.” However, he observed the literature was not addressing the experience of Black students, and he
began to look at the imposter phenomenon through a more culturally appropriate lens. Many Black students are trying to obtain a degree in the context of racially hostile campuses, marginalization, and discrimination from peers and faculty. He termed their questioning whether they belong as a racialized form of the imposter phenomenon that is separate from more general self-doubt that other students may face. The threat of being viewed through the lens of a negative stereotype can also lead to disidentification with school and pursuit of SEM majors, Dr. Cokley said, and these socio-psychological factors are linked to anxiety and depression.
“Black, Brilliant, and Broke”: Graduate School, Semi-Poverty, and the Mental Health Crisis in SEM
Dr. McGee explained that her research focuses on the impact of financial and other structural issues on Black graduate students to feel authentic and whole in their work. She noted that many of her findings apply to undergraduate students.
Student debt is an important contributor to financial stress, Dr. McGee pointed out. Ninety percent of Black undergraduates take out student loans, compared with 66 percent of white students. Graduate loans have grown by $2.3 billion annually, and graduate-level loan fees and interest rates are higher than those for undergraduates. These factors widen the financial disparities between Black and white graduate students, she noted. Forty-four percent of graduating Black students, compared with 22 percent of white students, leave graduate school with debt. And in general, STEM students have more debt than non-STEM counterparts.
Graduate students often face the low wages, unsafe conditions, long hours, and lack of appreciation that have been characterized as conditions in fast food or warehouse positions, Dr. McGee commented. “Academia relies heavily on underpaid labor, increased enrollment, and merit-based scholarship,” she said. “This ‘corporatizing’ of academia has had the most negative impact on scholars of color” (see Figure 2-1). Many choose to join the workforce with a B.S. degree because “they cannot be broke for 6 to 10 years as they earn graduate degrees,” she commented.
Further disaggregating the data, women owe about $1 trillion of the nation’s overall $1.7 trillion in student debt, Dr. McGee reported. Among all demographics, Black women have the highest rate of graduate student loan debt at an average of $75,085. Some women, she noted, are literally dying in their 60s and 70s with student debt. According to the National
SOURCE: Ebony McGee, Workshop Presentation, September 14, 2021.
Science Foundation, she pointed out, women with the highest degrees in their fields earn about $30,000 less per year than their male counterparts.
Dr. McGee connected financial data with physical and emotional health. As context, she painted a picture of what students endure. “The culture needs to be interrogated,” she asserted. “We have to say plainly that many fields in STEM were born out of eugenics. They were born out of warfare and economic domination…. We cannot separate ourselves from this culture. We cannot erase that narrative; the residue stays with us.” Dr. McGee has researched situations that foment microaggressions, imposter syndrome, and toxic relationships for many years. Significantly, she continued, the impact of financial difficulties on health was not part of her initial research. “I, too, believed that the financial difficulties of a high-achieving STEM person were diminished,” she commented. “But people are not okay. There is a silent, undertold agony of Black high achievers, with young scientists experiencing such conditions as anxiety attacks, self-medication, exhaustion, and miscarriages, among other conditions.”
Her research is now trying to pull out these tensions. For example, her interview protocol now includes asking questions about how students are eating. She has heard from many Black female STEM graduate students
who go on dates in hopes of a free meal, Black male STEM graduate students working in soup kitchens to eat, and other indications of food insecurity. In expanding her interview questions, she also found many students are sending home some of the little money they do earn, giving them fewer resources to live on. Black and Brown graduate students report they are often asked to babysit not only their relatives but also the children of their friends, neighbors, and even colleagues and faculty members.
She also started to ask students about health insurance. For many, health care is limited at best, with few culturally affirming medical professionals and limited mental health coverage available. Most insurance covers only a handful of sessions with a mental health provider, after which students must pay out of pocket. In any event, with few Black professionals in practice, “How do you talk to a white male psychiatrist about the racism experienced from your white male professor?” she asked rhetorically. “That is a set-up. Do they know about racial battle fatigue or minority stress? What kind of training and background do they have?”
She also referred to “the myth of me-me-me self-care,” such as massages or expensive coffee drinks, as a flawed option for wellness. “I am arguing that asking students to be in charge of the care of their own selves when structural problems are impeding them is a disservice to self-care,” she stated. She noted that universities and the governments that receive tax dollars from Black STEM students have a responsibility to provide essential services.
To change the landscape of STEM, Dr. McGee called not only for more representation at the table but also to include structural equity at the table. Policies and practices could include antiracist institutional health policies and practices; reparations for Black STEM professionals in the form of venture capital for STEM entrepreneurship; redistribution of STEM wealth creation; dismantling of the insurance industry; and culturally affirming reconstruction of Eurocentric STEM disciplines, she suggested. Dr. McGee concluded by sharing two resources that she developed: the Explorations in Diversifying Engineering Faculty Initiative and the Institute in Critical Quantitative and Mixed Methodologies Training for Underrepresented Scholars.1
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1 For information about these resources, see https://www.teamedefi.org and https://www.icqcm.org, respectively.
DISCUSSION
When Dr. Vance further questioned Dr. McGee about her ideas to achieve structural equity and inclusion in a given institution, she acknowledged the difficulty but urged not shying away from the work. It may mean bringing in outside consultants rather than tasking Black and Brown faculty with fixing the system and putting themselves on the line, she suggested. A participant who identified herself as an Asian American woman asked what allies can do to help fix the system. Dr. McGee noted it depends on each situation’s micro culture and politics, as well as an individual’s position and level of power. Generally, she suggested that there is strength in people coming together on shared issues of being oppressed.
To close the session, Dr. Cokley returned to his earlier points. “Black students are under the most scrutiny of any group of students,” he said. “We must help them navigate racist environments. Part of what I struggle with as a psychologist is that we have only so much control over our lives. You take the brightest and most capable students and place them in hostile, toxic environments, and it becomes a miracle they can even make it out! It is a ‘both/and situation’ to help them navigate the environment and not internalize toxic messages, while also prepare and inoculate them to become resilient.”
REFERENCES
Basile, V., and R. Black. 2019. They hated me till I was one of the “good ones”: Toward understanding and disrupting the differential racialization of undergraduate African American STEM majors. The Journal of Negro Education 88(3): 379–390.
Cokley, K. O. 2015. The Myth of Black Anti-Intellectualism: A True Psychology of African American Students. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
Cokley, K. O. 2016. What it means to be black in the American educational system. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/what-it-means-to-be-black-in-the-american-educational-system-63576.
McCoy, D., C. Luedke, and R. Winkle-Wagner. 2017. Encouraged or weeded out: Perspectives of students of color in the STEM disciplines on faculty interactions. Journal of College Student Development 58: 657–673. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2017.0052.
McGee, E. O. 2020. Black, Brown, Bruised: How Racialized STEM Education Stifles Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
McGee, E. O., and W. H. Robinson (eds.). 2019. Diversifying STEM: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Race and Culture. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
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