Precious Hardy Mara Aruguete Ethnic Differences in Student Support at an HBCU Lincoln Universi ty of Missouri
Precious HardyMara
Aruguete
Ethnic Differences in Student Support at an HBCU
Lincoln University
of Missouri
What is the Problem?● The “achievement gap” in higher education
(Education Trust, 2005)● Black students are behind White students in:
● ACT (17 vs. 22; Jaschik, 2013) and SAT scores ● College enrollment● Undergraduate grades ● Earned degrees (20% vs. 40%; Reardon, 2014)
● Racial disparities are decreasing; income disparities are increasing (Toldson & McGee, 2014)
Number of Degrees by Ethnicity
*From: http://execwomeningov.org/the-rise-of-professional-women/
Earned Degrees by Ethnicity
From: http://execwomeningov.org/the-rise-of-professional-women/
What is the Result of the Problem?● Lower educational
achievement means:● less employment ● lower salaries● poorer health ● intergenerational
poverty● (Leach & Williams,
2014)
Pew Research Center www.pewsocialtrends.org
Why the Achievement Gap?1) “Acting White” (Fordham & Ogbu, 1986)
●Oppositional culture devalues academic success ● Evidence is low
● Black students have equal desire to go to college, are equally engaged, spend similar time on homework, etc. (Tyson et al., 2005)
● Smart kids: 1) cool, 2) normal, 3) weird, 4) boring, or 5) admired? (Toldson, 2013)
Why the Achievement Gap?2) Social Dominance Theory (Leach & Williams,
2007)● African Americans have subordinate group
status in which power and resources are low● Institutional Discrimination: Inferior schools =
inferior skills (Leach & Williams, 2007)● Personal Discrimination: Lowered expectations
(Biddle, 2001), Stereotype threat (Steele and Aronson, 1998)
Why the Achievement Gap?●Low Financial Status:
● Credit card debt, loan debt, and default risk (Jackson & Reynolds, 2013)
● Finances are a major predictor of attendance and attrition (Jiyun, et al., 2009)
● Working full-time (Newton, et al., 2013)
It’s Not a “Just World”● “Freedom and opportunity” myth allows us to
blame African Americans for their own disadvantage.
Needs Assessment● Is there a ethnic disparity in student needs?
● Useful in identifying the problem so you know exactly how to intervene
The Performance Pyramid
Support Systems
3. Motivation
4. Tools/Environment 5. Feedback 6. Self-Efficacy
2. Performance
1. Knowledge
Student Success
Modified from Wedman (2012)
Purpose● Study 1: Develop the Student Support
Needs Scale (SSNS) to identify the support needs of college students
● Study 2: Examine differing needs of African American and White students
Study 1: Methods● N = 300
● Convenience sample● 135 male, 161 female, 4 did not indicate gender● 132 Black, 143 White, 21 other ethnicity●Mean age = 22 (SD = 6.00)
● Survey● Demographics (inc. major, GPA, etc.)● 8 questions for each support system
● Scored on a 5-pt. scale
The Student Support Needs Scale (SSNS) ● 36 Items*, 6 subscales
1. Knowledge (6 items)2. Performance (6 items)3. Motivation (5 items)4. Tools/Environment (6 items)5. Feedback (10 items)6. Self Efficacy (3 items)
⦿Principle Components Analysis showed that these were six distinct support subscales
*12 original items eliminated
Reliability: Internal Consistency Scale or subscale # of Items Cronbach’s Alpha
Overall support 36 .90
Knowledge 6 .73
Performance 6 .76
Motivation 5 .79
Tools/Environment 6 .80
Feedback 10 .87
Self-Efficacy 3 .62
Validity: Correlations Between Support and Student Success
Student Performance Measure
Correlation with Overall Support
Cumulative GPA r = .17, p < .01
Major GPA r = .30, p < .01
Professor visits r = .18, p < .05
Classes missed r = -.21, p < .01
Lincoln University Students’ Support
Knowledge Performance Motivation Tools/En-vironment
Feedback Self Efficacy1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Mea
n Sc
ore
Study 2: Ethnic Differences in Student Support
● Does perceived student support mirror the “achievement gap” between African American and White students?
Study 2: Methods● N = 148
● Convenience sample from math classes● 62 male, 83 female, 3 did not indicate gender● 44 Black, 91 White, 11 other ethnicity● Mean age = 22 (SD = 6.28)
● Survey● 33-item SSNS
● Five subscales● Scored on a 5-pt. scale
Are There Perceived Ethnic Differences in Support Levels?
Black White3
3.5
4
4.5
5
Mea
n Kn
owle
dge
(Pre
para
tion;
Sca
le =
1-
5)
p = .05
Black and White Students Have Similar Support Needs
Black White1
1.9
2.8
3.7
4.6
5.5
PerformanceMotivationEnvironmentFeedback
Mea
n Sc
ore
(sca
le =
1-5
)
No significant differences in ethnicity
Discussion● The Student Support
Needs Scale (SSNS) can be used to identify the support needs of college students
● The SSNS can also be used to design interventions aimed at improving academic programs
Performance Issues● We know that Performance is the biggest
problem at LU● Full-time work, family responsibilities● True for both African American and White students
● Possible interventions aimed at increasing Performance● Daily online testing (Pennebaker et al., 2013)● Helping students to apply for
scholarships/financial aid to minimize work responsibilities
● Increasing minimum wage● Increasing need-based student aid
Knowledge Issues● Inferior schools =
Inferior skill set● African American
students report being marginally lower in Knowledge (academic preparation)
● Effective ways to close the education gap ● Desegregation in public
schools (Kirp, 2010)● Bridge programs (Maton,
2012)
Closing the Achievement Gap● Are students maximizing the skills they have?
● Addressing college adjustment in low income students● Showing successful models (Stephan, et al., 2014)
● Addressing beliefs like intelligence is fixed and out of personal control (Rheinschmidt & Mendoza, 2014)
● Are educators minimizing stereotypes?● Do some students feel like outsiders on campus (Fulwood,
2012)? ● Emphasizing self-discipline/work ethic
● A better predictor of GPA than IQ (Kirp, 2010)● Monitoring progress closely (mentoring, early
alert; Schmidt, 2007)
In Conclusion● Recognizing that these effects of social
inequality are real and undeniable● Keeping the “Just World Hypothesis” in check● At the same time, keeping fatalism in check
● Looking at perceived student needs is one way of assessing individual and institutional factors