scholarly journals "It's gonna be some drama!" : a content analytical study of the portrayals of African Americans and historically black colleges and universities on BET's College Hill

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Siobhan Smith
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Historically Black ◽  
Reality Television ◽  
Black Colleges ◽  
Historically Black Colleges ◽  
Academic Goals ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Black Entertainment Television

One way the mainstream public comes to learn about Historically Black Colleges or Universities is through the media. Reality television show College Hill, aired by Black Entertainment Television, appeared to have the goal of presenting the unique aspects of HBCU life. In spite of this objective, some critics and scholars argued the program fell short, relying on familiar and negative stereotypes to present the majority African-American casts, to the detriment of the reputation of these institutions. To explore this possibility, a content analysis of Seasons 3 and 4 of the program (30 episodes) was conducted. It was found that in general, behaviors and traits of the African-American cast members both supported and contradicted previously established, culturally-based stereotypes of African Americans, and that their appearances suggested normalcy. However, African-American women were portrayed in a significantly more negative manner than their male counterparts. In addition, out of the 327 scenes, only 43 (13.1%) had a reference to the HBCU; 30 scene-level references (69.8%) were to academic goals. Further, while the show mostly depicted the cast members interacting independently of the HBCU backdrop, it appears when the HBCU was referenced on the scene-level, most of these references portray academic, rather than social, concerns. Contrary to the literature regarding College Hill, instances of goals occurred statistically significantly more than instances of anti-goals. In addition, all of these references were considered positive on the episode-level. These findings suggest it is possible that some of the negative portrayals of the cast members might become inseparable from the portrayal of the HBCUs in the mind of the viewer.

The Double-Edged Sword of “Othermothering” for African American Women Faculty With Families

2018 ◽  
pp. 151-178
Author(s):  
Kyla Marie Sawyer-Kurian ◽  
Wanda B. Coneal
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Historically Black ◽  
Black Colleges ◽  
Women Faculty ◽  
Mentoring Program ◽  
Historically Black Colleges ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Healthy Environment

Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs) have historically been both vital and beneficial as they have educated, trained, and nurtured many African Americans throughout the years. Research indicates that there are some disparities between men and women faculty at HBCUs. The chapter will review research which discusses factors that may impact African American (AA) women faculty specifically AA women faculty with families (AAWFWF) within the academy at HBCUs. AA women faculty report spending a great amount of their time supporting, mentoring and nurturing students on academic and personal matters also called “othermothering.” While HBCUs have been a haven for students, some challenges and barriers arise for AAWFWF including bias toward caregiving, bias avoidance, unequal pay, collegial incivility, and difficulty maintaining work/life balance. Formal mentoring has been shown to be beneficial for AA faculty. Strategies to create a healthy environment for AAWFWF are presented and recommendations for an AAWFWF mentoring program at HBCUs are given.

Smoking-Free Policies and Smoking Behaviors among Historically Black Colleges and Universities Students in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-199
Author(s):  
Elijah Martin ◽  
Lea Jacobson ◽  
Gopal Singh ◽  
Payam Sheikhatari ◽  
Mehrete Girmay
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Historically Black ◽  
Smoking Behavior ◽  
Black Colleges ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
Historically Black Colleges ◽  
Smoke Free Policy ◽  
Smoking Behaviors ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
Black Colleges And Universities

Background: There is limited research on the impacts of smoke-free policies on students’ attitudes and smoking behaviors at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States. This study examined African American students’ attitudes toward differential smoke-free campus policies and their smoking behavior at two HBCUs in the Mid-Atlantic region. Methods: In this original study, 202 African American undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at two urban HBCUs participated and completed the online and in-person surveys conducted between October and December 2019. Descriptive statistics (Chi-square χ2 and t-statistics) and multivariable logistic regression were used to examine differences in smoking attitudes and behaviors by smoking-free policies. Results: One of the two surveyed HBCUs supported a comprehensive smoke-free policy (CSFP), which prohibits any tobacco use, including smoking, anywhere on campus at any time. The other HBCU followed a regular smoke-free policy (RSFP), which limits smoking to certain designated areas. The majority of students at the two schools reported that the smoke-free policy had not affected their smoking behavior. The multivariable analysis did not indicate a statistically significant association between students’ attitudes toward smoke-free policies and their smoking behavior. Furthermore, the difference in smoking prevalence between the two schools was not statistically significant by policy type. Conclusions and Implications for Translation: Smoke-free polices have the potential to educate about smoking and impact attitudes toward smoking. Implementing and enforcing a comprehensive or regular smoke-free policy is an essential initiative to ensure a healthy learning environment for students. Understanding the context-specific factors that contribute to smoking behaviors among African American students provides additional important insights into developing programs for students at HBCUs. Key words: • Comprehensive or Regular Smoke-Free Policy • Health Equity • Health Disparities • Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) • Tobacco Control • Student   Copyright © 2020 Martin, Jr. et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in this journal, is properly cited.

scholarly journals Florida’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities Address Racial Disparities Within the Criminal Justice System Using Results-Based Accountability

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-45
Author(s):  
Kideste Yusef ◽  
Randy B. Nelson ◽  
Felecia Dix-Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Historically Black ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Behavioral Science ◽  
Black Colleges ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
Historically Black Colleges ◽  
Education Psychology ◽  
Black Colleges And Universities

The current climate of criminal justice agencies reveals eroding community trust of local police advanced by growing attention to violence among police and citizens, differential justice in our courts, limited governmental accountability, and decades of overreliance on the correctional system and the mass incarceration of our most vulnerable citizens. The policies and practices of criminal justice agencies coupled with the conditions in which many Americans live have contributed to an overrepresentation of African Americans/Blacks within police interactions and arrests, in courts and sentencing, corrections, and juvenile justice. Similarly, the underrepresentation of African American/Blacks as practitioners and workers within these agencies have yielded a dichotomized view in which African Americans represent “the most of the worst and least of the best.” In effort to reverse these trends, the Florida Historically Black Colleges and Universities Expanding the Bench Project utilizes the consortium of Florida’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (FL HBCUs) as an effective mechanism to educate and train criminal justice, sociology, social work, education, psychology, and STEM science faculty and students on performance management using the Results-Based Accountability framework. The purpose of the Annie E. Casey Foundation sponsored project is to increase the representation of people of color with knowledge and expertise in program evaluation. With approximately 3,000 students (undergraduate/graduate) and 30+ faculty members represented among the social, education, and behavioral science disciplines of FL HBCUs, the consortium is uniquely positioned to develop and train current and future human service professionals, leaders, and experts in Florida and nationally.

scholarly journals The Role of Historically Black Colleges or Universities in Today's Higher Education Landscape

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Knight ◽  
Elizabeth Davenport ◽  
Patricia Green- Powell ◽  
Adriel A. Hilton
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
African American ◽  
Historically Black ◽  
Black Colleges ◽  
African American Female ◽  
Historically Black Colleges ◽  
Public School Teachers ◽  
American Students ◽  
Black Colleges And Universities

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are effective in graduating African American students who are poised to be competitive in the corporate, research, academic, governmental and military arenas. Specifically, over half of all African American professionals are graduates of HBCUs. Nine of the top ten colleges that graduate the most African Americans who go on to earn PhDs are from HBCUs. More than 50% of the nation’s African American public school teachers and 70% of African American dentists earned degrees at HBCUs. Finally, both Spelman and Bennett Colleges produce over half of the nation’s African American female doctorates in all science fields. This article discusses the importance of HBCUs in today’s higher education landscape.

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