Wei LAB Director and Chief Research Scientist Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson and Assistant Director and Senior Research Associate Dr. LaVar J. Charleston, helped develop and attended the first National Society of Blacks in Computing (NSBC) Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on June 9–11, 2016.

The NSBC conference focused on increasing the number of African Americans who go into the computer science field. More than 90 participants across the country participated in the inaugural conference this year.

Topics explored at the conference ranged from crafting a personal statement for graduate school to publishing academic journals within the field.

The conference was sponsored by: University of Florida, Morehouse College, Spelman College, the Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computer Sciences (IAAMCS), Rice University, and the National Science Foundation.

More information on the conference can be obtained here.

The Wei LAB co-sponsored the 2016 International Conference on Urban Education (ICUE) which occurred on November 3–5, 2016 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This worldwide conference offered insight and solutions to the problems facing the education of youths in urban schools.

The conference’s goal was to provide “opportunities for the research community, the K-12 community, and community stakeholders to be in the same room to understand the urban issues that our students face from multiple perspectives to reach viable solutions that can be taken back to urban communities around the globe from implementation,” said Dr. Chance W. Lewis, Found and Executive Director of The Urban Education Collaborative (Diverse Education).

The keynote speaker for this year’s event was Sonia Nieto, Professor Emerita of Language, Literacy and Culture at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst’s School of Education.

Wei LAB Director and Chief Research Scientist Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson and Assistant Director and Senior Research Associate Dr. LaVar J. Charleston both spoke at the event.

Dr. Charleston presented on November 3. His speech was titled “STEMfluences: The Role of Social Interaction and Scientific Identity Formation in the Successful Matriculation of African Americans in STEM.”

Dr. Jackson was featured as a panelist in a November 4 session titled “Black Males in Urban K-20 Settings: Solutions and Strategies for Career Advancement.”

The Wei LAB also held an exhibit table at the event.

Learn more about ICUE here.

Learn more about ASHE 2016 here.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently issued its first grants for the NSF INCLUDES program, an initiative to broaden and enhance STEM fields. Wei LAB Director and Chief Research Scientist Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson was awarded one of these grants for a research project titled: “The Consortium of Minority Doctoral Scholars (CDMS).” The goal of this project is to broaden the participation of minorities in the STEM fields.

Dr. Jackson will serve as co-planner of the project, and Wei LAB Assistant Director and Senior Research Associate Dr. LaVar J. Charleston will serve as senior personnel.

According to the grant statement, this project “will create a data portal that will allow the research team to study and understand the efficacy of various mentoring strategies that might be piloted across institutions and minority scholars programs.”

Learn more about the NSF INCLUDES grant program here.

Wei LAB Assistant Director and Senior Research Associate Dr. LaVar J. Charleston is the lead author of a study titled “Constructing self-efficacy in STEM graduate education,” which appeared in the Journal for Multicultural Education this month.

In the study, Dr. Charleston and Dr. Raul Leon of Eastern Michigan University examined the lived experiences of African American STEM graduate students and faculty to understand their self-efficacy beliefs and outcomes expectations during their educational trajectory toward a computing, science-related degree.

“This study captures a novel space in the self-efficacy literature; presenting self-efficacy as a mobile construct to be reestablished or re-achieved even at the more advanced levels of degree attainment such as the Ph.D.,” says Charleston. “With the continuous advancement of technologies, particularly in the STEM field of computing, it is necessary that an adequate socialization process occurs throughout the educational trajectory that enhances self-efficacy beliefs and strengthens students’ commitment to attaining their academic and career goals.”

Using in-depth interviews of graduate students and faculty in computing fields, Charleston and Leon found that self-efficacy must be reestablished at each stage of the educational trajectory, including during pursuit of the Ph.D., to ensure successful matriculation. Continuous exposure to behaviors that re-affirm self-efficacy—such as encouragement, socialization with peers and more advanced individuals, taking ownership as part of the academic and professional community, and the development and modification of efficacy beliefs—must exist in order for African American STEM aspirants to enter and succeed in the STEM academy and workforce.

“Our study confirms that the process of socialization in a career field is a prominent space where foundations for your professional development can be established and refined” Leon said. “With respect to the development of self-efficacy beliefs in the STEM field, we argue that it is a construct that must not be interpreted in isolation. Thus, there is an importance of understanding its evolving nature in both the academy and workforce.”

The full research paper can be found here.

