The Impact of Family Support on the Success of Black Men at an Historically Black University: Affirming the Revision of Tinto’s Theory

This qualitative study of 11 Black male students who entered a public historically Black college and university (HBCU) as academically underprepared and persisted to graduation, provides insight into the ways in which family promotes academic success for Black male students at a public HBCU. The study’s findings encourage practitioners at HBCUs to reassess the relationship between family involvement and academic success for Black male students. Further, the findings affirm the justification to revise Tinto’s theory of student departure to account for relationships minority students have with support networks outside the campus milieu.

[1]  A. Cabrera,et al.  The Role of Perceptions of Prejudice and Discrimination on the Adjustment of Minority Students to College , 1996 .

[2]  S. R. Harper,et al.  The measure of a man: conceptualizations of masculinity among high-achieving African American male college students. , 2004 .

[3]  Sylvia Hurtado,et al.  Latino student transition to college: Assessing difficulties and factors in successful college adjustment , 1994 .

[4]  Shaun R. Harper Reconceptualizing Reactive Policy Responses to Black Male College Achievement: Implications from a National Study , 2006 .

[5]  W. Allen,et al.  College in Black and White: African American students in predominantly White and in historically Black public universities. , 1992 .

[6]  John C. Hayek,et al.  Gender Differences in Student Engagement Among African American Undergraduates at Historically Black Colleges and Universities , 2004 .

[7]  Douglas A. Guiffrida To Break Away or Strengthen Ties to Home: A Complex Issue for African American College Students Attending a Predominantly White Institution , 2005 .

[8]  Ryan J. Davis,et al.  Exploring Challenges That Threaten to Impede the Academic Success of Academically Underprepared Black Males at an HBCU , 2009 .

[9]  T. Strayhorn When Race and Gender Collide: Social and Cultural Capital’s Influence on the Academic Achievement of African American and Latino Males , 2010 .

[10]  T. Strayhorn,et al.  Mastering one’s own Fate: Non-cognitive factors associated with the success of African American males at an HBCU , 2008 .

[11]  W. Tierney,et al.  An Anthropological Analysis of Student Participation in College. , 1992 .

[12]  Sharon Fries-Britt Moving Beyond Black Achiever Isolation: Experiences of Gifted Black Collegians. , 1998 .

[13]  S. R. Harper Inside the Experiences of High-Achieving African American Male Students , 2005 .

[14]  Linda Serra Hagedorn,et al.  Campus Racial Climate and the Adjustment of Students to College: A Comparison Between White Students and African-American Students. , 1999 .

[15]  P. Freebody Qualitative Research in Education , 2003 .

[16]  Susan A. Elkins,et al.  Tinto's Separation Stage and Its Influence on First-Semester College Student Persistence , 1998 .

[17]  Settling into Campus Life: Differences by Race/Ethnicity in College Involvement and Outcomes , 2007 .

[18]  Michael J. Cuyjet African American Men in College. , 2006 .

[19]  Patricia M. King,et al.  Are White Students Really More Involved in Collegiate Experiences than Black Students , 1992 .

[20]  F. Bonner Gifted African American Male College Students: A Phenomenological Study. , 2001 .

[21]  Jerlando F. L. Jackson,et al.  Introduction : The African American Male Crisis in Education: A Popular Media Infatuation or Needed Public Policy Response? , 2008 .

[22]  Terence J. G. Tracey,et al.  The Relationship of Noncognitive Variables to Academic Success: A Longitudinal Comparison by Race. , 1985 .

[23]  M. B. Zinn Field Research in Minority Communities: Ethical, Methodological and Political Observations by an Insider. , 1979 .

[24]  John M. Braxton Reworking the Student Departure Puzzle , 2020 .

[25]  Jerlando F. L. Jackson,et al.  African American Males in Education: Endangered or Ignored? , 2006, Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education.

[26]  H. Myers,et al.  Family or friends: who plays a greater supportive role for Latino college students? , 2003, Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology.

[27]  Hunter R. Boylan,et al.  30 Years of Developmental Education: A Retrospective , 2007 .

[28]  Sharon Fries-Britt,et al.  Uneven Stories: Successful Black Collegians at a Black and a White Campus , 2002 .

[29]  A. V. Gennep The rites of passage , 1960 .

[30]  Derald Wing Sue,et al.  Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice, 5th ed. , 2003 .

[31]  K. Charmaz,et al.  3 Grounded Theory , 2009 .

