Studied Indifference

While education remains the most popular field for African American doctorate recipients, some analysts worry that jobs with better pay and less stress are luring these grads away from education research.

Urbana-Champaign — Dr. Eboni Zamini is a newly minted Ph.D. in education. These days, the University of Illinois graduate's mind is filled with thoughts about her syllabus, what books to assign and her move to West Virginia University, where she will begin her career as an assistant professor of education this fall.
"I never really thought about doing anything else," says Zamini, who just graduated from the university's Urbana-Champaign campus. "I don't regret it for one moment. If you touch just one person, you've made a contribution."
Zamini is one of several hundred African Americans who will receive doctorates in education this year. While those numbers should be something to celebrate, higher education experts are worried that there are not enough among them who, like Zamini, will dedicate their careers toward education research, where the need is perhaps greater than ever.
Because it used to be one of only a few professional opportunities open to Blacks, African Americans historically have received more doctorates in education than any other discipline. That trend continues unabated. In 1998, 1,995 African Americans earned doctoral degrees. Of them, 619 — more than 30 percent — were in education.
Yet analysts say the relatively large numbers of Black graduates in the discipline do not dispel concerns over whether there will be enough African Americans to conduct research on education issues. With more lucrative opportunities in other fields — including the public school system, strangely enough — experts say higher education isn't snagging enough would-be researchers of color.
In fact, experts lament that the academy itself isn't making things more attractive for new minority doctorate holders, who often graduate with job offers that barely cover their student loan payments, or who find that colleges and universities aren't relying on as many full-time professors because adjuncts are cheaper.
This comes at a time when urban school systems face numerous challenges, and educational gains are in danger of erosion by the current affirmative action backlash. Many say researchers of color are needed more than ever because of their sensitivity to education issues affecting students of color.
"I'm just worried and nervous about the trends," says Dr. Walter Allen, professor of sociology at the University of California-Los Angeles, who has conducted numerous studies on Black students in higher education throughout his career. "Who will be asking the questions that need to be asked? We need a diverse number of people conducting the research."