The African Americans Are Missing?
Simply stated, few scholars in the scientific study of Comparative Politics and International Relations are/have been African-American. As of 2010, the American Political Science Association reports that 170/2877 (5%) African-Americans are registered at the Assistant Professor level; 161/2775 (5%) are at the Associate Level and 130/3650 (3%) are at the Full Professor level.[1] They go on to report that “African-American job candidates are less likely to be working in comparative or international politics as their major fields than other candidates.” As African-Americans make up approximately 13% of the US population, our proposal is to increase the number of African-Americans in political science in general but in the fields of comparative politics and international relations in specific. The full context provided by APSA is worthwhile to consider.
From APSA (May 11, 2011):
The representation identified above is important for it points to diverse problems. First, African-American students tend not to take classes in comparative and international relations because they do not see this area of study or practice open to them. Our presence is important in terms of broadening the important topics studied in these fields as well as recruiting and training students for academic careers. Second, African-American graduate students need mentorship with respect to how to conduct research in these fields of study that often require languages and field research outside of the United States. Third, developing more scholars from this minority group will help facilitate and continue the pipeline from student to faculty member. Fourth, once out in the field, African Americans in the fields of Comparative and International Relations do not have the network of other scholars and thus find it difficult to receive comments, get advice, co-author as well as make the types of interactions that could provide professional development down the line.
Accordingly, we find the problem to be both pipeline (i.e., the number of individuals currently in graduate schools in comparative politics and international relations) as well as professional related (i.e., the number of individuals currently with a PhD in comparative politics and international relations that are attempted to get a job at a tenure-track institution or to get tenure).
Why does the problem exist? This is a complex question and one that we do not know the answer to very well for no one has seemingly asked the question and attempted to answer it in any rigorous fashion. If we were to put forward some answers however we would suggest that the deficient numbers represent: a lack of encouragement, poor training, neglect within departments, limited access to information about programs, the current presentation of the subject matter, a lack of pre-graduate school field experience, lack of languages, best practices, stereotypes that African-Americans know little about international relations as well as few success stories.
To be clear, we are not saying that other groups are not having a problem in the academy. Women, Latinos, Asians, LGBTQIA and others are confronting issues as well. We are simply beginning with one specific community and are more than willing to assist others as they attempt to enhance their representation as well.
[1] American Political Science Association (APSA) data.
Simply stated, few scholars in the scientific study of Comparative Politics and International Relations are/have been African-American. As of 2010, the American Political Science Association reports that 170/2877 (5%) African-Americans are registered at the Assistant Professor level; 161/2775 (5%) are at the Associate Level and 130/3650 (3%) are at the Full Professor level.[1] They go on to report that “African-American job candidates are less likely to be working in comparative or international politics as their major fields than other candidates.” As African-Americans make up approximately 13% of the US population, our proposal is to increase the number of African-Americans in political science in general but in the fields of comparative politics and international relations in specific. The full context provided by APSA is worthwhile to consider.
From APSA (May 11, 2011):
- There are small increases in racial and ethnic diversity in the placement class. Looking only at US citizens, 81 percent of the class is White, less than earlier years when the rate was 88 percent. Of the US citizens, 5 percent are African American, 5 percent Asian Pacific Islander, 4 percent Latino/a, and 4 percent are “other.” Only four candidates (.4%) were identified as American Indian. These rates are very small proportional increases from 2002 when 4% of the class were African American, 4% Latino/a, and 3% Asian American.)
- Members of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups all had relatively high placement rates in permanent academic positions: 65% of African American candidates, 52% of Latino/a, and 53% of Asian Pacific Islander, compared to 47% of Whites. For most groups, the type of institution (doctoral, MA, undergraduate) in which they took a position was relatively similar. However, African-American candidates on the market were far more likely to have positions in undergraduate degree granting departments then doctoral degree departments – compared to all other groups. Just 27% of African American appointments were in PhD departments, compared to 48% overall. This difference may be related to fields of study: African American job candidates are less likely to be working in comparative or international politics as their major fields than other candidates; and the doctoral degree granting programs, more so than BA degree departments, tended to be hiring in these fields.
The representation identified above is important for it points to diverse problems. First, African-American students tend not to take classes in comparative and international relations because they do not see this area of study or practice open to them. Our presence is important in terms of broadening the important topics studied in these fields as well as recruiting and training students for academic careers. Second, African-American graduate students need mentorship with respect to how to conduct research in these fields of study that often require languages and field research outside of the United States. Third, developing more scholars from this minority group will help facilitate and continue the pipeline from student to faculty member. Fourth, once out in the field, African Americans in the fields of Comparative and International Relations do not have the network of other scholars and thus find it difficult to receive comments, get advice, co-author as well as make the types of interactions that could provide professional development down the line.
Accordingly, we find the problem to be both pipeline (i.e., the number of individuals currently in graduate schools in comparative politics and international relations) as well as professional related (i.e., the number of individuals currently with a PhD in comparative politics and international relations that are attempted to get a job at a tenure-track institution or to get tenure).
Why does the problem exist? This is a complex question and one that we do not know the answer to very well for no one has seemingly asked the question and attempted to answer it in any rigorous fashion. If we were to put forward some answers however we would suggest that the deficient numbers represent: a lack of encouragement, poor training, neglect within departments, limited access to information about programs, the current presentation of the subject matter, a lack of pre-graduate school field experience, lack of languages, best practices, stereotypes that African-Americans know little about international relations as well as few success stories.
To be clear, we are not saying that other groups are not having a problem in the academy. Women, Latinos, Asians, LGBTQIA and others are confronting issues as well. We are simply beginning with one specific community and are more than willing to assist others as they attempt to enhance their representation as well.
[1] American Political Science Association (APSA) data.