Previously Charleston, along with colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, found through research that Black women in STEM face unique obstacles of their own in the field.

Dr. LaVar J. Charleston, Wei LAB Assistant Director and Senior Research Associate, received the Ball State University Black Alumni Award of Achievement designed to acknowledge successful young alumni. Charleston was recognized for his accomplishments by the Black Alumni Constituent Society (BACS) Board at their reunion event from August 5–7, 2016.

BACS recognizes the professional and community contributions of several accomplished alumni at each biennial reunion. Established in 2007, the Black Alumni Award of Achievement is presented to an active Ball State graduate of the last 20 years who has demonstrated notable success in their chosen career, and has shown support of Ball State and their community.

”It is truly an honor to be recognized by the institution that is responsible for giving me a platform to excel, not just in college, but in life.” Charleston said. “I am humbled that my efforts are viewed as honoring the legacy of my alma mater, Ball State. I hope my current work in some way contributes to breaking down barriers for college attendance and success for underrepresented groups.”

Charleston graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and a concentration in Marketing from Ball State University in 2002. He was a Division I athlete and received several awards including the Ray Louthen Senior Leadership Award and the Mid-American Conference (MAC) West Championship for Football in 2001. Charleston later became an assistant director of admissions at Ball State, before transitioning to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The International Colloquium on Black Males in Education (ICBME) is sponsoring the annual meeting of the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC).  COSEBOC and ICBME have related visions in that each function to improve the educational outcomes of boys and young men of color. Nearly 1,000 school administrators, practitioners, and policy makers from around the nation gathered in New York City for the Tenth Annual Gathering of Leaders to build a stronger leadership network, attend professional development workshops, and listen to a variety of panels describing promising practices of schools that are increasing the academic success of boys and young men of color. Wei LAB and the ICBME congratulate all attendees for continuing to work on improving the lives of boys and young men of color.

Occurring later this year on the beautiful Atlantic island of Bermuda is the Fifth Annual International Colloquium on Black Males in Education. Through a diverse array of programs, ICBME brings together world-class scholars, high-impact practitioners, policy makers, funders, and students from various fields to share research, philosophies, and innovative practices in order to improve the educational outcomes of black males across the globe.

For more information on COSEBOS, please visit coseboc.org.

Wei LAB Director and Chief Research Scientist Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson spoke at “The Future of Diversity Research,” held at the University of Michigan May 18-20, 2016. Dr. Jackson lead a discussion on effective and successful scholarly publication in academia. He also served on an expert panel titled “Transforming Understandings of Diversity in Higher Education.”

Organized by the National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID), “The Future of Diversity Research” convenes researchers from around the country for roundtable discussions, paper presentations, workshops, and networking. Over the course of his career, Jackson has published dozens of papers and is credited with over 100 publications from which he will translate expertise and insight to meeting participants. Previously, from 2008-2009, Jackson held an NCID Visiting Senior Scholar appointment.

Wisconsin’s Equity & Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB) announced details regarding the 5th Annual International Colloquium on Black Males in Education (ICBME). In partnership with Bermuda College, the 2016 Colloquium will be held in Hamilton, Bermuda from October 4-7, 2016.

Sponsored by the Wei LAB and the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male at the Ohio State University, ICBME has become a trademark event in the Wei LAB’s work around educational equity. The announcement to host the event in Bermuda, made by Wei LAB Director and co-founder of ICBME Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson, follows months of careful planning and a site visit.

“We are thrilled to mark the 5th year of this important meeting by holding our Colloquium on the island of Bermuda in October,” Jackson said. “I believe Bermuda will serve as a unique backdrop and offer meaningful context to the global issues faced by Black males.”

Dr. James L. Moore III, Executive Director of the Bell National Resource Center and co-founder of ICBME, echoes similar sentiments. “Bermuda is an excellent place to have the Colloquium because of its close proximity to the United States and its long-standing commitment to improve educational outcomes for Bermudian males,” Moore said. “Similar to other Caribbean countries, Bermudian males are not performing optimally in education, which makes this country a desirable place to have the Colloquium.”

Previous ICBME meetings were held in Leeds, England, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Atlanta, Georgia and Kingston, Jamaica. Each year, ICBME brings together researchers, high-impact practitioners, funders, policymakers, students, and concerned citizens to engage in conversations regarding the state of affairs for Black boys and men, with focus around a particular theme. The 2015 theme was “Creating Opportunity Through Education: Re-Engineering the Social Ecosystem for Black Males.” Last year’s ICBME drew a record 400 local and international participants over the course of four days, beginning with the College Academy at the Haile Selassie High School in Trench Town, and the Graduate School Academy at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.

