In this issue:

Multicontextuality: 
A New Perspective on Minority Underrepresentation in SEM Academic Fields

Multicontextuality Unpacked

An Interview with Dr. Sheila E. Brown

A Comparative study of the Impact of Differing Forms of Financial Aid on the Persistence of Minority and Majority Doctoral Students

A Profile of an MGE Institution: Georgia Tech

From the editors

About Our Icon

Managing Editor:Yolanda S. George
Editor: 
Virginia Van Horne
Art Director:
Ann Williams
 

Making Strides is a free, quarterly (April, July, October, and January) research newsletter published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Directorate for Education and Human Resources Program. Its purpose is to share information about minority graduate education (MGE) in the fields of science, mathematics, and engineering. It is available in print and electronic format. Inquiries, information related to MGE, and all correspondence should be sent to the editor. 

By Beatriz Chu Clewell, 
The Urban Institute and Vincent Tinto, Syracuse University

Existing data and literature on doctoral persistence indicate a national failure to attract and retain graduate students, especially those of minority origins. Not only are the numbers of minority students completing their degrees low and in some cases falling, persistence rates are disturbingly low. In studies of doctoral persistence, financial aid emerges as one of the most prominent factors having a direct impact on the process. While financial concerns affect the general population of doctoral students, they are particularly acute for minority and women students. It is not merely the existence of financial aid that has an impact on persistence; the actual type of assistance and timing, can greatly affect the effectiveness of the aid. For example, fellowships or assistantships have been correlated with full-time attendance, student retention and the rate of progress students make towards their degree. 

This study examines how different forms of financial aid (e.g., fellowships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships) within a particular institutional context shape student’s experiences in doctoral study, and how over time those experiences influence the completion of doctoral degrees in Engineering, the Physical and Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences. The focus is on both identifying the relationships between types of financial aid and degree completion and understanding the context in which the relationships arise, specifically, the patterns of interaction between students and faculty. We examine experiences across gender and race, especially for students of African-American and Hispanic origins.

The study sample included 251 male and female African-American, Hispanic, and Anglo-American doctoral students in the Natural and Physical Sciences, Engineering and the Social Sciences who began their doctoral studies at two chosen universities from 1985 onwards. Our theoretical and empirical work centers on the factors that influence doctoral student persistence, the variation among different fields of study (particularly for students of different gender and ethnic backgrounds), and the different types of financial aid. The model incorporates both retrospective survey methods to examine what events shaped doctoral persistence, and qualitative methods to gain a better understanding of how minority student persistence is shaped by institutional events and by different forms of financial aid packaging. This combination approach should yield more reliable research to inform the development of future policy.

One of the most salient findings indicates that the importance of the context in which the financial aid is administered cannot be underestimated. The results do not substantiate extant theories that financial aid has a direct impact on doctoral persistence. Instead they demonstrate that financial aid has an indirect effect on the process. This conclusion is drawn from the observed relationship between type of aid and student satisfaction with doctoral study. Central to this relationship is the importance of student interaction with and subsequent satisfaction with the faculty in the program.

Policy recommendations from this study stem from three primary findings that have direct implications for the way financial aid is structured and administered. First, financial aid has an indirect effect on persistence through its effect on student interaction with faculty and time to degree, and aid should be structured in such a way that maximizes these possibilities. Second, the data also show that a comprehensive, multi-year financial aid package is the single most important factor influencing students’ choice of a doctoral program. Schools should ensure that they are able to make competitive offers to students. Finally, since context is of great importance at the graduate level, financial aid policies should be flexible enough to accommodate differences of academic field and institutional setting as well as individual student needs.

Editors’ Note: The authors adapted this article from the Executive Summary of the final report (of the same title) submitted to the National Science Foun-dation in 1999. For a copy of the executive summary please contact:

Vincent Tinto
School of Education
350 Huntington Hall
Syracruse University
Syracruse, NY 13244
vtinto@mailbox.syr.edu