Browsing by Subject "African American college students"
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Item Racism And The White Studies Experience At A Predominantly White Institution(2017) Diaz, Katherine Lloyd; Prime, Glenda M.; Shockley, Kmt; Advanced Studies, Leadership, and Policy; Doctor of PhilosophyThis research study examined black college students lived experiences with racism and white studies. A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted with five black college students. They participated in entrance interviews, a white studies workshop that incorporated a focus group, wrote reflective journals, had exit interviews, and a group debriefing session. The data were analyzed and interpreted through the theoretical lenses of Critical Race Theory and Transformative Learning Theory. A textual analysis of the data revealed two overarching themes. Those themes are the oppressive acts of racism and the revelations from white studies. The participants' white studies experience revealed the power of hearing other students' stories about their experiences with racism, opened their eyes to certain aspects and manifestations of whiteness, provided them with language to use, and fostered strategies about how to respond to racist offenders. Those findings led to a few implications for student affairs professionals, especially those who work with black and minority students, like those in multicultural student programs and services. Multicultural student programs and services are tasked with educating students about privilege and providing programs that address confronting prejudices and changing oppressive attitudes and behaviors on campus. Multicultural student programs and services professionals could use white studies as a tool to equip black college students with knowledge and language to use when responding to incidents of racism and racist offenders.Item The Impact Of The College Environment On Black Students' Access To A Medical School Education(2009) Butler, BarbaraMarie; Norman, Obed; Mathematics and Science Education Program; Doctor of EducationThe focus of this study was to explore factors influencing the disparity in the acceptance rate for African American students into medical school as compared to their white counterparts. This study compared the college environment of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Principally White Institutions, with respect to African American students' perceptions regarding their college experiences and the extent to which they perceived that their experiences enhanced or diminished their success in gaining access to medical school. The community cultural wealth framework was used to explore whether the HBCU or the PWI is the better environment for undergraduate science majors. By use of the CCW framework the study explored which collegeenvironment nurtured students to be successful as a biology major, obtain a competitive MCAT score and ultimately secure acceptance into medical school. A qualitative research design served as the best approach to explore the object of inquiry in this study: the students' perception of their college environment, and their perceptions of their college experiences. The findings suggest that both the HBCU and the PWI reveal characteristics that enhanced and diminished the potential for success in the biology pre-med program. The results of this study specifically addressed barriers to access as factors which may be contributing to the disparities in the number of African American students admitted to medical school. These barriers are related to differences in the social dynamics of the university. In this study both groups of students perceived that there were the negative faculty attitudes, but these seemed to have little impact on access to medical school. Student motivation and identification with a supportive community seemed to have more impact on the potential for career success.Item The Relationship Between Identity-Related Constructs And Positive Mental Health In Black College Students(2017) Mushonga, Dawnsha Renee; Chipungu, Sandra S.; Social Work; Doctor of PhilosophyThis cross-sectional, exploratory study examined positive mental health (PMH) in 156 Black college students, ages 18-25, attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). In addition, identity-related constructs such as spirituality, self-esteem, social support, life satisfaction, racial identity, and optimism were explored as predictors of PMH within this population. This study utilized Chickering's theory of student identity development and empowerment theory to examine PMH. The current level of PMH for the majority of Black students in this study was moderate mental health. Bivariate analyses were utilized to explore the relationship between the identity-related constructs (spirituality, self-esteem, social support, life satisfaction, racial identity, and optimism), socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, nationality, institution composition, classification, marital status, and background SES), and PMH. Findings from the bivariate analysis revealed that spirituality, self-esteem, social support, life satisfaction, optimism, racial identity, gender, and nationality were significant predictors of PMH. A multiple linear regression was utilized to further examine the relationships between the significant bivariate variables and PMH. Findings revealed that spirituality, self-esteem, social support, and life satisfaction remained to be significant predictors of PMH in Black college students when controlling for other respective variables. Implications for social work education, practice, and policy are discussed, in addition to recommendations for future research.