African American Students at Predominantly White Institutions: A Motivational and Self-Systems Approach to Understanding Retention

Predominantly White institutions have not been as effective as historically Black institutions in retaining and conferring degrees upon African American college students. This review seeks to embed the psychological aspects of the retention process proposed by Bean and Eaton [A psychological model of college student retention. In J. M. Braxton (Ed.), Reworking the student departure puzzle (pp. 48–61). Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 2000] in a culturally-sensitive framework and consider how African American students attending PWIs may experience the processes in retention. We first give a brief overview of Bean and Eaton’s [A psychological model of college student retention. In J. M. Braxton (Ed.), Reworking the student departure puzzle (pp. 48–61). Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 2000] model of retention, then we propose and discuss revisions to Bean and Eaton’s model that we believe would make the model more applicable to African American students attending predominantly White institutions. Specifically, we address students’ attitudes towards their institution, academic self-efficacy, motivation, achievement goals, attributions, and ethnic and bicultural identity development. The discussion concludes with implications and directions for future study.     

Culturally responsive pedagogy for African American students: promising programs and practices for enhanced academic performance

The academic outcomes for African American students continue to lag behind their White, Latino, and Asian American counterparts. Culturally responsive pedagogy has been purported to be an intervention that may help to reverse the persistent under performance for African American students. This article highlights findings from a three-year study of an intervention program designed to increase college going rates for African American students. The authors document the manner in which overall student outcomes, graduation rates, and college going rates increased when culturally responsive pedagogical practices were used. Finally, this work calls for academic rigor to be a more germane characteristic of the culturally responsive pedagogical framework.     

Reducing Heterosexism in African American Christian Students: Effects of Multicultural Education Courses

Sexual-minority college students continue to experience heterosexism in the form of heterosexist and biased language from peers. Religion has been identified as a predictor of sexual prejudice among college students. Yet there is limited research on the intersection of race, religion, and heterosexism, and on interventions designed to address this prejudice. This study examined the effectiveness of multicultural education courses at a large public university on reducing heterosexism in Christian students. Analysis of pre- and post- data using repeated measures ANCOVA indicated African American Christian students had significantly higher heterosexism scores than White Christian students, and African American Christian students had a significant decrease in heterosexism as compared to White Christian students after taking a service learning course. These results have implications for future research and education on prejudice reduction.     

What Difference Does a Major Make? The Influence of College Major Field on Persistence by African American and White Students

The results from this study indicate similarities and differences in the factors related to the persistence of White and African American students in their freshman and sophomore years in college. Using random samples of data from students enrolled in public institutions of higher education in a Midwestern state, OLS regression analyses indicated that African American sophomores in the high-demand major fields (e.g., Business, Health, and Engineering/Computer Science) were more likely to persist than were those in other major fields, but there were no statistically significant differences in persistence for African American freshmen in other fields. While major fields were not statistically significant for White sophomores, White freshmen in social sciences or undecided about their majors were less likely to persist. The effects of financial aid packages on persistence varied across race.     

Mathematics Attribution Differences by Ethnicity and Socioeconomics Status

The differences in attributions for success and failure in mathematics between African American and White students and between students from low and higher socioeconomic status (SES) were examined. Two hundred sixty-four 7th-grade students from 5 schools in a midsize urban school district were surveyed to analyze attribution differences. Then, a stratified purposeful sample of 12 focus students, representing different ethnicity and economic combinations, were selected for follow-up interviews. Results indicated that students from all groups provided similar ratings on 5 attributions related to mathematics success-with effort rated more highly than ability, luck, task difficulty, or rapport with teacher. Notwithstanding this high rating for effort, other differences were found. Ability was rated significantly higher by Whites than by African Americans in relation to mathematics success. African Americans attributed their mathematics success significantly more to rapport with teachers than did Whites. Similar results were found for low versus higher SES students. Further, higher SES students attributed success significantly more to effort than did low SES students. Failure in mathematics was most commonly attributed to a lack of effort.     

