An Examination of Black Urban and Appalachian Students' Academic and Social Integration Into Higher Education

• In Event: In Pursuit of Consequential Truths: BlackCrit Interrogations of Postsecondary Education and the Black Student Experience

Abstract

The purpose of this presentation is to explore and examine the experiences of Black urban and Appalachian alumni who attended a large, predominately white institution, during their undergraduate studies. The researcher explored what institutional resources and support services Black urban and Appalachian graduates identified as being the most significant to their persistence and success in attaining their first baccalaureate degree. This presentation will provide higher education institutions the opportunity to learn more about the experiences of, and resources and support services utilized by Black urban and Appalachian students as they persisted in their postsecondary pursuits.
There remains a need to examine the lived experience and learn more from students who have successfully graduated from institutions–to learn from their experiences, better understand what worked for them and what did not, and glean what resources and support services were vital in their experience. Thus, this study specifically focused on the experiences of alumni, with the intention of using an anti-deficit approach to examine the undergraduate experiences of urban and Appalachian graduates to gain an understanding of the factors, support services, and resources that contributed to their academic and social integration, persistence, matriculation, and ultimately helped them reach graduation.



Tinto's Student Integration Model (1987) and Astin's I-E-O model (1991) are used as the guiding theoretical approaches for this research study, while incorporating tenets of BlackCrit theory.



A multiple case study design was used, using a case study approach allowed the researcher to gain an in-depth understanding of each participant’s situation and its true meaning.



Data examined for this study is a subset of data collected from a larger qualitative study that examined the lived experiences of urban and Appalachian alumni. This study focuses on the experiences of 8 Black urban and Appalachian graduates, who earned their first baccalaureate degree between spring 2013 and spring 2020.



The findings of this study revealed significant insight into the academic and social experiences of Black urban and Appalachian graduates. These experiences support the critical role of student integration efforts and specialized support services for students from minority and underrepresented identities. Similarities in experiences, for Black urban and Appalachian students, were prevalent in the manner in which participants constantly compared themselves, their education and intellectual level, and their abilities to their peers and thus avoided utilizing certain institutional support services out of fear of others' perception. Participants expressed feelings of internalized pressures to perform and succeed at everything they did out of fear that if they did not it would signal that they did not belong at their institution. These feelings, coupled with pride and stigma, led participants to avoid seeking support services, even when knowing they were struggling.



While college readiness and accessibility are some of the most discussed topics for underserved populations, this presentation seeks to improve our understanding of the lived experiences of Black urban and Appalachian collegians. This presentation aims to broaden the knowledge base and understanding of practitioners and college administrators, seeking to make informed and evidence-based decisions by expanding the literature on persistence and student success efforts for urban and Appalachian students.

Author

• DaVonti' DeAngelo Haynes, Temple University
  Presenting Author