Less Black, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander students are signing up to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
As announced by the school themselves, for the class of 2028, only about 16% of students are Black, Hispanic, Native American, or Pacific Islander. The rate is a stark difference from the previous year’s demographics as 25% of undergraduates for the class of 2027 were Black, Hispanic, Native American or Pacific Islander.
Of each demographic, there was a wider change amongst enrollment by Black students. Whereas last year 15% of all students were Black, this year they composed only 5% of incoming students. The rate of Hispanic and Latino students also decreased, shifting from 16% to 11%.
The new statistics released by the school’s administration comes one year after the high court ruled to end affirmative action. On June 29 last year, as a result of conservative Edward Blum’s tirade, the U.S. ended the usage of affirmative action in a historic case after ruling that its practice in admissions practices at both Harvard University and the University of North Carolina was unconstitutional.
According to MIT president Sally Kornbluth, the newly reported statistics clearly show the effect of the removal of affirmative action in college admissions.
BREAKING: MIT has published the profile of its incoming class, the first admitted in the wake of the SCOTUS decision again affirmative action.
— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) August 21, 2024
Here is a chart comparing the ethnic profile of last year's class to this one: pic.twitter.com/dvVF5toerU
“The class is, as always, outstanding across multiple dimensions. What it does not bring, as a consequence of last year’s Supreme Court decision,”said Kornbluth, “is the same degree of broad racial and ethnic diversity that the MIT community has worked together to achieve over the past several decades.”
With the decrease in attendance amongst Black, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander students, STEM rates are expected to be affected as MIT is best known for their STEM programs. Black students are already unlikely to pursue a career in STEM as they are not often exposed to the fields, even though they have a talent for them.
A recent report, the 2024 Black Students and STEM Report, found a 51% exposure gap in computers and technology among Black students. Overall, only 9.2% of workers in the computer and mathematical fields are Black, despite Black Americans making up 13% of the population.
The rate of Black representation is currently marking a substantially slow growth. According to the report, from 2020 to 2021, less than 10,000 Black students graduated and earned their degree in any major college with a concentration in Computer and Information Sciences.
“Computers & Technology transform our lives in powerful ways,” said researchers per the report. “Black students participating in these careers can make significant contributions, but so far, the ratio pursuing these careers is discouraging.”