[32]  George D. Kuh,et al.  Does institutional racial composition make a difference in what Black students gain from college , 1996 .

[33]  Douglas A. Guiffrida Friends from Home: Asset and Liability to African American Students Attending a Predominantly White Institution , 2004 .

[34]  J. C. Smart,et al.  Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research , 2001, Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research.

[35]  Walter R. Allen,et al.  The Color of Success: African-American College Student Outcomes at Predominantly White and Historically Black Public Colleges and Universities , 1992 .

[36]  L. Jones Retaining African Americans in Higher Education: Challenging Paradigms for Retaining Students, Faculty and Administrators. , 2001 .

[37]  Kim Griffin,et al.  The Black Box: How High-Achieving Blacks Resist Stereotypes About Black Americans , 2007 .

[38]  R. Palmer,et al.  “Diamond in the Rough”: The Impact of a Remedial Program on College Access and Opportunity for Black Males at an Historically Black Institution , 2012 .

[39]  Dolores Delgado Bernal Learning and living pedagogies of the home: The mestiza consciousness of Chicana students , 2001 .

[40]  K. González,et al.  Campus Culture and the Experiences of Chicano Students in a Predominantly White University , 2002 .

[41]  Sharon Fries-Britt Identity Development of High‐Ability Black Collegians , 2000 .

[42]  Louise Bohr Do Black Students Learn More at Historically Black or Predominantly White Colleges , 1994 .

[43]  M. C. Brown II,et al.  Toward an Empirical Corpus of Literature on Historically Black Colleges and Universities , 2005, American Journal of Education.

[44]  Vincent Tinto,et al.  Research and Practice of Student Retention: What Next? , 2006 .

[45]  Jacqueline Fleming,et al.  Blacks in college , 1984 .

[46]  High-Achieving Black Collegians , 2002 .

[47]  A. L. Evans,et al.  Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUS) , 2002 .

[48]  J. E. Davis,et al.  African American Males in School and Society: Practices and Policies for Effective Education , 2002 .

[49]  Ernest T. Pascarella,et al.  How College Affects Students: A Third Decade of Research. Volume 2. , 2005 .

[50]  Marcia B. Baxter Magolda Teaching To Promote Intellectual and Personal Maturity: Incorporating Students' Worldviews and Identities into the Learning Process. The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. , 2000 .

[51]  The Magnificent “MILE”: Impacting Black male retention and persistence at an HBCU , 2013 .

[52]  Douglas A. Guiffrida Toward a Cultural Advancement of Tinto's Theory , 2006 .

[53]  M. L. Upcraft,et al.  Theory in student affairs: Evolving perspectives , 1990 .

[54]  Derald Wing Sue,et al.  Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice , 2002 .

[55]  W. S. Swail,et al.  Retaining Minority Students in Higher Education: A Framework for Success. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report. Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. , 2003 .

[56]  P. Gurin,et al.  Black consciousness, identity, and achievement: A study of students in historically Black colleges , 1975 .

[57]  Joseph B. Berger,et al.  Exploring the Impact of Historically Black Colleges in Promoting the Development of Undergraduates' Self-Concept. , 2000 .

[58]  Vincent Tinto,et al.  Stages of Student Departure: Reflections on the Longitudinal Character of Student Leaving , 1988 .

[59]  Marybeth Gasman,et al.  Consequences of Conservatism: Black Male Undergraduates and the Politics of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. , 2008 .

[60]  W. Allen,et al.  Race, gender, and academic performance in U.S. higher education. , 1991 .

[61]  John M. Braxton,et al.  The Influence of Active Learning on the College Student Departure Process , 2000 .

[62]  Kimberly A. Griffin Striving for Success: A Qualitative Exploration of Competing Theories of High-Achieving Black College Students' Academic Motivation , 2006 .

[63]  N. Hoffart Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory , 2000 .

[64]  John M. Braxton Theory Elaboration and Research and Development: Toward a Fuller Understanding of College Student Retention , 1999 .

[65]  Marybeth Gasman,et al.  "It Takes a Village to Raise a Child": The Role of Social Capital in Promoting Academic Success for African American Men at a Black College , 2008 .

[66]  J. Fleming,et al.  Blacks in College: A Comparative Study of Students' Success in Black and in White Institutions. , 1984 .

[67]  Roger R. Woock Fostering Minority Access and Achievement in Higher Education: The Role of Urban Community Colleges and Universities , 1988 .

