The Influence of Self-Determination Theory on African American Males' Motivation

In this chapter, the authors provide an overview of the research investigating academic resiliency and factors that impact motivation among African American males. Research identifies factors that improve academic achievement and motivation for African American males: mentoring and role modeling; encouraging positive self-identification; school, community, and church involvement; teacher expectations and instructional quality; teacher quality and preparedness; real-life applications of their experiences; and African American male teachers as role models.

The Art of Sankofa and Re-Establishing Kujichagulia

As many social critics are just now discovering the racial treatise W.E.B. DuBois advanced more than 100 years ago, the academy continues to devalue, marginalize, and ignore specific voices while choosing to champion, protect, and canonize others. This exclusion allows, or directs, each generation of new scholars to carefully dance around the real problems in education by judiciously repackaging the discourse of their predecessors. This is not to suggest that the intellectual past of a discipline should not be revisited. This does suggest that some aspects of that past, a past often marred by cultural incompetence and the intellectual marginalization of specific groups a discipline pretends to be educating, needs to be considered and critiqued by those groups the discipline has objectified and transformed into others. Intentionally connecting educators to the history of Black self-determination in education may potentially serve to assist in the creation of pedagogy and programs to address the challenges of Black males in education.

Racial Battle Fatigue and Mental Health in Black Men

The experiences of Black men in the United States are significantly different from men of other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Black men have to deal with racism on a daily basis. Understanding of the effects of daily racism and its implications is limited. Racial battle fatigue is a relatively new concept in the field of mental health. The current chapter discusses the concept of racial battle fatigue and its effects on Black men. The authors discuss both the physical and psychological effects of daily racism on the health of Black men.

A Blueprint for Developing Black Male Leader Identity, Capacity, and Efficacy Through Leadership Learning

Developing future leaders has always been an important part of postsecondary education, as seen currently in many institutional mission statements. This chapter explores the development of leader identity, capacity, and efficacy of Black men through an academic course at Florida State University. Building on the foundations of the leadership learning framework and the culturally relevant leadership learning model, the Black Male Leadership course was intentionally developed and is taught each semester. The authors provide an overview of the course, report course participants' perceptions of the course, and lessons learned in the course development and implementation process. This chapter hopefully provides a blueprint for institutions to develop and implement such a course.

An Empowering Experience

This qualitative study explores the experiences of 12 Black males who studied abroad as undergraduate students. This study was concerned with understanding the potential impact of study abroad on their personal, academic, and professional decisions. Findings are organized in three main sections: preparing to study abroad, life abroad, and returning home. This study revealed that Black males in the study had strong predispositions to study abroad and secured encouragement and support from a number of individuals and groups to study abroad. While abroad, students enhanced their sense of independence, were challenged to be critical and creative, and had opportunities to reflect upon several aspects of their own identity. Once students returned home, study abroad continued to have an influence on their lifestyle, career decisions, and commitment to actively participate in their community.

The Men of L.E.G.A.C.I. Student Success Program

Strategic and intentional engagement of first-year collegiate males aligned with faculty cultural competency development are areas that can impact persistence in the first year. African Americans only represent 11.4% of the overall Texas population, with 12.6% of students enrolled in P-12 and 13.4% of students currently enrolled in institutions of higher education in Texas. The percentage of African American males that are entering college and persisting through the first year is already overwhelmingly in a category red based on overall numbers. Colleges will need to make sure that recruitment efforts and appropriate advertising is available in areas that African American males would generally search for job postings. This chapter will explore platforms in establishing a student success academic program at a university campus geared to support African American males.

The Importance of Black Male Collegians' Conceptualizing Student Success at Historically White Institutions

This chapter looks at how Black male collegians define success during their college enrollment. However, a relatively small amount of literature addresses how Black males' experiences are related to conceptions of collegiate success. Definitions of “success” vary by institution, but regardless of definition, most institutions neglect to include Black male collegians in defining, creating, or collaborating in the development of collegiate conceptions of success. Their ideas have the potential to nuance institutional assumptions and/or expand institutional frames of student success. By understanding Black males' conceptions of success, institutions can (re-)evaluate strategies that contribute to the overall success of Black male collegians and potentially all college students.

Mapping Mindset and Academic Success Among Black Men at a Predominantly White Institution

Based on a larger research project, this chapter highlights findings from an exploratory study investigating the link between mindset and academic success among Black college men. Drawing on a self-reported survey instrument designed by the researcher, a regression analysis was conducted to explore the relationship between academic mindset (i.e., growth, fixed) and college grade point average (GPA), controlling for high school GPA and parents' education level. While the final model from a hierarchical linear regression (N = 34) indicates that high school GPA, parents' education level, and mindset accounted for 31% of the variance in Black males' college GPA, mindset did not significantly predict college GPA above and beyond Black males' precollege academic ability and parents' education level. Practical considerations for research and practice are discussed.

Culturally Responsive Mentoring Programs

Postsecondary education and training are deemed essential in today's and future job markets. Thus, the lower entry rates into and lower graduation rates from higher education by African American males place them in a long-term crisis economically and socially. Mentoring is strongly recommended as a significant component of comprehensive strategies to improve the retention and graduation rates of African American males. Research reveals that successful retention programs go beyond a one model fits all and are based on the unique characteristics and needs of students. The authors of this chapter assert that mentoring programs designed to improve retention and graduation rates of African American males must be scholarly based and authentically address the cultural needs of those students; therefore, the mentoring program must include culturally relevant constructs. This chapter discusses the design, implementation, and results of the pilot phase of a research-based culturally responsive mentoring program based on optimal psychology for African American males enrolled at a midwestern Predominately White Institution of higher education.

The Importance of Understanding the Challenges of African American Male Students

The purpose of this chapter is to provide guidance to scholars, educators, community leaders, and other relevant stakeholders, as it relates to the dilemmas often faced by African American males. In this chapter the authors present foundational information to spark productive dialogue with the hope of balancing the narrative of this often-misrepresented group. This is done through a historical review of issues encountered by African American males, barriers to education, and highlights of the importance of community and connectedness, and creating an awareness and relevance for future generations. The chapter ends with a discussion of future research considerations to prompt further exploration into this topic.