Precious HardyMara

Aruguete

Ethnic Differences in Student Support at an HBCU

Lincoln University

of Missouri

What is the Problem?● The “achievement gap” in higher education

(Education Trust, 2005)● Black students are behind White students in:

● ACT (17 vs. 22; Jaschik, 2013) and SAT scores ● College enrollment● Undergraduate grades ● Earned degrees (20% vs. 40%; Reardon, 2014)

● Racial disparities are decreasing; income disparities are increasing (Toldson & McGee, 2014)

Number of Degrees by Ethnicity

*From: http://execwomeningov.org/the-rise-of-professional-women/

Earned Degrees by Ethnicity

From: http://execwomeningov.org/the-rise-of-professional-women/

What is the Result of the Problem?● Lower educational

achievement means:● less employment ● lower salaries● poorer health ● intergenerational

poverty● (Leach & Williams,

2014)

Pew Research Center www.pewsocialtrends.org

Why the Achievement Gap?1) “Acting White” (Fordham & Ogbu, 1986)

●Oppositional culture devalues academic success ● Evidence is low

● Black students have equal desire to go to college, are equally engaged, spend similar time on homework, etc. (Tyson et al., 2005)

● Smart kids: 1) cool, 2) normal, 3) weird, 4) boring, or 5) admired? (Toldson, 2013)

Why the Achievement Gap?2) Social Dominance Theory (Leach & Williams,

2007)● African Americans have subordinate group

status in which power and resources are low● Institutional Discrimination: Inferior schools =

inferior skills (Leach & Williams, 2007)● Personal Discrimination: Lowered expectations

(Biddle, 2001), Stereotype threat (Steele and Aronson, 1998)

Why the Achievement Gap?●Low Financial Status:

● Credit card debt, loan debt, and default risk (Jackson & Reynolds, 2013)

● Finances are a major predictor of attendance and attrition (Jiyun, et al., 2009)

● Working full-time (Newton, et al., 2013)

It’s Not a “Just World”● “Freedom and opportunity” myth allows us to

blame African Americans for their own disadvantage.

Needs Assessment● Is there a ethnic disparity in student needs?

● Useful in identifying the problem so you know exactly how to intervene

The Performance Pyramid

Support Systems

3. Motivation

4. Tools/Environment 5. Feedback 6. Self-Efficacy

2. Performance

1. Knowledge

Student Success

Modified from Wedman (2012)

Purpose● Study 1: Develop the Student Support

Needs Scale (SSNS) to identify the support needs of college students

● Study 2: Examine differing needs of African American and White students

Study 1: Methods● N = 300

● Convenience sample● 135 male, 161 female, 4 did not indicate gender● 132 Black, 143 White, 21 other ethnicity●Mean age = 22 (SD = 6.00)

● Survey● Demographics (inc. major, GPA, etc.)● 8 questions for each support system

● Scored on a 5-pt. scale

The Student Support Needs Scale (SSNS) ● 36 Items*, 6 subscales

1. Knowledge (6 items)2. Performance (6 items)3. Motivation (5 items)4. Tools/Environment (6 items)5. Feedback (10 items)6. Self Efficacy (3 items)

⦿Principle Components Analysis showed that these were six distinct support subscales

*12 original items eliminated

Reliability: Internal Consistency Scale or subscale # of Items Cronbach’s Alpha

Overall support 36 .90

Knowledge 6 .73

Performance 6 .76

Motivation 5 .79

Tools/Environment 6 .80

Feedback 10 .87

Self-Efficacy 3 .62

Validity: Correlations Between Support and Student Success

Student Performance Measure

Correlation with Overall Support

Cumulative GPA r = .17, p < .01

Major GPA r = .30, p < .01

Professor visits r = .18, p < .05

Classes missed r = -.21, p < .01

Lincoln University Students’ Support

Knowledge Performance Motivation Tools/En-vironment

Feedback Self Efficacy1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Mea

n Sc

ore

Study 2: Ethnic Differences in Student Support

● Does perceived student support mirror the “achievement gap” between African American and White students?

Study 2: Methods● N = 148

● Convenience sample from math classes● 62 male, 83 female, 3 did not indicate gender● 44 Black, 91 White, 11 other ethnicity● Mean age = 22 (SD = 6.28)

● Survey● 33-item SSNS

● Five subscales● Scored on a 5-pt. scale

Are There Perceived Ethnic Differences in Support Levels?

Black White3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Mea

n Kn

owle

dge

(Pre

para

tion;

Sca

le =

1-

5)

p = .05

Black and White Students Have Similar Support Needs

Black White1

1.9

2.8

3.7

4.6

5.5

PerformanceMotivationEnvironmentFeedback

Mea

n Sc

ore

(sca

le =

1-5

)

No significant differences in ethnicity

Discussion● The Student Support

Needs Scale (SSNS) can be used to identify the support needs of college students

● The SSNS can also be used to design interventions aimed at improving academic programs

Performance Issues● We know that Performance is the biggest

problem at LU● Full-time work, family responsibilities● True for both African American and White students

● Possible interventions aimed at increasing Performance● Daily online testing (Pennebaker et al., 2013)● Helping students to apply for

scholarships/financial aid to minimize work responsibilities

● Increasing minimum wage● Increasing need-based student aid

Knowledge Issues● Inferior schools =

Inferior skill set● African American

students report being marginally lower in Knowledge (academic preparation)

● Effective ways to close the education gap ● Desegregation in public

schools (Kirp, 2010)● Bridge programs (Maton,

2012)

Closing the Achievement Gap● Are students maximizing the skills they have?

● Addressing college adjustment in low income students● Showing successful models (Stephan, et al., 2014)

● Addressing beliefs like intelligence is fixed and out of personal control (Rheinschmidt & Mendoza, 2014)

● Are educators minimizing stereotypes?● Do some students feel like outsiders on campus (Fulwood,

2012)? ● Emphasizing self-discipline/work ethic

● A better predictor of GPA than IQ (Kirp, 2010)● Monitoring progress closely (mentoring, early

alert; Schmidt, 2007)

In Conclusion● Recognizing that these effects of social

inequality are real and undeniable● Keeping the “Just World Hypothesis” in check● At the same time, keeping fatalism in check

● Looking at perceived student needs is one way of assessing individual and institutional factors