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Minority Students' Perceptions of Their Doctoral Programs in Special Education

Miami University

Education, as in other areas, has a chronic shortage of minority faculty. Arguably, special education has one of the greatest needs for minority doctoral students within the field of education. However, past research has indicated that the graduate school socialization process may hinder the progress of many minority doctoral students. This study reports the perceptions of minority doctoral students about their programs in special education. These students (n = 164) were participants in a larger satisfaction survey involving 619 doctoral students. Results indicate that although Latino/Latina students felt most satisfied with their programs overall, Asian and African American students reported more feelings of dissatisfaction. Implications for students, faculty, and program administrators are presented.

Key Words: graduate education • special education • racial differences

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Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 58, No. 5, 456-469 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0022487107307948


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Wasburn-Moses, L. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?