Black Undergraduate Success In Engineering: The "Prove Them Wrong Syndrome" Or Social Responsibility

African American Undergraduate Success in Engineering: “Proving them Wrong Syndrome” or Social ResponsibilityAfrican Americans have made strides in various fields of study, and yet there is stillunderrepresentation of African Americans in the science, technology, engineering, andmathematics disciplines (Roach, 2004). The United States’ history of prejudice anddiscrimination towards African Americans regarding education has had a two-fold effect: first,the denial of access to post-secondary education, and second, a lack of self-efficacy in AfricanAmericans in educational attainment because of the prolificacy of negative stereotypes abouttheir achievement (Allen, 1992).Steele and Aronson’s (1995) work on stereotype threat supports that knowledge of negativestereotypes about the achievement of African Americans can lower that achievement. Due tostereotype threat, it is not surprising that successful African American students might be afflictedwith the “prove them wrong syndrome”, in other words, the need to disprove negativestereotypes about African Americans’ academic achievement with their own success (Moore,Madison-Colmore & Smith, 2003). While the existence of the “prove them wrong syndrome”may be intuitive due to the extensive research on stereotype threat, DuBois (1903) proposed thatit is the responsibility of the successful ten percent of African Americans, the “Talented Tenth”,to assist the remaining ninety percent in becoming successful. The concept of socialresponsibility is not novel; however, DuBois spoke specifically of college educated AfricanAmericans’ responsibility towards those with fewer resources, which has not been oftenempirically studied, if at all, regarding the perceptions of African American engineeringstudents.This study presents data from individual interviews and focus groups (male, female, coed)collected from African-American engineering undergraduates (N= 36) during their sophomoreand junior years at two historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The interview andfocus group questions focused on participants’ family history, academic experience, thoughts onengineering, diversity, expectations, post-graduation plans, and their support systems. Thispaper will address the impact of the “prove them wrong syndrome” and drive to be sociallyresponsible, as outlined by DuBois’ (1903) concept of the “Talented Tenth”, on the pathways ofAfrican American undergraduates through their engineering curriculum.Students were asked in the interview and focus group sessions did their race or their genderimpact becoming an engineer. When asked directly, the majority of students reported their racedid not impact their becoming an engineer; however, both male and female students reportedthey were aware of negative stereotypes targeting African Americans and their academicachievement. Students reported feeling that it was their responsibility to debunk the negativestereotypes; however, students across both campuses and genders more often reported it wastheir duty to the African American community to be successful and assist in the success ofothers. Students felt confident a degree in engineering would enable them to do so. Thesefinding suggest that although students mentioned "proving them wrong” syndrome, thisphenomenon did not guide their behavior, rather, their responsibility as African Americanengineering students was to support the African American community by serving as role modelsand mentors to African Americans.ReferencesAllen, W. R. (1992). The color of success: African-American college student outcomes at predominantly White and historically Black public colleges and universities. Harvard Educational Review, 62(1), 26-45.Du Bois, W.E.B. (1903). The talented tenth. In B. T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, P. L. Dunbar, & C. W. Chesnutt (Eds.), The Negro problem (pp. 31-75). New York: AMS Press.Moore, J. L., Madison-Colmore, O., & Smith, D. M. (2003). The prove-them-wrong syndrome: Voices from unheard African-American males in engineering disciplines. The Journal of Men's Studies, 12(1), 61-73.Roach, R. (2004).Losing ground.Black Issues in Higher Education, 2(2), 28-29.Steele, C. M. & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 69, 797-811.