Black Undergraduates’ Sense-Making of Identity, “Success,” and The Promise of Higher Education

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 2:15pm
  In Poster Session: Division G VP Session: The Social Context of Education and MSI's

Abstract

Earning a college degree has long been the traditional path for Black folk to achieve upward mobility. While numerous reports show the American public is losing confidence in the promise of higher education, undergraduate enrollment is growing more for Black students compared to other groups. Despite current challenges in higher education – reversal of race-conscious college admissions, elimination of diversity initiatives, marginalization of Black topics from curricula – they persist. In particular, enrollment has spiked at historically black colleges. Using interviews with 19 undergraduates at a historically black selective institution, this study explores Black students’ perspectives on the purpose of higher education. This study offers insight on how the structural conditions and organizational cultures of majority-Black universities shape identity formation, ideas about success, and long-term aspirations.

Author

• Sagen Kidane, Brown University