Shifting Perspectives: Applying Community Cultural Wealth to the Black Student Persistence Narrative in Education (U.S.)

• In Event: Echoes Across Place and Space: Blackness, Diasporic Violence, and the University: Exploring the Black Experience in the University From an African Diasporic View and Connection

Abstract

College student departure continues to be a huge phenomenon in higher education. The overall college dropout rate for undergraduate college students is 40% (Hanson, 2021). In 2017, Black students had the lowest persistence rate (66.2%), just over half of Black students returned to their starting higher education institution (52.1%), and an additional 14.1% continued at a different institution (NSC, 2019). These are pre-pandemic numbers. Although we know Black students graduate from college, little voice is given to their perspective on how they do it. When attention is shifted to the persistence of Black students in higher education, the narrative is often told from a retention perspective. In addition, retention research neglects to include how Black students own their educational experience to navigate their institution and persist through graduation nor does the research examine cultural factors that help these students persist (Williams Jr, 2022). Using the community cultural framework (Yosso, 2005) as a guide, this session empowers participants to explore their forms of cultural capital as they learn which forms of capital Black students use to successfully navigate their way to and through high education.

Author

• Maurice Williams, Bridgewater State University