scholarly journals Student Retention Through The Lens Of Campus Climate, Racial Stereotypes, And Faculty Relationships

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 21-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derrick Love

Higher Education Institutions are seeing increased retention rates among African-American college students at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Institutional barriers such as unwelcoming campus climates, racial stereotypes, and faculty relationships have raised concerns as viable factors as to why the attrition rate for African-American students at PWIs is still on the rise. Ninety African-American college students participated in the Culture Attitude and Climate (CACS) survey. This study revealed a direct relationship between campus climate, racial stereotypes, and faculty relationships and student retention in African-American students attending a predominantly white institution. There was a statistically positive correlation between the perceptions of African-American students pertaining to student retention and campus climate, racial stereotypes, and faculty relationships at a predominantly white institution. African-American students want to be a part of an inclusive academic body that promotes diversity and student success.

NASPA Journal ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Guiffrida

The importance of connections with peers to student development and retention has been highlighted in Astin's (1984) Theory of Student Involvement and Tinto's (1993) Theory of Student Departure, which are two of the most widely referenced and validated models in student affairs literature. However, recent research has questioned the applicability of these models to African American students who attend predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Although prior research has indicated that the models should be modified to recognize the importance of students’ relationships with their families, research has failed to understand the impact of relationships with friends from home. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the conditions under which friends from home were perceived as assets or liabilities to 99 African American undergraduates who attended a PWI. The results provide a link for broadening the applicability of Astin’s and Tinto's models and offer student affairs practitioners deeper insight into African American students' experiences at PWIs.


Author(s):  
Brian Bourke ◽  
Nathaniel Bray

Persistence in college among African American students continues to remain low compared to persistence among White students. Often, the focus in examining this issue has been on institution-wide retention efforts, which can ignore socio-cultural elements that can influence the decisions of individual students to persist at an institution; however, persistence may rely on a combination of institutional factors and socio-cultural elements. The purpose of this article is to present findings from a research project that highlight institutional factors and socio-cultural elements that influence the persistence of African American students at a predominantly White institution. The findings from focus groups with African American students suggest that they persist despite a “cold” campus climate and ongoing experiences with racism and prejudice at Southern State University [pseudonym].


2003 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 524-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
KEVIN COKLEY

In this article, Kevin Cokley challenges conventional wisdom about African American college students and the factors underlying their academic underachievement. In this quantitative study of students attending three historically Black colleges and universities and one predominantly White university, Cokley reviews and integrates existing research on the academic motivation and academic self-concept of African American students. He then introduces self-determination theory as an additional motivational framework to understand African American students' motivation. While Cokley finds that African American students are intrinsically highly motivated, this motivation is not related to how they perform academically or to their academic self-concept.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 390-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiba D. Campbell ◽  
Adrienne R. Carter-Sowell ◽  
Jericka S. Battle

Perceptions of social estrangement felt by African American college students can account for group-based inequalities evident in a wide range of educational outcomes. Moreover, racial incidents, occurring on and off college campuses, make race more salient for African American students and influence emerging identity development. By recruiting African American students enrolled at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) as well as at historically Black college and universities (HBCUs), this study examined how individual differences in sensitivity to racial status related to self-reported scores of students’ academic success and satisfaction. African American participants ( N = 352) contributed to a longitudinal study surveying the daily life experiences of African American college students. We predicted that across the participant groups, assessed outcomes would be similar, but not identical due to varying campus climates. Results indicated that at both HBCU and PWI institutions, race matters at the individual level and campus climate impacts groups differently.


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