Beauty Schools in Arkansas tend to have either a predominantly white undergraduate population or a predominantly minority undergraduate population, according to 2016 data.
Three schools in particular, Professional Cosmetology Education Center, The Salon Professional Academy and Washington Barber College, demonstrated this trend.
Professional Cosmetology Education Center in El Dorado has an undergraduate population of 24 students, Jill Hanry, who works in admissions and financial aid, said. Out of these 24 students, 17 percent are black and 78 percent white.
When asked why she thought the percentages were so different, Hanry said she couldn’t say. She did say the school mainly draws students in by word of mouth, and the number of students enrolled is constantly changing as they offer classes every eight weeks all year long.
The Salon Professional Academy in North Little Rock has a student population that consists of 16 percent black undergrads and 74 percent white undergrads. Amber Ditto, the admissions director, said they also have a percentage of Hispanic students.
“We try to keep it pretty diverse here,” Ditto said. “We’re not discriminatory or anything, but I would say we have a pretty good mixture of students.”
Ditto said they participate in several local career fairs and advertise online in order to encourage students to visit and enroll at the school.
Washington Barber College in Little Rock has a majority black undergraduate population, with 96 percent of the undergrads being black.
There was no data for white students at the college, but Kim O’Dell, who works in the financial department, said she thought they would probably account for the other 4 percent. When asked why there was no data for white undergraduates, O’Dell said she wasn’t sure.
O’Dell did say the school’s location is probably the reason for such a high percentage of black undergraduates.
“Diversity is good wherever you are,” O’Dell said. “It’s basically because of where we’re located in the city is why our demographic is more black. The demographics of who lives in this area is mainly black, and it’s a barber school, so that’s not like a [cosmetology school] where they’re doing nails or anything like that.”
Looking at a demographic map of beauty schools in Arkansas, this idea is evident. In the central, southern and parts of the eastern regions of the state, there is a much larger population of black or African American residents.
The map shows the population of black or African American residents by zip code.
In Pulaski County, where schools such as Washington Barber College and Arkansas Beauty School at Little Rock are located, there are anywhere from approximately 1,400 to 82,900 black or African American residents. Both of these schools have a majority black population, according to the chart showing the percentage of black versus white undergraduates at institutions across the state.
O’Dell also said they try to bring in students of all backgrounds.
“Lately we’ve been getting more [students] in from different backgrounds,” she said.
She said the school visits career fairs and also makes an effort to reach out to students who have expressed interest in order to bring in undergraduates.
Although institutions strive to bring diversity to campus, 2016 data shows that the demographics of the surrounding area tend to correspond with the makeup of schools’ populations.
Some schools, like The Salon Professional Academy, stray from this trend. However, there is an area near the school that actually has a majority white population. This could account for the dissimilarity.
Sources:
Professional Cosmetology Education Center
-Jill Hanry
-(870)864-9292
The Salon Professional Academy
-Amber Ditto
-(501)753-2400
Washington Barber College
-Kim O’Dell
-(501)568-8800
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