The Influence of Academic and Social Support Systems on the Attitudes of African American Students Towards Academic Persistence

The Influence of Academic and Social Support Systems on the Attitudes of African American Students Towards Academic Persistence PDF Author: Marissa Ashley Boyd
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
Brief Literature Review: While environmental factors play a role in a student's institutional retention, student attitude and behavior may be just as significant to retention and degree completion. Exposure and prior knowledge of the social conventions of academia can be instrumental in preparing students for achieving success in a higher education setting (Farkas, 1996). Students who do not have family or friends who have been exposed to higher education cannot pass down the key tools to be academically successful in college. Students identifying as first generation are often from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and encounter decreased levels of family support, lessened college expectations, and lower educational values among parents (McConnell, 2000; Terrenzini, Springer, Yaeger, Pascarella, & Nora, 1996). Statement of the Problem: Institutions looking to promote the academic persistence of African American students may find that traditional retention practices may not work as well with students of color. Student retention is widely based on student engagement, including academic and social involvement with the campus community (Kuh, 2005). Identifying the ways in which academic and social supports effect attitudes of African American students towards academic persistence will allow colleges and universities to enhance existing programs or create programs to include support for students specifically through means of academic and social integration. Methodology: The study used a quantitative method to conduct research on all undergraduate African American students currently enrolled at a diverse university located in California's capital. The study employed an electronic survey, and 103 students participated in the research. Conclusions and Recommendations: African American students' most influential form of support came from themselves, indicating a high level of academic self-efficacy. The study revealed that African American students did not engage in academic and social activities on campus events with much frequency, but there seemed to be a slightly higher rate of academic engagement utilizing social informality than purely social activities between African American students and their peers. Understanding the influence of both academic and social support systems on student success, specifically African American student success, may allow institutions to foster or create support systems in alliance with academic programs.

The Influence of Academic and Social Support Systems on the Attitudes of African American Students Towards Academic Persistence

The Influence of Academic and Social Support Systems on the Attitudes of African American Students Towards Academic Persistence PDF Author: Marissa Ashley Boyd
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Get Book Here

Book Description
Brief Literature Review: While environmental factors play a role in a student's institutional retention, student attitude and behavior may be just as significant to retention and degree completion. Exposure and prior knowledge of the social conventions of academia can be instrumental in preparing students for achieving success in a higher education setting (Farkas, 1996). Students who do not have family or friends who have been exposed to higher education cannot pass down the key tools to be academically successful in college. Students identifying as first generation are often from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and encounter decreased levels of family support, lessened college expectations, and lower educational values among parents (McConnell, 2000; Terrenzini, Springer, Yaeger, Pascarella, & Nora, 1996). Statement of the Problem: Institutions looking to promote the academic persistence of African American students may find that traditional retention practices may not work as well with students of color. Student retention is widely based on student engagement, including academic and social involvement with the campus community (Kuh, 2005). Identifying the ways in which academic and social supports effect attitudes of African American students towards academic persistence will allow colleges and universities to enhance existing programs or create programs to include support for students specifically through means of academic and social integration. Methodology: The study used a quantitative method to conduct research on all undergraduate African American students currently enrolled at a diverse university located in California's capital. The study employed an electronic survey, and 103 students participated in the research. Conclusions and Recommendations: African American students' most influential form of support came from themselves, indicating a high level of academic self-efficacy. The study revealed that African American students did not engage in academic and social activities on campus events with much frequency, but there seemed to be a slightly higher rate of academic engagement utilizing social informality than purely social activities between African American students and their peers. Understanding the influence of both academic and social support systems on student success, specifically African American student success, may allow institutions to foster or create support systems in alliance with academic programs.

