Pathways to Success: Black Males' Exploration of a Pathway Toward Completion

• In Event: 28.090 - MTCC Roundtable Session Nine
  In Roundtable Session: 28.090-3 - Black Male Students: Stepping Stones for Academic Success along the Pathway from Secondary to Two-Year Institutions

Abstract

The California Community College System has witnessed the retention, transfer, and completion rates of Black males as the lowest of all ethnic minority groups, both nationally and statewide (Bush & Bush, 2010). Black male students using the community college as a conduit to social and economic mobility continue to enroll in these institutions that fail to facilitate their pathway options to successfully complete their academic goals. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of Black males in the California Community College System related to the advising they receive that develops their understanding of education and career pathway selection. Three research questions served as a guide to identify and clarify the domains in which Black males discover and understand community college pathway options: What meaning do Black male community college students make of the advising process and selection of educational pathways, what types of support do Black male community college students describe that enables them to continue to pursue their educational goals, and what are the experiences Black male, community college students have in navigating their institution’s pathways to earn a credential, transfer, or receive a certificate?
Using a descriptive qualitative design, this study explored Black male experiences related to persistence toward completion of their academic goals. The findings indicated Black males had trouble in understanding academic advising and counseling. While Black males found ways to persist, many of them attributed their persistence to trial and error process of finding helpful supports and resources that where sparingly accessible. Findings also determined Black males felt disregarded as students but developed a sense of self and community as a result of the pitfalls they encountered accessing information to accomplish their goals. Implications for future research based on the findings of this study include developing additional layers of orientation and advising through offering additional counseling courses that support persistence and matriculation.

Author

• James Reed, Mt. San Antonio College