[68]  Mla Kutianski LEARNING...AND LIVING , 1997 .

[69]  Terrell L. Strayhorn,et al.  The Role of Supportive Relationships in Facilitating African American Males' Success in College , 2008 .

[70]  De’Sha S. Wolf,et al.  Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Honoring the Past, Engaging the Present, Touching , 2016 .

[71]  S. Thomas Ties That Bind , 2000 .

[72]  Shaun R. Harper Realizing the Intended Outcomes of Brown , 2008 .

[73]  Dina C. Maramba Immigrant Families and the College Experience: Perspectives of Filipina Americans , 2008 .

[74]  Shaun R. Harper,et al.  Student Organizations as Venues for Black Identity Expression and Development among African American Male Student Leaders , 2007 .

[75]  J. Wood,et al.  Black Men in College : Implications for HBCUs and Beyond , 2011 .

[76]  M. J. Ross Success Factors of Young African-American Males at a Historically Black College , 1998 .

[77]  A. Astin What matters in college? : four critical years revisited , 1994 .

[78]  K. Freeman No Services Needed? The Case for Mentoring High-Achieving African American Students. , 1999 .

[79]  R. Palmer,et al.  Determined to Succeed: Salient Factors That Foster Academic Success for Academically Unprepared Black Males at a Black College , 2009 .

[80]  Geoffrey L. Greif,et al.  Beating the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Males , 1998 .

[81]  M. C. Brown,et al.  The Historically Black College as Social Contract, Social Capital, and Social Equalizer , 2001 .

[82]  S. Kurpius,et al.  African American Students' Persistence at a Predominantly White University: Influences of Social Support, University Comfort, and Self-Beliefs. , 1999 .

[83]  Stephen J. Provasnik,et al.  Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Minorities. NCES 2007-039. , 2007 .

[84]  C. Pace,et al.  The Undergraduates: A Report of Their Activities and Progress in College in the 1980's. , 1990 .

[85]  Florence A. Hamrick,et al.  Postsecondary Enrollment and Academic Decision Making: Family Influences on Women College Students of Mexican Descent , 2002 .

[86]  N. Denzin,et al.  Handbook of Qualitative Research , 1994 .

[87]  W. Tierney,et al.  Models of Minority College-Going and Retention: Cultural Integrity versus Cultural Suicide , 1999 .

[88]  Vincent Tinto Dropout from Higher Education: A Theoretical Synthesis of Recent Research , 1975 .

[89]  S. Schwartz,et al.  Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition , 1987 .

[90]  R. Roach A Presidential Class Matriculates. , 2001 .

[91]  K. Freeman HBCs or PWIs? African American High School Students' Consideration of Higher Education Institution Types , 1999 .

[92]  Michael K. Herndon,et al.  Black Students and their Families , 2004 .

[93]  Aída Hurtado Understanding Multiple Group Identities: Inserting Women into Cultural Transformations , 2010 .

[94]  Shouping Hu,et al.  Student Persistence in a Public Higher Education System , 2001 .

[95]  Joseph B. Berger,et al.  REVISING TINTO'S INTERACTIONALIST THEORY OF STUDENT DEPARTURE THROUGH THEORY ELABORATION: Examining the Role of Organizational Attributes in the Persistence Process , 1998 .

[96]  Rachelle Winkle-Wagner The Perpetual Homelessness of College Experiences: Tensions between Home and Campus for African American Women , 2009 .

[97]  R. Roach Where Are the Black Men on Campus , 2001 .

[98]  J. C. Smart,et al.  The Finance of Higher Education: Theory, Research, Policy, and Practice , 2002 .

[99]  Donald E. Heller Student Price Response in Higher Education: An Update to Leslie and Brinkman , 1997 .

[100]  Mardy T. Eimers,et al.  Minority and Nonminority Adjustment to College: Differences or Similarities? , 1997 .

[101]  R. Bogdan,et al.  Qualitative Research in Education. An Introduction to Theory and Methods. Third Edition. , 1998 .

[102]  Sharon Fries-Britt Identifying and Supporting Gifted African American Men , 1997 .

[103]  J. E. Davis College in Black and White: Campus Environment and Academic Achievement of African American Males , 1994 .

[104]  Carl Bryant,et al.  Noncognitive Variables: A Key to Black-American Academic Success at a Military Academy?. , 1990 .