Faculty Validation as a Key to Success for Black Men in Community Colleges

• In Event: Student Success at Community College

Abstract

This study investigated the ways faculty engagement with students and faculty/staff validation of students predicted GPA and units earned, while controlling for student background characteristics. The sample of 590 Black male community college students was part of a larger database of students who took the Community College Survey of Men. Faculty and staff validation predicted units earned, but not GPA. Faculty engagement did not predict GPA or units earned. Together, these findings suggest that more important than engagement is faculty and staff efforts to communicate to students that they belong, their perspectives have value, and they can succeed in college.

Authors

• Tina Maria King, California State University - Fullerton

• Carol Lundberg, California State University - Fullerton