Date of Award
Spring 2-23-2021
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
EdD Education Leadership, Management and Policy
Department
Education Leadership, Management and Policy
Advisor
Edmund Adjapong, Ph.D
Committee Member
Jan Furman, Ed.D.
Committee Member
Thomas Jordan, Ph.D.
Keywords
black male, support services, education, persistence
Abstract
This study aimed to illuminate the perceptions of whether higher education support services function as a barrier or conduit to Black male undergraduate students’ academic persistence. The relationship between 13 Black male undergraduate students and their higher education institutions were examined. The researcher proposed a model of qualitative exploratory methodology. This study was motivated by three research questions: (1) What resources are instrumental in helping Black males persist academically? (2) How do Black male students navigate and make sense of institutional support for their academic persistence? and (3) In what ways do Black male students perceive the quality of the support services at their institution?
Williams (2015) queried Black brains matter: why are graduation rates so low? This question is a fundamental inquiry in higher education. We argue that a new generation of research in this area needs to address the extended problem: how Black male students perceive the quality of the support services at their academic institutions. Despite literature that suggested and supported Black male students’ academic persistence, there was never an exploration into how Black male students perceived higher education support services in conjunction with their academic persistence. Qualitative data consisted of individual interviews with 13 Black male undergraduate students and one focus group with 6 of the same 13 participants. Once collected, transcribed, and analyzed, a thorough thematic analysis revealed six emergent themes. The results indicated that Black male students perceived higher education support services to support their academic persistence. Still, the quality by which support services are rendered ought to be customized and executed with care.
Recommended Citation
Dyce, LaQuan, "A Barrier or Conduit? Analyzing the perception of support services in higher education on the academic persistence of Black male students" (2021). Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs). 2847.
https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2847
