African Americans And College Choice

Acknowledging the disparity between the number of African American high school students who aspire toward higher education and the number who actually attend, this book uncovers factors that influence African American students' decisions regarding college. Kassie Freeman brings new insights to the current body of research on African Americans and higher education by examining the impact that family, school, community, and home have in the decision-making process. She explores specific factors that contribute to a student's predisposition toward higher education, including gender, economics, and high school curriculum, and seeks to bridge the gap in understanding why aspiration does not immediately translate into participation. Educators and policy makers interested in increasing African American students' participation in higher education will benefit from the exploration of this paradox.

The Agony of Education is about the life experience of African American students attending a historically white university. Based on seventy-seven interviews conducted with black students and parents concerning their experiences with one state university, as well as published and unpublished studies of the black experience at state universities at large, this study captures the painful choices and agonizing dilemmas at the heart of the decisions African Americans must make about higher education.

By critically examining the legal, institutional, and social factors that prohibit or promote students' college choices, this Volume undermines the notion that African American students and their families are opposed to formal education, and reveals structural barriers which they face in accessing elite institutions. For African American students, unequal education is rooted in the history in the legacy of slavery and of the history of institutional and structural racism in United States. The long legacy of racism in education cannot be dismissed when reflecting on the college choice experiences of African American students made today. Authors uniquely apply Critical Race Theory (CRT) to analyse the college selection process of high achieving African American students and, highlight the similarities and differences within an impressive group of students, therefore challenging the deficit notions of African American students as perpetual under-achievers. They also show that contrary to the general assumption, African American parents are inclined towards providing their sons and daughters higher education at the elite institutes of US. The decision is often influenced by analysis of factors including the allocation of school resources, parental attitudes, university recruitment, campus outreach, and affordability. The issues of discrimination on the grounds of race, class, and gender often plays a vital role in decision making process. This text will be of great interest to graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, academics, professionals and policy makers in the field of Race & Ethnicity in Higher Education, Sociology of Education, Equality & Human Rights, and African American Studies.

Leading African American scholars examine the often neglected cultural context in research and policy development in African American higher education in this collection of essays. Past research has most often been conducted by individuals unfamiliar with the historical and cultural considerations of specific ethnic groups. Therefore, the outcomes of research and the development of programs have been based on deficit models, that is, what is wrong with African Americans, or what they cannot achieve. The book examines the questions; what is the relationship between African Americans' culture and experiences, and how should their culture be integrated into research and practice? How do African Americans' intra- and interrelations differ in higher education? How does understanding African American culture as it relates to higher education research enhance policy-making and practice? What role do HBUCs play in African Americans' participation in higher education? What are the policy and practice implications of past and current research? Scholars and practitioners of education, culture, and race relations will find this collection informative and interesting.

Historically Black College Leadership & Social Transformation Little research has been conducted to identify aspects of effective social transformation leadership in American college and university leadership. The authors of this book argue that while much less has been done at predominantly White institutions to practically apply the processes of social transformation as a leadership model, HBCUs have historically relied upon strategies of social transformation as they sought to build and sustain the distinct mission of their institutions that enhance college access, inclusion, and choice. This publication is intended to serve as a departure from the examination of the typology of transformation leadership in the private sector and, instead, view this leadership model through the lens of higher education. The authors’ intent is to focus on institutional leadership at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and provide a deeper understanding of the Social Change Model and how it can be successfully situated as a conduit for realizing and sustaining the mission of Black colleges from perspectives of the past, present, and future.

A problematic, yet uncommon, assumption among many higher education researchers is that recruitment, retention, and engagement of African-American males is relatively similar and stable across all majority White colleges and universities. In fact, the harsh reality is that selective public research universities (SPRUs) have distinctive academic cultures that increase the difficulty of diversifying their faculty and student populations. This book will discuss how traditions and elitist assumptions make it very difficult to recruit, retain, and engage African-American males. The authors will examine these issues from multiple perspectives in three sections that highlight research, policies and practices impacting the experiences of African American males, including Pre-Collegiate Preparation, African American Male Student Athletes, and Undergraduate and Graduate Considerations for African American Male Initiatives.

Despite comprising the largest minority in rural settings, the literature to date largely subsumes African American rural students into a broader set of students, with a primarily urban focus. This volume focuses on the higher education pathways of rural African American students and highlights their experiences in US colleges and universities.

This book examines colleges and universities across the diaspora with majority African, African-American, and other Black designated student enrolments. It engages the diversity of Black colleges and universities and explains their critical role in promoting academic excellence in higher education.