Black Students At Duke Upset Over Study

[Capler]

I would not say science is harder, it just requires a whole lot more time and work, that most people are not willing to give.

[WileECoyote06]

I would not say science is harder, it just requires a whole lot more time and work, that most people are not willing to give.

That's one of the main arguments this paper asserts for the sciences being harder (time spent outside of class on coursework).

[EB]

Selling Out the Truth to Thwart Affirmative Action

by Dr. Ibram Rogers, January 27, 2012

I admire the glorious intellectual endeavor to discover and reveal the ever-changing, ever-remaining, ever-complicated, ever-simple fountain of truth—the sociological truth, the economic truth, the biological truth, the historical truth (to name a few).

But too often, too many academics sell out the truth.  They sell the truth for causes, for careers, for funds, for conservatism, for liberalism, for radicalism.  They sell the truth and force us to buy spurious conclusions.

This is what is occurring at Duke University.  An unpublished, yet circulating, study by economist Peter Arcidiacono, economics graduate student Esteban M. Aucejo, and sociologist Kenneth I. Spenner has riled up the Black Student Alliance at the private university in Durham, N. C.  Three dozen students waged a silent protest on Sunday, and on Tuesday about two dozen unsuccessfully.

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These researchers either ignored or they are unaware of the growing mountain literature that speaks to the reasons why some Black students leave the STEMs.  In a previous blog in March 2010, titled “STEM Careers and 21st Century Academic Racism,” I actually revealed one study on this very matter.

In “Facts of Science Education XIV,” the research firm Campos surveyed 1,226 women and AALANA members of the American Chemical Society—particularly chemists and chemical engineers — and found that 40 percent of them had been “discouraged by individuals during the course of their successful pursuit of a STEM career.” Latino women and Black men had the highest levels of discouragement— half in the sample for both groups. And who were the worst offenders?

Their college professors! Almost half of those pointed to their college professors as the chief source their discouragement, and 60 percent reported they experienced dissuasion in college. African-American women were dissuaded the most by their professors — an alarming 65 percent.

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[Pirate12]

I wouldn't be upset because there is a ton of grade inflation at Duke http://fortyquestions.blogspot.com/2009/03/grade-inflation-at-my-old-stomping.html, http://fortyquestions.blogspot.com/2009/03/grade-inflation-at-my-old-stomping_23.html and other Ivy League schools.

I wonder when these researchers are going to do a study on Duke grade inflation for well-to-do, drunken, Caucasian kids? The Emperor is not wearing any clothes, but many people think he is wearing a million dollar gold robe! Even MIT is in on the grade inflation haul  http://www.gradeinflation.com/

 

[Cats4ever]

I wouldn't be upset because there is a ton of grade inflation at Duke http://fortyquestions.blogspot.com/2009/03/grade-inflation-at-my-old-stomping.html, http://fortyquestions.blogspot.com/2009/03/grade-inflation-at-my-old-stomping_23.html and other Ivy League schools.

I wonder when these researchers are going to do a study on Duke grade inflation for well-to-do, drunken, Caucasian kids? The Emperor is not wearing any clothes, but many people think he is wearing a million dollar gold robe! Even MIT is in on the grade inflation haul  http://www.gradeinflation.com/

 

Quite a few school grade on a scale, but most people do not understand that not all GPAs are equal. I recall at FVSU I made a 49 on a test which was the highest grade in the class, but it still an F, but at some school that 49 would be an A. The whole class got chewed out by the Professor.

With all the LLLL, this guy pit me through, I had to call him and say Thank You one day as making the highest grade on exam at Bell South. I was surprised at how much I remember from this Professor.

[EB]

News
Black Students Seeking Action on Racial Climate at Duke
by Jamal Eric Watson , February 1, 2012

The Black Student Alliance want university officials to denounce the study, which they say is racist and demeaning, but college officials assert that academic freedom should be protected within higher education and have remained mum.
 
Three weeks ago, about three dozen students in the BSA staged a silent protest at the university’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. observance where political commentator Donna Brazile delivered the keynote address. They linked arms and held signs that read: “What is an easy major?” and “I’m Black and a neuroscience major. My major is not easy.”

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