A team of researchers at North Carolina Central University will use a $500,000 grant from the Walton Family Foundation to study barriers to career pathways for young men in the Research Triangle region.

Their work will focus specifically on “opportunity youth,” referring to young men ages 18 to 24 who are disconnected from education or employment.

Dr. Tryan McMickens, a professor of higher education, said the team wants to learn why relatively few men — especially Black men — choose careers in education.

“Men are grossly underrepresented in the teaching profession, particularly on the K-12 level,” said McMickens, who will co-lead the study with Dr. Jim Harper II, professor of history and associate dean of the university’s School of Graduate Studies. “And then, when we disaggregate furth

See Full Page