Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The composition of social support networks of URM graduate students at predominantly white institutions

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Social Network Analysis and Mining Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this study, a social support framework was adopted to investigate the structure and makeup of the social support networks of underrepresented minority (URM) graduate students at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Support networks are a critical need for URM students, especially at PWIs. Graduate students from URM groups face isolation, hostility, and estrangement in environments where they are excluded and minoritized, leading to high dropout rates. Low degree attainment is catastrophic for the scientific community as it loses diverse perspectives from entire groups of academic scholars. This study focuses on the social support networks of sixteen Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino/a/x graduate students as they persisted through graduate school at three different PWIs. Three social networking surveys were used to collect data about their network composition, and six interviews provided qualitative data about specific personal experiences related to their support networks. The combination of this data is critical to the analysis of their support networks as they persisted through their graduate programs to help future graduate students from URM groups at other PWIs. By knowing the composition of persisting URM graduate students’ social support networks and their personal experiences, institutions can emphasize the importance of having support networks and provide opportunities to form and strengthen support networks.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen W (1985) Black student, white campus: structural, interpersonal, and psychological correlates of success. J Negro Educ 54(2):134–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen W (1992) The color of success: African-American college student outcomes at predominantly white and historically black public colleges and universities. Harv Educ Rev 62(1):26–45. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.62.1.wv5627665007v701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrera M (1986) Distinctions between social support concepts, measures, and models. Am J Community Psychol 14:413–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borgatti SP, Everett MG, Johnson JC (2013) Analyzing social networks. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Byars-Winston A, Estrada Y, Howard C, Davis D, Zalapa J (2010) Influence of social cognitive and ethnic variables on academic goals of underrepresented students in science and engineering: a multiple-groups analysis. J Couns Psychol 57(2):205–218. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018608

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell P (2018) Science benefits from diversity. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05326-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christakis NA, Fowler JH (2010) Connected: the amazing power of social networks and how they shape our lives. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen S, Gottleib B, Underwood L (2000) Social relationships and health: challenges for measurement and intervention. Oxford University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cole D, Espinoza A (2008) Examining the academic success of latino students in science technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors. J Coll Stud Dev 49(4):285–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crossley N, Bellotti E, Edwards G, Everett MG, Koskinen J, Tanner M (2015) Social network analysis for Ego-nets. Sage, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • DeFour DC, Hirsch BJ (1990) The adaptation of Black graduate students: A social network approach. Am J Community Psychol 18:487–503

  • Dika SL (2012) Relations with faculty as social capital for college. J Coll Stud Dev 53(4):596–610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Everett M, Borgatti SP (2005) Ego network betweenness. Soc Netw 27(1):31–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2004.11.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gage-Bouchard EA, LaValley S, Panagakis C, Shelton RC (2015) The architecture of support: the activation of preexisting ties and formation of new ties for tailored support. Soc Sci Med 134:59–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner SK, Barnes BJ (2007) Graduate student involvement: socialization for the professional role. J Coll Stud Dev 48(4):369–387

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs KD Jr, McGready J, Bennett JC, Griffin K (2014) Biomedical science Ph.D. career interest patterns by race/ethnicity and gender. PLoS ONE 9(12):e114736. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114736

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gloria AM, Castellanos J, Lopez AG, Rosales R (2005) An examination of the academic nonpersistence decisions of Latino undergraduates. Hisp J Behav Sci 27(2):202–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gloria AM, Robinson K, Hamilton K, Willson M (1999) African American students' persistence at a predominantly White university: influences of social support, university comfort, and self-beliefs. J Coll Stud Dev 40(3)

  • Gloria AM, Rodriguez ER (2000) Counseling Latino university students: psychosociocultural issues for consideration. J Couns Dev 78(2):145–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottlieb BH, Bergen AE (2010) Social support concepts and measures. J Psychosom Res 69(5):511–520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2009.10.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grandy J (1998) Persistence in science of high-ability minority students: results of a longitudinal study. J Higher Educ 69(6):589–620

