trust all is well. just taught my first class for the semester. calculus ii. what is calculus? this question always works. to more important matters: let’s begin our conversation by first looking at the lay of the land. how many african americans earned doctoral degrees in mathematics in 2004? the answer to this question will give us clear look at the scope of the task. more broadly, what is the current state of african american mathematics performance? a rough gauge of our communities performance can be seen in the number doctoral degres earned by african americans. the data below reflects the actual number of doctorates earned in mathematics from 1986 to 2004. the source for this information is the national science foundation survey of earned doctorates i have presented math doctoral numbers in the form of a chart
it is important to recognize that these numbers reflect what is happening across the entire united states! what are we to make of this? first see that these numbers reflect fairly stable trends. we can therfore expect 5-15 doctoral degrees in mathematics per year in the african american community over the next twenty years baring substantive and sustained intervention on the part of our families, communities and institutions. this is simply not enough intellectual capital for our community to meet the challenges of the 21st century! in my math finance classes over the last few years i would rail against the sub prime and the credit card folks no one would listen. we are reaping the consequences of “mass madoff” in foreclosures etc and the consequent destruction of communities. one might argue that this is the tip of the pyramid and that the community is much larger than doctoral degrees. i argue that this is a reflection of broader cultural trends in the larger community in general and in the african american community in particular. it is a strong indicator of the state of the base of the pyramid.

for example, not a single african american earned a Ph.D. in astronomy or astrophysics in 2004. we can be sure that the numbers in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 will not be significantly different. in 2004 in all there were 165 Ph.D.s awarded to african americans in the natural sciences. Ten doctorates were awarded in mathematics. This was 0.9 percent of all doctorates awarded in the field. african americans comprise 12-15 percent of the american population. all things being equal one would expect 12-15% of the doctorates awarded in mathematics to go to african americans. evidently, something is fundamentally wrong with the culture if from 52,500,000 african americans only 10 were capable of earning a doctoral degree in mathematics every year. the math game has serious implications for the othere natural sciences. african americans earned 13, or about 1 percent, of the nearly 1,200 doctorates in physics. in computer science, african americans earned 0.7 percent of all Ph.D. awards. in the atmospheric sciences, less than 1 percent of all doctorates went to blacks. in chemistry, only 2.3 percent of Ph.D.s went to blacks. in the earth sciences such as geology, oceanography, and the atmospheric sciences, blacks were 1.3 percent of all doctoral recipients in 2004. in the ocean and marine sciences, only one of the 190 Ph.D.s in the discipline was awarded to an African American. in 2004, 148 African Americans were awarded a Ph.D. in the biological sciences. they were only 2.5 percent of all doctorates awarded in the discipline. the field of engineering also shows serious weakness in black doctoral student participation. In 2004 african americans earned 1.6 percent of all engineering Ph.D.s. finally, in 2004, 2,100 doctorates were awarded by universities in the United States in the fields of mathematical statistics, botany, optics physics, human and animal pathology, zoology, astrophysics, geometry, geophysics and seismology, general mathematics, nuclear physics, astronomy, marine sciences, nuclear engineering, polymer and plastics engineering, veterinary medicine, topology, hydrology and water resources, animal nutrition, wildlife/range management, number theory, fisheries science and management, atmospheric dynamics, engineering physics, paleontology, plant physiology, general atmospheric science, mathematical operations research, endocrinology, metallurgical engineering, meteorology, ocean engineering, poultry science, stratigraphy and sedimentation, wood science, polymer physics, acoustics, mineralogy and petrology, bacteriology, logic, ceramics science engineering, animal breeding and genetics, computing theory and practice, and mining and mineral engineering. not one of these 2,100 doctoral degrees went to an African American. something is wrong with this game. as a culture it is as if we have left 20% of our team on the bench, as an african american community we are condemning our children to serfdom in the digital era. where do we start? we must see that at the very basic level these domains simply deal with the fundamental questions in different ways: who am i? where did i come from? where am i going ? how do i get there? algebra is the language of science. so we mommies and daddies have to start learning algebra and whispering these words into our babies ears. how do we do it? we learn by doing, so it is the best to start doing. see my elementary algebra site: register as a student and try a few examples with the kids. more to come. be well.

see also: journal of blacks in higher education:
and here a much more detailed look at the lay of the land.