Dr. Annette Henry’s UBC Black Futures is a two-pronged project spanning three years with secondary school students and undergraduate students, part of a larger 5 university project. Learn more about the projects by watching the online event hosted by York University on October 6, 2021: Securing Black Futures: A National Partnership to Advance Youth Academic & Career Success
This program that Annette Henry is running with Dr. Bathseba Opini and Dr. Kisha McPherson aims to open post-secondary horizons for Black youth in grades 10, 11, and 12, especially students who may not currently have access to higher education or who may not have ever envisioned higher education or UBC as a future possibility. The students will have the opportunity to participate in information sessions, lectures and teamwork activities with other high school peers from school districts across the lower mainland.
They will have the opportunity to consider the wide-ranging possibilities afforded by the UBC campus as well as learn about the importance of higher education.
They will have hands-on practice with the application/admissions process and, interact with Black undergraduate students who are just a little older and with whom they can identify, and with whom they can feel free to ask questions as well as faculty and professionals from the community.
They will be able to visit science labs and classrooms in many disciplines, and engage in a mini-first year experience. The educational time at UBC will be also counted towards their community service credit hours in their various schoolboards.
The undergraduate component of the project will be synchronized with the four other project sites: University of Calgary, McMaster, Dalhousie and York University, and data will be collected for the major research hub, housed and managed by Carl James, the Jean Augustine Chair at York. The aim of the surveys is to document students’ educational aspirations, attitudes, outcomes and progress during the three-year period. The secondary students mentioned will also be given a version of the survey that is appropriate for their age and educational level during the three years. This novel national project will contribute to knowledge about educational outcomes and experiences about Black youth and is poised to have implications for campus policies and programming. It is also in line with our other UBC strategic initiatives regarding equity, inclusion anti-racism and community engagement.