Influence of Family Perceptions of Acting White on Acculturative Stress in African American College Students

This study examined family-oriented stressors on acculturative stress in 83 African American college students attending a predominately White university. Results showed that family pressure for participants not to acculturate, pressure to maintain ethnic group language, perception of Acting White, and acculturation level were related to higher acculturative stress for participants. After controlling for acculturation and general stress, family pressure to maintain the ethnic group’s language and perception of Acting White accounted for a statistically significant proportion of the variance in acculturation stress. The findings emphasize the need to recognize culture-specific stressors of college students. Implications for mental health providers are discussed.     

Factors Influencing Positive Interactions Across Race for African American, Asian American, Latino, and White College Students

This study explores the various factors that promote positive interactions across race for African American, Asian American, Latino, and White college students. A longitudinal survey was administered to all incoming students at nine public institutions (with a follow-up survey given at the end of their second year), examining activities related to cross-racial interaction and outcomes. This knowledge will be useful for college administrators, institutional researchers, and faculty as they work to meet the challenge of preparing students for a pluralistic society. The results of this study begin to delineate the conditions under which positive intergroup relations can be fostered in college and the key factors that inhibit or restrain the benefits such interactions bring to the development of students for a diverse workplace and pluralistic democracy.     

The Effect of High School Socioeconomic Status on the Predictive Validity of SAT Scores and High School Grade‐Point Average

Research has often found that, when high school grades and SAT scores are used to predict first‐year college grade‐point average (FGPA) via regression analysis, African‐American and Latino students, are, on average, predicted to earn higher FGPAs than they actually do. Under various plausible models, this phenomenon can be explained in terms of the unreliability of predictor variables. Attributing overprediction to measurement error, however, is not fully satisfactory: Might the measurement errors in the predictor variables be systematic in part, and could they be reduced? The research hypothesis in the current study was that the overprediction of Latino and African‐American performance occurs, at least in part, because these students are more likely than White students to attend high schools with fewer resources. The study provided some support for this hypothesis and showed that the prediction of college grades can be improved using information about high school socioeconomic status. An interesting peripheral finding was that grades provided by students’ high schools were stronger predictors of FGPA than were students’ self‐reported high school grades. Correlations between the two types of high school grades (computed for each of 18 colleges) ranged from .59 to .85.     

Loss of Institutional Trust Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Adolescents: A Consequence of Procedural Injustice and a Cause of Life‐Span Outcomes

This research tested a social‐developmental process model of trust discernment. From sixth to eighth grade, White and African American students were surveyed twice yearly (ages 11–14; Study 1, N = 277). African American students were more aware of racial bias in school disciplinary decisions, and as this awareness grew it predicted a loss of trust in school, leading to a large trust gap in seventh grade. Loss of trust by spring of seventh grade predicted African Americans’ subsequent discipline infractions and 4‐year college enrollment. Causality was confirmed with a trust‐restoring “wise feedback” treatment delivered in spring of seventh grade that improved African Americans’ eighth‐grade discipline and college outcomes. Correlational findings were replicated with Latino and White students (ages 11–14; Study 2, N = 206).     

Quality of Effort and Career Preparation Differences Between African American and White Community College Students

This study examined data from a random sample of 500 White students and 500 African American students who have taken the Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire to determine which factors in the environment impact their career preparation. The results showed that interaction with faculty had the strongest impact on career preparation for all students. Counseling services were significant for African American students. The African American students indicated they put more effort into student-faculty interactions and peer interactions than White students, and they reported greater gains in career preparation.     

Racial Inequality in Critical Thinking Skills: The Role of Academic and Diversity Experiences

While racial inequalities in college entry and completion are well documented, much less is known about racial disparities in the development of general collegiate skills, such as critical thinking. Using data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, we find substantial inequality in the development of critical thinking skills over four years of college between African American and White students. The results indicate that these inequities are not related to students’ academic experiences in college but are substantially related to their experiences with diversity. These findings have important implications for understanding racial inequality in higher education and considering strategies for addressing observed disparities.     

Wellness and College Type in African American Male College Students: An Examination of Differences

African American male students (N = 203) attending a historically Black college or university (HBCU) and a predominantly White institution (PWI) participated in a study to determine differences in wellness. HBCU students scored significantly higher than did PWI students on Friendship, Love, Sense of Control, and Gender Identity. PWI students scored significantly higher than did HBCU students on Sense of Worth. Implications and future research directions are suggested.     