Social Support Systems as Factors of Academic Persistence for African American, Lower-income, First-year College Students and High School Graduates Not Attending College

Social Support Systems as Factors of Academic Persistence for African American, Lower-income, First-year College Students and High School Graduates Not Attending College PDF Author: Melody Lynn Carter
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Counter-narratives of African American Academic Persistence

Counter-narratives of African American Academic Persistence PDF Author: Stacey Vicario Freeman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Academic achievement
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
Over 150 years since the abolition of slavery, African Americans still lack equal access to education and other quality of life markers. However, a slow increase in African American students pursuing and obtaining higher education demonstrates the progress of African American academic success. Although still not at an equitable level, this progress, and the voices of success are often muted by the majoritarian narrative of African American student failure. This research focuses on African American student success and examines the specific socio-cultural characteristics and processes that shape the ways in which African American students develop their own counter-narratives to persist and gain access to higher education. This study utilizes narrative inquiry in the form of interviews, artifacts collection and student-drawn identity maps to understand the factors that influence the development of counter-narratives. The primary research questions included: What narratives did African American students tell themselves to help them persist in school, attain a high school diploma and pursue higher education? How did they develop their narratives? How did their narratives influence their educational experiences? Five African American students who attended an elite public university in the southwest United States participated in four to five interviews ranging from six to ten hours in total. Through the analysis of their stories, the importance of culture and context were clear. Specifically their social support systems including their parents, siblings, teachers and mentors, significantly influenced their identity development and human agency. The findings also point to a critical path forward: if society commits to supporting African American student success, then shine a light on stories of persistence and potential rather than shortcomings and failures.

What Keeps Black Students Thriving?

What Keeps Black Students Thriving? PDF Author: Stephanie L. Jones
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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A Qualitative Examination of the Support Systems Impacting the African American Student Persistence, Retention and Graduation at a Predominantly White, Research-extensive, Land-grant Midwestern University

A Qualitative Examination of the Support Systems Impacting the African American Student Persistence, Retention and Graduation at a Predominantly White, Research-extensive, Land-grant Midwestern University PDF Author: Elijah Andre Thorn
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electronic dissertations
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Completion of a college degree serves as an necessity for many individuals who want to transform their lives, change their socio-economic status and have a better chance of living the "American Dream." For African Americans, students completing a college degree can be challenging due to some significant academic and institutional barriers. The current research is replete with studies highlighting why students leave higher educational institutions. However, African American students throughout this nation persist and graduate despite some seemingly insurmountable odds. Through the use of Critical Race Theory and phenomenology as the methodological framework, this study examined the lived experiences of African American students' academic and social engagement and how they have impacted the retention, persistence and graduation of participants. Purposeful sampling procedures were employed to recruit thirteen participants and the researcher adhered to Seidman's (1998) model of a three-interview sequence and arrived at five overarching themes that emerged. A) Not my first Choice, B) Fitting in and being isolated, C) Racial Aggressions, D) Resilience/Personal strength and/or "I have something to prove" and E) What's missing. A Conclusion and recommendations for research practice and policy is also discussed within the context of this study.

Black Students

Black Students PDF Author: Gordon L. Berry
Publisher: Corwin
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Why are so many Black students prematurely leaving school? What factors can be attributed toward academic achievement of Black students? Should teachers be less concerned with curriculum content and more sensitive to the social and psychological needs during child development? The authors argue that academic achievement for Black students is influenced not only by circumstances found in the individual or family and school settings, but by a whole host of factors. Social and economic environments, the development of the self-concept, peer pressure, personal attributes such as resources, skills and motivation--these are a few of the many factors contributing towards a person's ability to achieve academically. Black Students brings together current research to address these factors from a variety of perspectives and covers the full educational cycle from kindergarten through the college years. The majority of past research on academic achievement of Black students has placed blame on the individual or credited failure toward an incapability to succeed. Berry and Asamen's mission is to shift away from this narrow perspective and to look more holistically at the issues. In addition the book provides some specific programmatic directions for enhancing the academic experiences of Black students. "The editors conceptualized and produced an important, informative, issue-oriented book with contributions by prestigious, involved scholars in education, the social sciences, and mental health. . . . Recommendations for policy and programmatic changes are included, along with directions for future research." --Choice "All in all, this book was well conceived and succeeds in its high ideals of offering a useful, womanlike contribution to the riddle of the causes of under achievement of black Americans and ultimately of all black people of the diaspora; intuitively understood by all who know anything of the history of their experience, but yet to be coherently deciphered." --Education Today "Informative and thought provoking. Berry and Asamen make the reader painfully aware of the many casualties and losses of black youth, particularly low income black youth within today's educational system. . . . [It] explores the societal factors that inhibit or can enhance the academic achievement of low income black students. Black Students affirmed some of my own beliefs and provided new information." --Association for Women in Psychology Newsletter "A book written by people who obviously care about Black education. Moreover, it is difficult to take exception to Berry's conclusion that Blacks need an educational system which offers equity and excellence." --British Educational Research Journal.

