Flippin' the Script: Community Cultural Wealth of Black Students Who Succeed in Community College Developmental Mathematics

• In Event: Racial Equity and Community Colleges: Equity-Mindedness and Student Experiences

Abstract

Purpose
Efforts to support underserved college students have been informed for decades by deficit-based narratives that portray them as 'underprepared' and 'culturally deprived' (Rendón, Nora, & Kanagala, 2014). This paper uses an asset-based Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) approach to analyze experiences of one group of marginalized college students: Black community college (CC) students who succeed in developmental mathematics (DM).
Data analysis focuses on these questions:
● Which aspects of CCW do Black students who succeed in CC DM courses possess?
● How do these supports contribute to their academic progress?

Theoretical Framework
Yosso (2005) defines CCW as the “array of knowledge, skills, abilities and contacts possessed and utilized by Communities of Color to survive and resist macro and micro-forms of oppression” (p. 77), which consists of 6 types of capital:
1. Aspirational: capacity to sustain optimism about one’s future despite obstacles;
2. Linguistic: intellectual and social skills derived from communicating in more than one language or style of speech;
3. Familial: cultural knowledge from one’s extended family that “carries a sense of community, history, memory and cultural intuition” (Yosso, 2005, p. 79);
4. Social: informational and social support derived from networks of relationships of community members;
5. Navigational: ability to navigate through complex social institutions that weren’t created with communities of color in mind; and
6. Resistant: knowledge and skills one gains through opposing oppression.

As CCW has been used to study marginalized populations in oppressive systems (e.g., Espino, 2014; Huber, 2009), it is appropriate for exploring the experiences of Black CC students in DM.

Methods and Data Sources
Narrative methodology was used in this study which allows for learning about another’s experiences, emotions, thoughts, and how they interpret events (Chase, 2005; Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). Data were collected at one CC in southern California from 10 participants who: (a) self-identified as African-American or Black; (b) were placed by an assessment into remedial math; (c) successfully completed the remedial math sequence; (d) enrolled in or successfully completed at least one college-level math course; and (e) completed a math course during the prior semester. Data collection involved: 3-to-5, 30-75-minute semi-structured interviews with each participant; a mapping activity revealing their experiences in math-related contexts; responses to vignettes about CC students’ DM experiences; and participants’ math course transcripts.

Preliminary Results
Early data analysis revealed participants enact three categories of CCW which affect their academic progress: (a) resistant: ability to manage and address racial stereotypes inflicted by peers and instructors; (b) navigational: successfully using relationships and knowledge acquired to address classroom- and institutional-challenges; (c) social: use of ‘math circles’ (Kennedy & Smolinski, 2016) for academic support. Each aspect of CCW shaped students’ experiences positively, moving them closer to their goal to complete the developmental sequence.

Scholarly Significance
This study contributes to the field in three ways: changes the narrative about Black CC students in DM courses; presents assets for students who are often framed from deficit-focused perspectives; and uses CCW to explore a group that is rarely addressed—Black students who succeed in DM.

Authors

• Maxine T. Roberts, Strong Start to Finish

• Daniel Almeida