    Google Scholar 

  • Grossett BJ, Cuyjet MJ, Cockriel J (1998) African Americans’ perception of marginality in the campus culture. Coll Stud J 32:22–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Harper SR (2006) Peer support for African American male college achievement: beyond internalized racism and the burden of “acting White.” J Men Stud 14:337–358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernandez JC (2000) Understanding the retention of Latino college students. J Coll Stud Dev 41:575–586

    Google Scholar 

  • Hernandez JC, Lopez MA (2004) Leaking pipeline: issues impacting Latino/a college student retention. J Coll Stud Retent 6(1):37–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodapp T, Brown E (2018) Making physics more inclusive. Nature 557:629–632. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05260-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang G, Taddese N, Walter E (2000) Entry and persistence of women and minorities in college science and engineering education. (NCES 2000–601). Washington, DC

  • Kadushin C (2012) Understanding social networks; theories, concepts, and findings. Oxord University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimbrough RM, Molock SD, Walton K (1996) Perception of social support, acculturation, depression, and suicidal ideation among African American college students at predominantly Black and predominantly White universities. J Negro Educ 65:295–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korstjens I, Moser A (2018) Series: Practical guidance to qualitative research. Part 4: trustworthiness and publishing. Eur J Gen Pract 24(1):120–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/13814788.2017.1375092

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lincoln SY, Guba EG (1985) Naturalistic inquiry. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lumino R, Ragozini G, Vitale MP (2016) Investigating social support patterns of single mothers from a social network perspective. Int Rev Soc Res 6(4):182–194. https://doi.org/10.1515/irsr-2016-0021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marsden P (1988) Homogeneity in confiding relations. Soc Netw 10:57–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McPherson M, Smith-Lovin L, Cook JM (2001) Birds of a feather: homophily in social networks. Annu Rev Soc 271(1):30

    Google Scholar 

  • Museus SD (2008) The role of ethnic student organizations in fostering African American and Asian American students’ cultural adjustment and membership at predominantly White institutions. J Coll Stud Dev 49:568–586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Science Board (2008) Science and engineering indicators 2008. Arlington, VA

  • National Science Foundation (2019) Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science and engineering. Alexandria, VA https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf19304/digest/field-of-degree-minorities#degrees-earned-by-underrepresented-minorities

  • Perry BL, Pescosolido BA, Borgatti SP (2018) Egocentric network analysis; foundations, methods and models. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Powell K (2018) These labs are remarkably diverse: here’s why they’re winning at science. Nature 558:19–22. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05316-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prell C (2012) Social network analysis: history, theory and methodology. Sage, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Sailes GA (1993) An investigation of Black student attrition at a large, predominantly White, Midwestern university. West J Black Stud 17:179–182

    Google Scholar 

  • Tinto V (1975) Droupout from higher education: a theoretical synthesis of recent research. Rev Educ Res 45:89–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waldeck JH, ROrrego VO, Plax TG, Kearney P (1997) Graduate Student/faculty mentoring relationships: who gets mentored, how it happens, and to what end. Commun Q 45(3):93–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellman B, Wortley S (1989) Brothers’ Keepers: situating kinship relations in broader networks of social support. Sociol Perspect 32:273–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellman B, Wortley S (1990) Different strokes from different Folks: community ties and social support. Am J Sociol 96:558–588

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams SN, Thakore BK, McGee R, Price R (2017) Providing social support for underrepresented racial and ethnic minority PhD students in the biomedical sciences: a career coaching model. CBE Life Sci Educ. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.17-01-0021

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1309055. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Western Michigan University, 1903 W Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI, 49008, USA

    Kristi A. Tullis

  2. Department of Chemistry, Mallinson Institute for Science Education, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, USA

    Megan Grunert Kowalske

Authors
  1. Kristi A. Tullis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Megan Grunert Kowalske
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Megan Grunert Kowalske.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interests

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tullis, K.A., Grunert Kowalske, M. The composition of social support networks of URM graduate students at predominantly white institutions. Soc. Netw. Anal. Min. 11, 90 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13278-021-00793-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13278-021-00793-5

Search

Navigation