Dr. Earl Lewis, president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and renowned social historian, visited the University of Wisconsin-Madison to speak as part of the Center for Humanities’ McKay Lecture in the Humanities series on February 23, 2016. The title of Lewis’ talk was, “If It Were Only the Blues.”

Dr. Lewis has had tremendous influence in the field of education, and his visions closely align with Wei LAB missions and interests. He has long been a champion of the humanities, diversity in academics, enhanced graduate education, and in using technology as a tool to advance learning and connecting universities to their local communities. He served as Emory University’s first African American Provost in his position and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. He was also named the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of History and African American Studies during his time at Emory University.

The Nellie Y. McKay lecture series was established to honor Nellie Y. McKay, Evjue Professor of American and African-American Literature at UW-Madison, and a pioneer in Afro-American studies. The series is co-sponsored by the Institute for Research in the Humanities and the Afro-American Studies, Gender & Women’s Studies and English departments.

Information on the event and the lecture series is available here.

Wei LAB Director and Chief Research Scientist Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson was selected as an inaugural member of the National Advisory Board at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Center for Research and Policy in Education.

The Center at UTSA focuses on research and policy related to the success of students, aiming to “conduct local, state and national research projects that will impact practice and policy in schools, colleges and universities.” Current projects include research on Latino/a college completion, collaborative efforts with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, and policy brief series.

The role of the National Advisory Board is to advise and assist the directors and the Dean of the College in areas such as grant writing, publications and research projects the center engages in.

The center is headed by co-directors Dr. Laura I. Rendón and Dr. Amaury Nora. [Rendon (left) and Nora (right)]

“Dr. Jerlando Jackson’s unparalleled scholarly work and experience working with issues related to students of color will add depth and expertise to our Center focused on equity and inclusion for underserved students,” Rendon and Nora said. “Dr. Jackson’s critical insights, research breakthroughs and commitment to people of color are exactly what our Center needs to move forward with its scholarly endeavors.”

Wei LAB Director and Chief Research Scientist Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson, Assistant Director and Senior Research Associate Dr. LaVar J. Charleston, and Research Associate DeVon Wilson attended the 2016 Black Student-Athlete Summit at the University of Texas at Austin from January 6-8. The Wei LAB served as a summit sponsor, and the staff presented research findings on student-athletes. Their presentation, titled, “Beyond the Game™: Building a National Replication Model of a Highly Effective Student-Athlete Development Program,” examined the Beyond the Game™ (BTG) initiative designed by the Wei LAB.

“The presentation allowed us to showcase our efforts to replicate BTG™ through the university start-up BTG Solutions LLC, and the pilot with Northern Illinois University’s Athletic Department,” Jackson said.

Hosted by the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin, the annual summit brings together scholars, coaches, athletic directors, academic advisors and present and former professional and student-athletes to “openly examine and candidly discuss the numerous and complex issues surrounding the black student-athlete.” This year’s theme was “Success Both On and Off the Field.” The 2016 conference offered presentations on topics such as Black women in college sports, family and the Black student-athlete, careers paths and models for success implemented at various universities, such as Beyond the Game™.

“The Black Student-Athlete Summit provided scholars, practitioners, and student athletes with an opportunity to engage in a national conversation about the state of Black Student Athletes in intercollegiate athletics,” Wilson said. “More importantly, it became clear that BTG is promising solution for addressing the important issues highlighted at this meeting. As a senior college-level administrator, I realize that the responsibility for the success of black student athletes go beyond the athletic department,” Wilson said.

“We feel we have a gem with BTG, a program that enables student athletes to look beyond their athletic careers, and take advantage of opportunities to transfer their skills and abilities to their academic and occupational goals and trajectories while still at the university,” Charleston said.

“Because our goal is for all student-athletes to be successful, through BTG, we are continuing to promote innovative ways to broaden their networks, enhance their career development opportunities outside of sports, enlighten them to the possibilities of viable careers outside of athletics, and ultimately, enhancing their post-graduate outcomes.”

Full slides of Jackson, Charleston, and Wilson’s presentations, as well as other speakers’ presentation slides, can be found here.