African American students' participation in online distance education in STEM disciplines: Implications for HBCUs

Abstract

Despite the increase in online distant learning initiatives at many of the nation's colleges and universities, collectively, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) continue to lag behind non-HBCUs in the development and implementation of online courses and programs. Data produced by the National Center for Education Statistics show that African American students are enrolled in significantly less distance education courses when compared with White students. In addition, there is a substantial disparity in the number of online science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses and programs when compared with online courses and programs in education, business, or the social sciences at HBCUs. The primary aim of this article is to examine data that explore African American students' participation in distance education in STEM disciplines. Recommendations for future research are also discussed in this article. © The Author(s) 2012.