Hypothesis: I believe that the educational programs that an individual of a racial minority encounters as a child, is the strongest factor when determining their perceptions and participations of natural resources as an adult.

 

Our group hopes to determine what factors potentially affect the perceptions and participation of racial minority groups in natural resources. Furthermore, could this lack of minority representation be attributed to previously developed perceptions about natural resources? Does racial minority group involvement in educational programs as children influence their perceptions and physical participation regarding natural resources as an adult? 

 

I propose that racial minority perceptions and participations in natural resources are heavily influenced by a combination of factors regarding economic status, cultural background, and educational programs encountered as a child. However, I believe that the educational programs that an individual of a racial minority encounters as a child, is the strongest factor when determining their perceptions and participations of natural resources as an adult. One landmark study supports this claim and found that exposure to agricultural field trips with minority guest speakers maintaining agriculture careers produced positive results; indicating an increase in minority participation in agriculture among the students (Talbert et al. 1999). Our group will also evaluate the impact that a lack of diversity in a group can have on the participation of other individuals in that racial minority group. In simple terms, the fear of participating in an activity when one does not observe someone else that looks like them or someone that shares their background engaging in that activity. Foster and Henson (1992) explain that racial minority groups often possess either real or perceived barriers to interaction in natural resources professions. They then clarified that under-representation of minority groups can indeed be a powerful constraint for participation in natural resource activities by other individuals in a minority (Foster and Henson 1992).

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The population of the United States, Louisiana State University, and the School of Renewable Natural Resources has become increasingly more diverse with each passing year. As stated in the 2007 U.S. census report, approximately 34% of the overall population classified themselves as non-White, along with 12.8% African American, roughly 1% Native American, 14.5 % of Latin origin, 4.3% Asian American, and approximately 2.5% of participants categorized themselves as 2 or more races (Outley 2008). In the 2010 U.S. census report, 13% of the population identified as African American, 5% identified as Asian American, 0.9% identified as American Indian or Alaskan Native, 0.2% identified as Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and 6% of the population identified as some other race (US Census Bureau 12/05/2019). This non-white percentage is slightly higher than that of the Louisiana State University student population; which was approximately 27.35% (LSU Board of Regents Data). However, the Department of Renewable Natural Resources showed less diversity amongst the student population with non-white students composing only 18.79% of the entire population of students in Renewable Natural Resources (LSU Board of Regents Data). The increasing addition of racial minority groups to the United States population will inevitably lead to an expansion of their political and economic influence. If these minority groups have negative perceptions about natural resources, the conservation policies created by this future generation will reflect those perceptions.

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Kellert’s typologies attempt to categorize people’s motivations and attitudes in regard to wildlife and natural resources. For our research purposes, the individuals involved in natural resource participation will most likely fall under one of Kellert’s ten typologies that are more specific to our survey such as: neutralistic, negativistic, aesthetic, utilitarian, naturalistic, or humanistic. I predict that only a small portion of surveyors will choose neutralistic or negativistic to describe themselves because the students that will most likely be getting surveyed, will be students in the Renewable Natural Resources department. These students obviously have some positive feelings about wildlife and natural resources because they have chosen a career in the field. We provide a question in our survey that gives the definition of each of the typologies and asks the participant to pick which one they feel best represents them. The answers to this question will allow us to establish a pattern among the typologies that individuals identify and their racial identities in order to determine if there is a possible connection between the two.