Help-Seeking Experiences and Attitudes among African American, Asian American, and European American College Students

The study examined African American, Asian American, and European American college students’ previous direct and indirect experiences of seeking professional psychological services and related attitudes. Survey data were collected from 254 European American, 182 African American and 82 Asian American college students. Results revealed that fewer African American and Asian American college students had sought professional psychological services, knew someone who had sought psychological services, and knew a close person who was diagnosed with a psychological disorder, relative to European American students. Furthermore, African American and Asian American participants showed less favorable attitudes on a variety of help-seeking attitudes, compared to the European American group.     

Effective Advising of Diverse Students in Community Colleges

In-depth interviews with 363 students across nine campuses capture the experiences of Latino, African American, Asian, Native American, White and Immigrant students in the California community college system. Four themes emerged with respect to advising and counseling: (a) Differences in the Use of Counseling and Advising; (b) The Importance of the Counseling Relationship; (c) Knowing the System; and (d) Cultural Understanding and Racism.     

Convergence of views: Self‐perceptions of African American and White kindergartners

As the second in a series of studies concerning the development of kindergartners' self‐perceptions, this study examined the effects of the kindergarten experience on self‐perceptions of African American and White students as they progressed through their kindergarten year. Using a countywide sample of 209 children in 31 classrooms, the study incorporated in vivo observations of teachers' verbal behavior and self‐perception data from the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children. Results indicate that the kindergarten experience had an equalizing effect on the self‐perceptions of African American and White children, although self‐perceptions of cognitive competence were initially lower for African American children than for their White counterparts. Teachers' verbal interactions with children were not affected by the child's race, at least when different achievement levels were taken into account. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Can Within-Race Achievement Comparisons Help Narrow Between-Race Achievement Gaps?

Reports on the low achievement of African American students tend to focus on Black–White achievement gaps. This study draws from official reports that also consider within-race achievement differences. An argument is presented that within-race comparisons are likely to reveal important causal factors that may go unnoticed when between-race comparisons are made. Examples of within-race comparisons for African American students include comparisons across districts, states, types of schools, and gender. Implications for efforts to improve African American achievement are discussed for each type of within-race comparison.     

Using a Self‐Advocacy Intervention on African American College Students’ Ability to Request Academic Accommodations

Due to an increase in enrollment of African American students with disabilities in postsecondary education, there is a need to identify strategies that may lead to improved transition and self‐advocacy skills for these students. These strategies include teaching students to request academic accommodations and to have an understanding of how their disability affects their academic learning. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide an in‐depth explanation of a self‐advocacy strategy that was used to teach three African American male college students how to request their academic accommodations. Results indicated this strategy may be a promising intervention for African American college students with disabilities.     

Career Narratives of African American Female College Students: Insights for College Counselors

The authors collected narrative data from 11 African American female college students at a predominantly White institution using the Career Construction Interview (Savickas & Hartung, 2012 ), the Future Career Autobiography (Rehfuss, 2009 ), and a qualitative career experiences questionnaire. Using the constant comparison method (Strauss & Corbin, 1990 ), the authors uncovered 4 overarching themes based on the unique experiences of participants. The authors present insights for college counselors providing career development services.     

Development of the College Student Reasons for Living Inventory with African Americans

Abstract

Eighty African American college students completed the College Student Reasons for Living Inventory (CSRLI) and reported on their self-perceived level of suicidal risk. Results indicate that the CSRLI holds promise for predicting suicidal risk among African American college students. These data are contrasted with a pre-existing Caucasian study of college students, and the implications are discussed.     

The Effect of Financial Aid on Students' College Choice: Differences by Racial Groups

This study analyzed the impact of specific types of financial aid on students' college choice, with particular focus on racial differences. For overall student populations, the receipt of grants or a combination of grants with loans had a positive impact on attending first choice institutions. In contrast, having loans only had no significant impact. Going one step further, distinct patterns were found in the effects of financial aid on college choice by racial groups. White students were more likely to attend their first-choice institutions if they received grants or a combination of grants with loans. Asian American students were strongly influenced by having loans or a combination of grants with loans when they decided to attend their first choice of colleges. In contrast, college choices of Latino and African American students were not influenced by financial aid. Implications of the findings for financial aid policy are indicated and future research on the topics recommended.