The Evolving Challenges of Black College Students

by Strayhorn, Terrell L.; Terrell, Melvin C.; Watson, Lemuel W.

• ISBN13: 9781579222451
• ISBN10: 1579222455
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-12-30
• Publisher: Stylus Pub Llc

Summary

Presenting new empirical evidence and employing fresh theoretical perspectives, this book sheds new light on the challenges that Black Students face from the time they apply to college through their lives on campus. The contributors make the case that the new generation of Black students differ in attitudes and backgrounds from earlier generations, and demonstrate the importance of understanding the diversity of Black identity. Successive chapters address the nature and importance of Black spirituality for reducing isolation and race-related stress, and as a source of meaning making; students' college selection and decision process and the expectations it fosters; first-generation Black women's motivations for attending college; the social-psychological determinants of academic achievement, and how resiliency can be developed and nurtured; institutional climate and the role of cultural centers; as well as identity development; and mentoring. The book includes a new research study of African American male undergraduates who identify as gay or bisexual; discusses the impact of student-to-student interactions in intellectual development and leadership building; describes the successful strategies used by historically Black institutions with at-risk men; considers the role of parents in Black male students' lives, and the applicability of the 'millennial' label to the new cohort of African American students. The book offers new insights and concrete recommendations for policies and practices to provide the social and academic support for African American students to persist and fully benefit from their collegiate experience. It will be of value to student affairs personnel and faculty; constitutes a textbook for courses on student populations and their development; and provides a springboard for future research.

Author Biography

Terrel Lamont Strayhorn is Associate Professor of higher education and sociology and Special Assistant to the Provost at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Melvin Cleveland Terrell is Vice President Emeritus at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Foreword	p. xi
Introduction: The State of Empirical Research on African American Collegians	p. 1
Knowing God, Knowing Self: African American College Students and Spirituality	p. 9
Choosing College as a Life or Death Decision: First-Generation African American Women's Reflections on College Choice	p. 26
Buoyant Believers: Resilience, Self-Efficacy, and Academic Success of Low-Income African American Collegians	p. 49
Focusing on Achievement: African American Student Persistence in the Academy	p. 66
Triple Threat: Challenges and Supports of Black Gay Men at Predominantly White Campuses	p. 85
Challenges and Supports of Student-to-Student Interactions: Insights on African American Collegians	p. 104
"A Home Away From Home": Black Cultural Centers as Supportive Environments for African American Collegians at White Institutions	p. 122
The Uniqueness of an HBCU Environment: How a Supportive Campus Climate Promotes Student Success	p. 138
College-Bound Sons: Exploring Parental Influences on the Pre-Entry Attributes of African American Males	p. 161
Mentoring and African American Undergraduates' Perceptions of Academic Success	p. 179
New Directions for Future Research on African American Collegians	p. 201
About The Editors	p. 213
About The Contributors	p. 215
Index	p. 221
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