Explaining why African-American boys lag in school -- and deciding what to do about it

Tuesday, July 29, 2003

By Larry E. Davis

While recent stories in the national media on the academic achievement gap between boys and girls are important, the reporting in them contains no revelations for African-American parents or for officials at high schools and colleges that have even small numbers of black students: They have been observing this gap among black boys and girls for years, and know, therefore, that it is far more dramatic among them than it is among the white students featured in most of the recent spate of media coverage.

		Larry E. Davis is dean of the School of Social Work, Donald M. Henderson Professor and director of the Center on Race and Social Problems at the University of Pittsburgh. He will take part today in a plenary session on the state of the black family at the National Urban League conference at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

And as available national statistics show, this is a progressive process, so that by college, for instance, two of every three bachelor's degrees awarded to blacks go to women, while women receive 56 percent of bachelor's degrees awarded to whites.

What causes this greater gender disparity among black youth, what are its implications and what can be done about it?

I led a research team in a five-year study of a nationally representative inner-city, predominantly black high school. We managed to track 86 percent of entering freshmen over a four-year period and determined whether they stayed at the original school, transferred to another one, dropped out, landed in jail, left town or were killed. Only 60 percent of the entering class of black students graduated in four years, 71 percent of the females and only 46 percent of the males.

What we discovered surprised us.

Contrary to popular belief, these youth had very high self-esteem. Although it is a common myth that black youth are likely to have low self-esteem, studies in the last few decades have shown them to feel just as good, if not better, about themselves and as self-confident, in general, as white youth.

However, what we did find was that black boys, relative to black girls, thought themselves less capable academically and didn't feel confident about their ability to read and write and do schoolwork. They scored lower on academic self-efficacy -- what we might call academic self-esteem.

By contrast, the girls had more favorable attitudes toward the academic process. They also felt they had more social support -- that people around them thought it was important that they graduate and expected them to graduate.

To complete each school year, the boys also needed to believe that school would pay off in the long run. The black boys seemed to be saying, "Show me the money."

There is another significant gender difference we observed: Even though our group of girls and boys walked to school from the same households, the males reported facing a hostile environment, one with more chaos and violence. The societal ramifications of all this, of course, are enormous and all too well known.

With a large percentage of African-American males not graduating from high school, their job prospects in an era of vanishing blue-collar jobs are dismal. With the movement to get women graduate degrees, into work and moving up the career ladder, black women are advancing at an unprecedented rate while black males are dropping out. Where are the eligible, educated black men these women will marry and establish families with?

We've long realized that it's a grave societal problem to have so many fewer black males educated than women. That's why 10 years ago I wrote the book "Black and Single: Finding and Choosing a Partner Who's Right for You," soon to appear in a third edition, as a practical guide to assist in the formation of families.

As someone who has devoted his life to studying social issues, I have seen the black male become an endangered species. It is reasonable, therefore, to think about a specialized affirmative action program for black males because, in all candor, black males have few powerful allies championing their success.

Above all, we must take assertive steps to enhance the academic performance of black males. We need to establish programs, for instance, with the goal of instilling academic self-efficacy in black male youth.

As my most recent research makes clear, we have to show young black males clear payoffs for academic achievement: African-American boys need to experience an encouraging academic setting followed by a receptive work environment -- one that actually lets them "see the money." And, in addition to Take Your Daughter to Work Day, we need a Take an African-American Son to Work Day, during which the boys would "shadow" black men performing highly compensated professional work, living well legally and enhancing mainstream societal values.

Only through these and other such initiatives can we confidently look forward to high school graduation ceremonies where roughly equal numbers of black males and females are the valedictorians, possessors of high grade-point averages and on the way to higher education, career success and, later, strong families.

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