Understanding socioeconomic differences in the relationship between black college students' involvement and educational outcomes

Black college students;socioeconomic status;involvement;educational expectations

Dorime-Williams, Marjorie

关键词: Black college students;    socioeconomic status;    involvement;    educational expectations;   

Others  :  https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/44769/Marjorie_Dorime-Williams.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

美国|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

Participation rates in postsecondary education vary greatly by race, ethnicity, gender, andsocioeconomic status (SES). In addition to issues of access, there are also problems withretention and persistence associated with specific demographic characteristics (e.g. race). Lowretention and persistence rates of Black students continue to be an issue for higher educationprofessionals. Some strategies for improving student persistence are based on researchsurrounding student involvement; involvement has been found to contribute to academic, social,and cognitive development for Black college students. Noticeably lacking in this discussion is anexamination of educational outcomes influenced by involvement for Black students who are notclassified as low-income.This study examined SES differences in the relationship between Black college students’involvement and their educational expectations. While the educational attainment of low-incomeBlack students has been well documented throughout the educational pipeline, there is still verylittle known about the academic experiences and outcomes of middle and upper-class Blackstudents, as they are largely absent from postsecondary education literature. Using data from theNational Center on Education Statistics (NCES) Education Longitudinal Study (ELS: 2002),statistical analysis were conducted on responses from college sophomores to explore therelationships between SES, involvement, and educational expectations of Black students at fouryearpublic institutions.Results show that students from different SES backgrounds have statistically significantdifferences in their involvement, volunteer activities, and educational expectations. High-middleSES students also reported the highest rates of “never” being involved in academic activitiescompared to their peers. Analysis from this study also found that students from all SES backgrounds were more likely to have high educational expectations if they were more involved,both academically and non-academically. Finally using logistic regression, results indicate thathigh SES students who are involved have the highest probability for positive educationalexpectations.The findings of this study have substantial implications for student affairs practitioners,educators, and policymakers in postsecondary education who focus on Black collegians. Theimportance of involvement in college is a key factor to improving students’ educationaloutcomes and raising graduate school expectations. Findings from this research also highlight theimportance of targeting services to Black students of all SES backgrounds.