Persistence and Academic Success

Persistence and Academic Success PDF Author: Flordeliza L. Kala
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Academic Self-Efficacy, Racial Identity, Institutional Integration, and the Educational Experiences of African American Male Community College Students

Academic Self-Efficacy, Racial Identity, Institutional Integration, and the Educational Experiences of African American Male Community College Students PDF Author: Julius Saba Munyantwali
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Since the late 1960s, the enrollment of African American students in higher education has steadily increased. Furthermore, the community college system and specifically the California community college system has seen the highest rise in the enrollment of African American students. Despite the rise in their numbers, African American male students who have relied on the California community college system as a conduit to a better life continue to have the lowest academic achievement outcomes and are the most likely to leave college. Although research shows that the persistence and academic achievement of college students is linked to the interactions they have with faculty and their peers, little is known about whether these relationships are also connected to the academic achievement of African American males attending California community colleges, nor is it understood how psychosocial factors influence the achievement. This dissertation built on a study conducted by Reid (2007) in which Tinto's institutional integration theory (e.g., Tinto, 1993) was extended by assertion that African American males who are academically successful (and not just persistent) are also well integrated in the academic and social milieu of their college campuses. Reid's study also hypothesized that their level of institutional integration which influenced their academic achievement was linked to their racial identity attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs. The study employed a qualitative phenomenological approach in which twelve African American male students, who were recruited from one Southern California community college, were interviewed to learn about their educational experiences and perceptions. The goal of the study was to provide a voice to this student subgroup which continues to under-perform academically. The findings of the study highlight the importance of race, faculty connections and intrinsic motivation factors in reaching academic goals. The study provides recommendations, based on the findings, for educators, administrators and other community college stakeholders to better assist African American males attending community colleges in California to attain their educational goals.

Perceived Impact of Academic Support Program Participation on Persistence of First-generation African American Male Students at a Historically Black College

Perceived Impact of Academic Support Program Participation on Persistence of First-generation African American Male Students at a Historically Black College PDF Author: Kelvin Rachell
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : African American students
Languages : en
Pages : 122

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Case Study Analysis of the Effect of Contextual Supports and Barriers on African American Students' Persistence in Engineering

Case Study Analysis of the Effect of Contextual Supports and Barriers on African American Students' Persistence in Engineering PDF Author: Lisa Montgomery
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Using case study methodology (Stake, 2006), this research examined the environmental influences, or contextual supports and barriers, that were most influential in contributing to African American students' persistence in an engineering major. Social cognitive career theory provides the framework for understanding the role of contextual supports and barriers in conceptualizing persistence. Eight African American college students at a Large, Midatlantic State University (LMSU) participated in the study. Semistructured interviews, lasting on average 82.5 minutes, were conducted using an interview protocol adapted from Seymour and Hewitt (1997). The six emergent themes that had the most impact on their ability to persistence in emerging are: (1) Cultural Issues; (2) Engineering Identity; (3) Family Influence; (4) Peer relationships; (5) Academic Issues; and (6) Personal Issues. Five of the six were perceived as both contextual supports and barriers to their experience in their major. Cultural issues (e.g. participation in the Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP), involvement in National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and other culture-related activities) figured most prominently in providing the necessary support and obviating the effects of any barriers they encountered. Implications for various stake holders and theory were provided. Limitations and strengths of the study and recommendations for future research were also discussed.