Hiiraan Online

by Abdirizak Mohamed
Friday, August 15, 2008

Political compromise and conflict resolution? Not so lucky in that department. And who can blame our observers. They got it right. Our political misfortunes are our own making, our own sweat and labor. Our clannish attitude, feverish loyalty to captain Qudhac, our nature as opinioned blabbermouths so translucent in countless fadhi ku dirir conversations where there is always epic armchair wrestling, putting things personal before the nation’s interests, and clinging to things past. You get the picture, the roots of our political misfortunes. Not to mention how our beloved warlords, whether in the TFG camp or the ICU 2.0 splitter groups, never get their acts together. In street lingo, they ain’t got a game! You ‘now whatta I mean? When it comes to the art of political compromise, we are dump and dumper.

But if Somalis are smart and got the “it” factor when it comes to learning, what are we to make of their absence from post-graduate education? “Dude,” you may say, “you are raising the bar way too high … they ain’t even earning bachelor degrees.” Silly me, you right. Why aren’t they getting the bachelor degrees? Timeout. Goodbye education-related fadhi ku dirir storyline. Lets back this up with some hard data (see I am for change and not the status quo).

If you look at the three most Somali-populated cities in America, Minneapolis, San Diego and Seattle (folks take it easy if your city has not made the cut, you are in the running for the title– take it to the department of census though, not my email inbox), the number of Somali students in the public school districts is staggering. Here is a quick run down of the numbers for K-12 grades.

^aFrom Minnesota department of Education. ^bDistrict Race/Human Relations  and Advocacy Program(Quoted by Emily Alpert of the voices of San Diego: http://voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/04/21/news/02iftin042108.txt). ^cEstimated number

I know. The numbers speak for themselves. Why don’t we then see proportional number of Somali students in higher education institutes? The chatters on Lake Street, El Cajon Blvd and Rainier Avenue have it though that there are high percentages in community colleges and a small percent in four-year colleges and universities. Guess what percent out of the thousands attending high school? A very conservative estimate would be about 5% or less. And guess what percent attend university system? May be 1%, may be less.

More depressingly, the number who actually graduate with four-year degrees is minimal, bordering the edge of insignificance. If I recall correctly, in 2006 (or was it 2005? Ho hard data here), the university of Minnesota graduated about 5 Somalis with bachelor degrees, the University of Washington in Seattle about 12 students, the University of California San Diego one lone student and San Diego State about 7 students. The numbers are dismal. Just think about the numbers in high school and how many of those translate to university. Shocking. I agree.

The thing is I know Somali students are smart. It isn’t just stereotype or perception. There is an element of truth to it. When others are struggling with their homework, a good number of them are on top of things. Ask them about the integral of that heinous mathematical equation or the quadratic solution of that number whose sum equals six when it is squared and added twice to itself? Got it. A position paper on the roots of Russia-Georgia conflict? No problem. Quantum mechanics and Einstein’s relativity? Piece of a cake. CO₂?  Oh, please, don’t insult their intelligence: carbon dioxide, a green gas.

I know. They are well versed and very smart. I have seen them do extremely well in my chemistry classes. After they overcome the initial shock of having Somali dude as their Prof., most try to make me happy and earn solid A in my courses. I appreciate their hard work and effort and kindly return the favor by practicing tough love: I challenge them and push them even harder. If they fail an important quiz, I kindly remind them “I expect more from you”. But they know I care about them and that my pushing is for their own goodness. Well, to be fair, I challenge all of my students and expect a lot more then they are offering me, of course for their own goodness. Yeah, I know my reputation with my students (I am welcoming enough that they feel very comfortable to let me know I am very challenging compared to other professors who are teaching the same course). Anyways, of the small percent of Somalis students I have had so far, none have yet walked out of my class with less than a B score, even with my bias scrutiny of their work.

But the reason the lack of high percentage of Somali students with bachelor degrees bothers me even more is the unintended consequence this has on post-baccalaureate studies. The number of Somali students enrolled in graduate studies and professional schools can be counted in one hand. May be two. Imagine how many PhDs we could have? The number of MDs. The MD/PhDs. Think about the number of Somali students in high school and how many of that could translate to bachelor holders and then PhDs? Just imagine and you will see what I mean wasted talent. The pipeline is dry, a huge talent wasted, a capable and very disciplined individuals not using their cell brains.

Why is it important to have post-baccalaureate Somali graduates? Where do I start? Who do you expect to come up new drugs for the neglected diseases that plague our own: tuberculosis, cholera, malaria and diarrhea. These are not sexy diseases and there does not appear to be financial rewards for pursuing them. But as Somalis living in the West, we have intrinsic interests to solve these problems. They are personal: your aunt or cousin might have come down with an episode of tuberculosis and have to suffer nine months of anisole with its nasty side effects. We also have inherent interest to understand what is inhibiting the graduate rate of Somali students from high school, colleges, and why the pipeline towards post-graduate studies is dry. But to address this question, an effective scholar would have appropriate qualifications. And please save me the forgery certificate you obtained from university of nowhere. And my I add how I would really appreciate if I were to take my kids to a Somali pediatrician who understands my culture and background. Wouldn’t that be just wonderful! A relieved mother who says warily to her own doctor, “eedo laabjeex baa nafta ii keenay ii maxaan ka falaa”. Just imagine the possibilities.

Perhaps I will share with you in the near future my musings of why Somalis are absent from academia but now is time for me to go and chillax (I tell you it is sunny outside). I have already said much, wouldn’t you agree?

But folks, think about the possibilities, think about what we are wasting. Think, folks, think.

Abdirizak Mohamed
E-mail: [email protected]