Black High School Students’ Extracurricular Activities and Expectations Toward College: Investigation of Mediating Factors

• In Event: Cross-Cultural Exploration of Schools as Sites for Adolescent Development

Abstract

This study explored whether the association between extracurricular activity involvement and college expectations among Black and African American high school students was mediated by a sense of school belonging and class preparedness. Using the nationally representative sample of Black and African American high school freshman students (N = 2,375), a mediational analysis demonstrated that Black and African American students’ school belonging significantly mediated the relationship between extracurricular activity involvement and college expectations, while class preparedness did not. The results underscore the significance of Black and African American students’ equitable access to extracurricular activities as a means to enhance school belonging and shape college expectations.

Authors

• Janell A. Miller, North Carolina State University

• Jackie E. Relyea, North Carolina State University