African-American students in a predominantly-White university: factors associated with retention

College Student Journal, June, 2002 by Susan R. Furr, Theodore W. Elling

Integrating multiple sources of institutional information can help administrators identify factors related to retention. In this study, 183 African-American freshmen participated in a campus climate survey during their first semester on campus. This information was linked with additional entering freshman data and retention data. Retention of these students was tracked through seven semesters. Significant differences between persisters and non-persisters were found and included financial, campus involvement, and academic performance factors.

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Although university campuses have been racially integrated for decades, there continues to be a disparity between the graduation rates of African-American students and White students. What has been learned during this time that would assist campuses in providing services to meet the needs of a diverse student population? How does a campus identify the strengths of all of its students and then design an environment that capitalizes on these strengths while bolstering those students whose deficits hinder academic progress? The focus of this research is on early identification of factors that may enhance the success of African-American students on predominantly-White universities.

While student retention is an important issue in general, retention of under- represented populations is a concern needing further examination. Because retention patterns and factors differ among subpopulations of students, it is important to examine the factors associated with the retention of each group in order to develop effective intervention strategies. For example, on the campus examined in this study, 97% of African-American students were retained after one semester compared with 92% of White students. By the end of four semesters, these numbers changed to 68% of African-American students being retained compared with 72% of White students. Consequently, this research seeks to examine the factors associated with the retention of African-American students that differ from the factors associated with non-retained African-American students

Research has examined a variety of factors in relation to the retention of African-American students. Some studies focus on the nature of the environment while other studies address individual student characteristics. The following literature will be reviewed in terms of the social and academic environments, identifying predictors of retention, and programs that encourage retention of students. These categories represent the primary themes of the research on retention.

Social and academic environments

Environmental factors often have been identified as critical in the retention of African-American students. Tinto (1993) hypothesized that students who participate in extracurricular activities are more likely to remain at the university. He explains persistence in college through the concepts of social integration and academic integration. Involvement in academic-related activities has been shown to be more important for the academic and personal development of African-American students than for White students (MacKay & Kuh, 1994).

In the past, the examination of the success of African-American students in higher education has relied on two types of comparisons--comparison of African-American students in predominantly-White institutions (PWI) with African-American students in historically-Black institutions (HBI), or a comparison of African-American students with White students at a predominantly-White institution. Fleming (1984) found that each of these approaches provided valuable information concerning factors related to retention. African-American students have reported that the environment of predominantly-White institutions can be more alienating than the environment at historically-Black institutions (Loo & Rolinson, 1986; Steward, Jackson, & Jackson, 1990; Suen, 1983), while attending a historically-Black institution is related to satisfaction with the overall college experience (Astin, 1993). Also, Fleming reported that patterns of intellectual development were consistently more positive for African-American students at HBIs than for African-American students at PWIs.

The academic environment can be a strong factor in the retention of African-American students. When comparing the college experience of African-American students with the experience of White students at a PWI, Mayo, Murguia, and Padilla (1995) found that formal social integration (contact with formal representatives and organizations) had a much greater effect on African-American academic performance than did informal social integration (participation in the social life of the campus). Specifically, African-American students who met with instructors outside of class were more successful academically than African-American students who did not meet with instructors outside of class. White students who met with instructors outside of class also benefited though the effect was not as strong as it was for African-American students.