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This qualitative study was designed to explore the role of family in the life of African American college students at two predominately White institutions. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 38 African American college students and members of their families. The results revealed eight factors that influenced students' success and their ability to persist in college: (1) Family Support and Influence, (2) Sense of Community, (3) Family Investment and Expectations, (4) Negotiating Environments, (5) Role Models and Mentors, (6) Faith in God/Spiritual Support, (7) Factors of Motivation, and (8) Macro Cultural Perspectives on Race. / Ph. D.

There has been a slight increase in African American enrollment in higher education in the 30 years since the passage of the Civil Rights Act. However, minority students are not represented in higher education in numbers proportionate to their representation in the general population. African Americans consist of 12.6% of the population, but only 10.6% of the students enrolled in higher education (Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac, 1998). Additionally, there are differences in the types of schools that successfully educate African American students. Historically Black institutions (HBIs) confer a disproportionately high number of bachelor's degrees on such students. Of all the bachelor's degrees conferred on African Americans in 1994, over 43% were awarded by predominantly White institutions (PWIs) while HBIs conferred 45.1% of the degrees (Nettles & Perna, 1997). There seems to be some difference between the success rates of African American students at PWIs and HBIs. One of the factors that may influence these success rates is the college selection process. That is, if there are different types of African American students attending PWIs versus HBIs, those differences may account for some of the differences in success rates at the two types of schools. It would seem that research is needed on the factors that African Americans consider in the college selection process, and if those factors differ between African Americans at PWIs and those at HBIs. The present study sought to examine this issue. A 60-item survey was developed specifically for this study. Survey items asked respondents to rate the extent of influence (very negative to very positive) that factors in four arenas played in their decision to attend a particular school. The four arenas explored in the study included academic factors, social factors, personal factors, and financial factors. The target sample included 360 traditional aged freshmen students: 180 at a PWI and 180 at a HBI. Mean scores and standard deviations were calculated on all items for each group. These were rank-ordered by group to explore differences by item. Then a factor analysis was conducted to create subscales of the items for each scale. Finally, independent t-tests were conducted to compare mean scores between groups. Results revealed no significant differences in mean score between groups or any of the subscales. However, important differences between groups were identified when the rankings of the mean scores were examined. / Master of Arts

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-126). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-106).

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The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to investigate the in-class and out-of-class experiences of undergraduate African American traditional-aged college students who were on a "success" path at a predominantly White campus in the Midwestern USA. It provided the opportunity for the voices of the participants to be heard. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to identify thirteen research participants. A semi-structured interview format enabling conversational interview was used.Findings suggested that the students' experiences were multifaceted and multilayered. They had to contend with racial microaggressions and verbal abuse. This called on their resilience occasioning the expending of psychic energy and extending of the self to cope. The experience of racism clearly suggested that the educational environment was not totally welcoming and supportive of African Americans as, These experiences consisted of discrimination, stereotyping, verbal assaults, and treatment that suggested that the African Americans had major deficits as persons. In the second place, the students described experiences in which they defied the odds. Hence surviving and thriving became an apt metaphor that captured the contours of the experience. Respondents described the importance of investing in the Black community, utilizing the networking opportunities, fellowshipping with friends, family and faculty, and developing disciplined approaches to life as important in the quest to survive and to thrive. In the third place, they also described college as a place where their lives were sculpted, and where they were sculpted for life. This theme was expanded through descriptions depicting college as a place that allowed for the defining, refining, and redefining of the self. They also encountered and came to value diversity, benefited from immersive learning and were challenged to balance and to learn to manage their lives as efficient stewards.The finding that elevated the use of Black community organizations and networking opportunities as counter and recuperative spaces and particularly the importance of body pedagogy in those spaces has value for ongoing research. Further, in negotiating college students had to balance their lives, employing folk wisdom or practical intelligences developed from their socialization in their families and the Black community. / Department of Educational Studies

The current data (Otuya, 1994) show that African-Americans represent less than two percent of the male full professors and less than seven percent of the female full professors. "Demographicchanges provide compelling reasons for increasing concern about the continuing under-representation of ethnic and racial minorities in adult and continuing education programs"(Ross-Gordon, 1990; p. 13).The purpose of my research was to investigate the frustrations and rewards of African-American faculty (AAF) in Adult Education programs of graduate study. Adult educators were defined as fulltime graduate faculty teaching in adult education programs. Individual semi-structured telephone interviews were used to gather the evidence from the total population of eight individuals. Resumes served as further sources of evidence. Domain analysis was used to organize the evidence. The information serves to aid in the retention and tenuring of more African-Americans and informing non-African-American faculty. The evidence collected showed the experience of AAF to have important themes on frustrations and rewards:1.Lack of senior faculty who share their research interests or as specific role models within the field and institution,2.Committee and student involvement expectations that were perceived as different for AAF then their White peers3.Daily challenges to their knowledge by students and peers were presented in the conversation as events during which "people tried to dismiss or diminish them." Success in meeting these challenges was often a validating experience for AAF4. The positive feelings of seeing their students succeed5. Being true to the African-American community, their family, their personal values and God was important to AAF.The research indicated that African-Americans as faculty experienced a wide range of frustrations and rewards. For these AAF the frustrations and rewards did not cause them to leave the profession. Many of the frustrations presented were items that could be address by the employing universities. Many of the rewards were perceived as not receiving sufficient recognition in the tenure or professional development processes and both internal and external frustrations and rewards were important to these AAF. / Department of Educational Leadership