Type of Document Dissertation Author Wilkins, Rhonda Dayle Author's Email Address rwilkins@gpc.edu URN etd-12052005-145145 Title Swimming Upstream: A Study of Black Males and the Academic Pipeline Degree Ph.D. Department Higher Education Advisory Committee
Advisor Name Title Benjamin Baez, Ph.D. Committee Chair Asa G. Hilliard, III, Ed.D. Committee Member Patricia L. Gregg, Ph.D. Committee Member Philo A. Hutcheson, Ph.D. Committee Member Keywords
- Black males
- academic pipeline
- two-year colleges
- transfer rates
- college transition
- postsecondary institutions
Date of Defense 2005-10-31 Availability unrestricted Abstract ABSTRACT
SWIMMING UPSTREAM: A STUDY OF BLACK MALES AND THE ACADEMIC
PIPELINE
Rhonda D. Wilkins
Post secondary participation and graduation rates of Black males are declining rapidly. Black women, however, are realizing substantial growth in both of these areas and account for the majority of the increase in Black student college enrollment. This qualitative case study addresses the decline in Black male participation in higher education by focusing on six Black men who completed college programs and the academic pipeline that brought them to their degree. The purpose of the research inquiry was to determine various factors that either helped or hindered the academic progression of the six Black male participants. For the study participants the two-year college was a component of their academic pipeline and was assessed based on its function as a conduit aiding degree attainment. The common factors that emerged from the findings as influential to the academic progression of the six Black males were categorized as:
(a) personal attributes and perceptions, (b) relationships and external influences, and (c) institutional factors. The personal attributes of the participants included self-efficacy, endurance and resilience, and self-regulation. These attributes were framed within the central context of personal agency. Factors external to the participants consisted of family messages about higher education, role models, mentors and advocates, early exposure to college and participation in athletic sports. The institutional factors that surfaced were insufficient college preparation in high school, contrasts between the climate and culture of the two-year college and four-year institution, the lack of promotion of the transfer function at the two-year college. Race and gender were also considered relative to the men and their experiences with the academic pipeline. The salient factors included: (a) the general social and economic conditions faced by young Black males, (b) the perpetuation of negative or one-dimensional stereotypes in the media, (c) pre-college educational inequities, (d) the lack of assistance with college transition, and (e) the unwelcoming climates and lack of Black faculty at predominately white institutions. The study concluded that Black males may face many hurdles to postsecondary attainment and will therefore require personal, family, community, and institutional forces to push them through the academic pipeline.
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