Summer Pipeline to the Social Sciences

Like many undergraduates who major in political science, Paula D. McClain initially thought she wanted to go to law school.

"My junior year at Howard University I realized that I was interested in the study of law-related issues and not interested in practicing law," McClain said. "Realizing that I truly enjoyed research and the prospect of being able to answer research puzzles moved me in the direction of graduate school."

Now, 30 years after she received her doctorate from Howard, McClain, a political science professor at Duke and new chair of the Academic Council, wants to help minority undergraduates ambivalent about their careers move in a similar direction.

 

Additional summer minority programs at Duke

Summer Research Internship Program. Dates for the program are May 25- August 3.

 

The Minority Medical Education Program. Dates for the program are June 9- July 21.

 

Pratt Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program. Dates for program are May 27- July 28.

Summer programs for minority undergrads interested in medical careers

McClain is the director of the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute, one of several programs at Duke designed to encourage minority students to pursue graduate education. Two of these programs in particular target the social sciences and are showing strong results both nationally and at Duke.

The Bunche Institute is a five-week summer program created by the American Political Science Association. The program, hosted by Duke since 2000 and funded by Duke and the National Science Foundation, supports African American, Native American and Latino students between their junior and senior years looking to pursue graduate degrees in political science.

Named for the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in political science in 1934, the Bunche program puts college students in graduate-level courses and introduces them to the intellectual demands of graduate school and political science research methods.

"The courses are intense and rely on students being independent," said Christopher Towler, a 2007 Bunche student and a senior at the University of Colorado at Boulder. "The program really made a Ph.D. seem possible."

Over an 11-year time span, Bunche alumni make up eight percent of all African American Ph.D. holders in political science.

"When you get a doctoral degree in political science you have more career choices," said Candis Watts, a Bunche alumna and political science doctoral student at Duke. Her primary concentration is in race and ethnic politics.

"You can do research work on [Capitol] Hill, become a professor or a consultant and you're able to think more critically," said Watts, who intends to become a professor.

Similar programs are occurring in other fields of the social sciences.

Since 2004, North Carolina A&T State University and Duke have collaborated on the American Economic Association (AEA) Summer and Minority Scholarship Program, which attracts students to economics. This year, 43 out of 47 students in the program, which is held on the Duke campus, are minorities.

"My first two years before the program came [to Duke], I was the only black person in the [social sciences] building besides the secretary and the janitors," said Omari Swinton, who received his Ph.D. in economics from Duke in May 2007.

Swinton is now a professor in the program he once attended when it was hosted by another school. The program has had a positive effect on the Duke department, he said.

"The amount of black faces [in the graduate program] has increased from one to four or five," he said.

Professor Charles M. Becker, AEA director, said 118 students have participated since the program move to Duke. About 65 percent go onto Ph.D. programs; 90 percent get some kind of graduate training in economics or a related field.

Both the AEA and Bunche programs also stress alumni support for participating students. At one recent Duke event, Bunche alumni returned to share their experiences with the current crop of Bunche students. The students were able to ask questions about the experience of being a minority in competitive graduate programs.

The alumni shared their wisdom, addressing how to compete academically, cope with racism and/or sexism, build networks and stay connected to the grassroots community.

 

Khalilah Brown Dean, an assistant political science professor at Yale University, was candid about the obstacles she's endured as an African American and as a woman.

 

"You have to decide if you will be defined by your job or if you will you define that space," Dean told the students.