Access to information: A case study of African-American undergraduate persistence in a department of industrial engineering

Amid growing national concern over low graduation rates from public universities, there is reason for particular attention to the relatively lower rates of African American undergraduate persistence at predominantly white institutions. Models that explain the behavior of majority students do little to shed light on minority students' experiences. Critical to the attainment of such understanding are close examinations of contexts in which African American students succeed and first person accounts of the beliefs, strategies, and influences to which students attribute their success. Also useful are accounts from university personnel of student assets and needs.;A qualitative case study was conducted in order to identify the interpersonal dynamics and structural and ideological features of an undergraduate program of industrial engineering from which a larger than average number of African American students graduated between 1983 and 1990. The focus of the study is on how African American students gain access to the information they need in order to complete degrees in industrial engineering at a large public land-grant university. The data reveal that African American students complete their degrees in a department with distinctive characteristics: a discipline that seeks answers in unconventional ways, a curriculum that intentionally postpones specialization, and an unusual set of administrative and historical circumstances.;The primary sources of data were 25 in-depth interviews. Respondents were six African American students, two white graduate teaching assistants, seven faculty, and ten administrators and staff. Additional information from observation and document review helped support or disconfirm themes that emerged from patterns of evidence. The study used a conceptual framework based on Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital and Giroux's understanding of the roles of politics and difference in cultural production.;Students gradually gain access to information they need to succeed at predominantly white institutions. Through the use of information networks--some developed by individuals for their own use and others provided through student development programming--students discover industrial engineering. This academic field--characterized by an inter-disciplinary curriculum and attention to human factors within systems--provides a cultural context that is compatible with persistence among African American students.