Examining The Relationship Between Mentoring Experiences And Intent To Persist And Complete For African American Male Students At Maryland Community Colleges

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Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2015

Department

Advanced Studies, Leadership, and Policy

Program

Doctor of Education

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This item is made available by Morgan State University for personal, educational, and research purposes in accordance with Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Other uses may require permission from the copyright owner.

Abstract

The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationships between Nora and Crisp's (2007) four mentoring variables and intent to persist and intent to complete among African American male community college students. In addition, the study sought to determine which of the four mentoring variables best predict intent to persist and intent to complete. The seesaw model of Challenge-Support-Outcome served as the framework for examining the relationship between these variables. The independent variables for this study were Nora and Crisp's four mentoring variables-emotional and psychological support, degree and career support, academic subject knowledge support, and the existence of a role model. The four mentoring variables were measured by the twenty-five-item College Student Mentoring Scale (CSMS). The dependent variables were intent to persist and intent to complete. Intent to persist was measured by the item that asked if the student will return for the subsequent semester. Intent to complete was measured by the item that asked if students will continue their study until their completion of a degree. Spearman's rho and discriminant function analysis were used to determine the significance of the relationships among the independent and dependent variables. The survey-type instrument (CSMS) was administered during the fall of 2014 at three community colleges in Maryland from which the sample (n=205) was drawn. The findings of this research are three folds. (a) The four mentoring variables are neither correlated with nor predictive of intent to persist for African American male community college students, (b) the same four mentoring variables are correlated with and predictive of intent to complete for African American male community college students, and (c) among the four mentoring variables, academic subject knowledge support and the existence of a role model are the two best predictors of the intent to complete. This study has some important implications for community college administrators, educators, and leaders who are related to the institutional level policy and practice. Recommendations for policy, practice, and future research are presented.