Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, November, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1973. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify factors that may have influenced the choice of major and the persistence to graduation of six African American accounting majors who attended and graduated from a private, predominantly white university from the academic years 2003 through 2009. A set of indicators based on several retention studies was selected for the purpose of identifying pre-college, off-campus, and on-campus factors that influenced students' choice of major and persistence to graduate with a major in accounting. The major findings of this study were that early skill development prior to the college experience, family support, and cultural socialization influenced the participants' ability to choose a major associated with their skill set. Their persistence to graduation was attributed to that choice. With regard to future studies, expansion of research on African Americans in higher education will give direction for administrators seeking to increase the number of under-represented students in fields where there is a marketplace need.

No description available.

Improving the retention and graduation of African Americans and other minority groups in higher education is an important but highly politicized issue on college and university campuses. Prior studies emphasize the relationship between minority retention and achievement, cultural diversity, and racial policies and climates at predominantly White colleges and universities in the United States. In response to the need for further research, the effects of institutional actions related to diversity, minority group and African American retention, and social integration initiatives on African American graduation rates were examined for a national sample of United States (U.S.) colleges and universities. From a potential list of 7,018 colleges and universities, 2,233 met the inclusion criteria for the study. But necessary and complete information from national directories and the census could only be found for the final sample of 1,105. After dropping 30 outliers, several multiple regression analyses identified the institutional actions, social, and demographic factors that best predicted graduation rates. Public U.S. colleges and universities located in the Midwest region had lower African American graduation rates than private colleges and universities located in the South. Higher African American graduation rates occurred in colleges and universities with Black cultural centers, higher first-year retention rates, higher women enrollment rates, a higher number of student organizations, and Division III athletic programs. Colleges and universities located in a town had higher African American graduation rates than those located in a city, suburb, or rural area.