“I think this is about image,” he said. “I think this is about stereotyping and profiling, if you will.”
Bitsoi, a member of the Navajo Nation, wrote “Success Factors of Native American Men at Harvard College.” His study found Native Americans made up slightly more than 1 percent of the nation’s college enrollment population in 2005-06 and received the lowest percentage of the total degrees conferred – 0.008 percent – making them the least likely minority to graduate.
He encouraged minority students to seek out cultural groups, programs and activities on campus. It can mean the difference between succeeding in college and feeling like an outsider, he said.
“We seek out role models and then we end up becoming role models ourselves,” Bitsoi said.
The SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program helped more than 700 doctoral students since it began in 1993. At the time, there were very few minority faculty members in the 16-state region SREB serves outside historically Black colleges and universities, spokesman Alan Richard said.
Currently, about 5 percent of professors at public four-year colleges in the United States are Black, 3 percent Hispanic and less than 1 percent American Indian – despite the fact that almost a third of the nation’s college students are minorities.
“Our program was created to encourage changing that for the better,” Richard said. “It’s valuable that our teaching workforce have similar experiences to the students.”
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