Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

King, Stephanie B.

Committee Member

Stumpf, Arthur D.

Committee Member

Davis, James E.

Committee Member

Wiseman, William M.

Date of Degree

5-7-2016

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Major

Community College Leadership

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

College of Education

Department

Department of Educational Leadership

Abstract

The number of African American males who are incarcerated is extremely high and alarming. African American males have the lowest attainment of associate degrees when compared to other ethnicities and to females. This places a monumental task on institutions of higher education, particularly community colleges, to enroll, retain, and graduate African American males. The purpose of this study was to examine the performance of an African American male initiative program at a small, rural community college in Mississippi. This study utilized a quantitative, cross-sectional research design to look at variables of Grade Point Average (GPA) and number of credits earned between African American male participants of the program and those who did not participate in the program over a period of six semesters. Results from this study showed a significant difference in number of credits earned between the students who participated in the program and those who did not, with non-participants earning an average of one to two credits more than participants. The study also showed that students who did not participate in the program had a slightly higher GPA than the students who did participate in the program for three out of the six semesters. This study enhances the ability for community college and university administrators to implement policies and best practices to engage African American male students.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/16556

Download

Share

COinS