African-American Inclusiveness in Political Science: An Exploration Inside the Issues Surrounding Participation in Higher Education

Abstract

This paper investigates the various reasons influencing the lack of African-American doctorate degree seekers and holders. The rationale will be varied in nature, and in an effort to highlight the issue without overwhelming the presentation, the opinions represented will be those offered from Political Science professors within the state of Virginia. As the incorporation of diversity into the curriculum of Political Science is an ongoing issue on college campuses, the American Political Science Association (APSA) offers a number of minority-based initiatives toward increasing the involvement and support of African-American students in their pursuit of higher education. There are, nevertheless, a number of institutions of high learning which do not offer Political Science coursework aimed at African-American students, and for those who indeed do so, the courses may be limited in number. The lack of African-American educators of Political Science, or the deficiency of those who offer African-American political history as a result of their own research, is a continuing concern. As well as the lack of African- American students able to attain this level of education. This paper examines the political history of the African-American, as an illustration and rationalization of the importance of its teaching, and the potential reasons behind the lack of those who offer and make available the education.

Keywords: African-American, political, science, minority, history