| In this study, the relationships between the racial identity, science identity, and science self-efficacy beliefs of African American college students who attend HBCUs have been explored through the utilization of a concurrent mixed methods design (QUANT + qual). The study was viewed through the analytic lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT), and specifically guided by the following CRT tenets: permanence of racism, challenge to dominant ideology, intersectionality, and whiteness as property. Approximately, 347 African American science students (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Pharmaceutical Sciences) participated in the quantitative aspect and 14 students participated in the qualitative component, the semi-structured interviews. The students were sophomores, juniors, or seniors and were enrolled at a southeastern HBCU.;The quantitative data showed that significant positive relationships were found between science identity, science self-efficacy beliefs, and racial identity. The number of college science courses taken was also significantly correlated with racial identity. In addition, the data revealed that the nationalist ideology (racial identity) moderated the relationship between science self-efficacy and college achievement. The qualitative data yielded several important findings. According to the shared experiences of the participants, interactions that they experience with other African American science students and faculty promote the development of and interactions between their racial identity, science identity, and science-self-efficacy beliefs. Also, subtle acts of racism by White HBCU faculty or White principal investigators for their research experiences hindered a positive interaction between their science identity and science self-efficacy; thereby, supporting the notion of the permanence of racism. In addition, findings revealed that African American students at HBCUs prefer Black spaces, but their interactions with non-African American faculty at their HBCUs or interactions in other predominantly White settings require that they strategically assimilate. The need to strategically assimilate, despite a strong sense of racial pride and predominately Black educational context, reveals how science-related activities reinforce the notion of "Whiteness as property". |
