AUSTIN, Texas — To help researchers, journalists and policymakers locate available research on the education of black males, University of Texas College of Education Professors Louis Harrison and Anthony Brown launched The Black Male Education Research Collection, a new website.
African American males face many obstacles in education: disproportionate dropout, expulsion and suspension rates, overrepresentation in special education, and underrepresentation in gifted education. Yet research on the issues black males face in the realm of education has been difficult to find.
“Dr. Brown and I, as well as researchers across the nation, have dedicated our research focus to understanding and providing critical analyses of the questions and concerns surrounding black males in the educational arena. Yet we have heard a constant refrain about the scarcity of this research, which we found perplexing,” says Harrison. The two sought funds from various organizations on campus to help collate and house the available research.
The accessible, web-based repository provides a comprehensive collection of scholarly articles from peer-reviewed journals that focus on higher education and includes everything from mentoring and psychological health to sports and athletics. The research provides information for other academics, mentors, educators and policymakers that addresses root causes and overlooked factors regarding roadblocks to black male academic success.
“This body of scholarship is designed to educate and inform decision-makers of the disparities taking place in today’s education system,” says Brown, whose research examines how educators respond to the needs of African American students, especially males. He and Harrison hope that people will use the resource to make research-based policies and decisions.
In addition to the research, the collection also features interviews, reports and monthly videos from the nation’s top scholars on black male education. The professors intend to add additional peer-reviewed research to the site as well as relevant books, book reviews, magazines and dissertations.
An abstract of Harrison’s latest research, “Contemporary Issues of Social Justice: A Focus on Race and Physical Education in the United States,” which was published in the Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport in July, can be found on the site. A representative sample of Brown’s work, “Same Old Stories: The Black Male in Science and Educational Literature, 1930s to the Present” is also available.
For more information about the Black Male Education Research Collection, visit the website.
