Duke Drops the Ball on Racially Charged Study

Black college students are improving their grades— because they aren’t challenging themselves as much as their white colleagues are, according to a group of Duke University researchers.

The conclusion from a Duke University study [PDF] has incensed the black community and sparked recent protests on Duke’s campus. The study was in part a response to data that indicated black students showed academic improvement over the course of their undergraduate careers at a higher rate than white students.

The study asserts the convergence of black and white GPAs over time has been caused primarily by black students shying away from natural sciences, engineering, and economics in favor of the humanities and social sciences. The first set of fields is more rigorous and difficult than the latter set, according to the Duke economics professors behind the research. Majoring in the humanities must be like beating the Duke football team: It’s just not that difficult to do.

“What kind of image does this present not only of the academic undertakings of black students at Duke, but also of the merit and legitimacy of our degrees?” one student asked. “And then, of course, it’s calling into question, the legitimacy of how we even got to Duke in the first place.”

It’s clear that there is some amount of racial disparity in the selection of academic majors. Rather than engaging in a responsible dialogue as to why that’s the case, the professors touch briefly on only two of what they admit to be many possible reasons: “Lack of pre-college academic preparation for the major course requirements” and “academic difficulty in the major course requirements.”           

Both of these could be legitimate reasons, but the failure to consider additional explanations implies a host of racial stereotypes that lay at the foundation of much of the uproar Duke has experienced over the past few days.

Are black students just lazier? Do they lack focus and ambition? Has affirmative action put too many unqualified minorities in American colleges—minorities who are just looking for the easiest possible route to a degree?

One would be more inclined to respond affirmatively to those questions based on the findings of the Duke study. Indeed, critics of affirmative action are already planning to cite the new research in a case that could be heard by the Supreme Court.

Why not consider other possibilities?

The black community has always been disproportionately affected by economic downturns and has been unequally burdened by rampant poverty. Many black students pursue history because they want to understand the causes of these social problems—not because it’s an “easy” subject. And many black students pursue law because they want to fight social and economic injustice at its roots.

Those are just two of the many reasons for why the humanities might appeal more to black students than other fields, and there are numerous reasons for pursuing such studies beyond examining and improving the economic and social condition of their community.

It’s unfair and ignorant to suggest that the humanities are a “fall back option” for those who lack ambition or determination. The failure of this study to address the motivations of black students creates a false impression and must be corrected.

Graham White is a journalism intern for Campus Progress. You can follow him on Twitter @GrahamWhiteNY.

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