Conceptualizing Tolerance as Recognition: Black American Endowed and Distinguished Professors of Education in US Colleges and Universities

Abstract

This study analyzes a compiled list of Black American endowed and distinguished professors of education for the 2013-2014 academic year published by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. Conceptualizing tolerance as recognition, the study claims that there is a gradual increase in the appointments of Blacks to endowed or distinguished professorships in many different disciplines at colleges and universities in the United States. Among the findings are: of the 51 scholars, men accounted for the majority; the South and Midwest regions of the US employed a high majority of these scholars, and the majority of them also earned their terminal/highest degrees in those two regions; almost eight out of ten earned a Ph.D.; almost seven out of ten earned their terminal/ highest degrees in education; and almost half of them earned their terminal/highest degrees from the 1960s to the 1980s. Finally, the discussion section focuses on 1) an explanation of the gender gap among the 51 scholars; 2) the predominance of the South and Midwest regions 3) the relative underrepresentation of Ivy League institutions; and 4) the underrepresentation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).