Higher education institutions have a responsibility to educate all. Yet, significant proportions of blacks are not being successfully reached. This, coupled with changing demographics, is forcing educators to be concerned about the future. Under-representation exists in faculty and administrative ranks as well as with students. The hostile climate for black students on predominantly white campuses has been cited as a major concern and barrier to success. Black student alienation has been attributed to a number of variables, but the root of the problem is often traced to the campus climate. It is clear that the environment has a substantial impact on a student's level of satisfaction and can make a difference in whether a student leaves or persists. As the shapers of the climate and the experts on students, student affairs administrators play a key role in campus climate. With this major responsibility, one must ask how much of an understanding of black students' problems and experiences do these administrators have? Through the process of in-depth interviewing, the study examined the perception and the level of understanding of student affairs administrators of the campus climate for black students at Easton College, a predominantly white institution. Administrators are grouped into three groups for comparative purposes: those who are knowledgeable about black students, those who know little about black students, and those who are black. It also includes the perceptions of black students who attend the college. Results of the study indicate that the climate at Easton College is hostile and unwelcoming to its black students. While all the administrators are aware of the hostile climate, the level of knowledge and specificity differed among the three groups. Easton College is doing little to create a learning environment that promotes appreciation. Social and cultural isolation is prevalent. Care and support is limited because of insufficient knowledge and inadequate exposure to black culture. To improve the climate for black students, a number of recommendations are made.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-1498 |
| Date | 01 January 1997 |
| Creators | Costa, Susan Therese |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
Page generated in 0.0013 seconds