Black Males

The purpose of this paper is to explore the policies, practices and procedures of inclusion across three universities in the San Francisco Bay Area: Stanford University, the University of San Francisco, and the University of California at Berkeley. Using a rubric which measures inclusion based on a three point set of criteria (equity, sustainability, and mission-alignment), the authors analyzed four common statements in which inclusion policies for traditionally marginalized students and students of color are contained: university mission statement, diversity program mission statement, diversity statement, and values/goals statements. The analysis revealed that although the values/goals statements align with the missions of the three institutions analyzed, there is often incongruence between the diversity program mission and diversity statements and the missions of the universities. This tension reflects the practice of institutions of higher education to draft policies that reflect...

Oklahoma has created a framework for institutions of higher learning-specifically predominantly white, metropolitan institutions-that could be implemented to combat the social and cultural barriers that African-American males encounter during or before their college experience. Using Critical Race Theory and Dr. Shaun Harper's anti-deficit framework as the theoretical structure for the Black Male Initiative program, this manuscript will further report the planning for the program, illustrate the significance of recruiting, retaining and graduating Black males and the transformative implications of African-American male success.

Teacher-provided research mentorship is essential for developing students' scholarly abilities. However, limited training results in skill gaps, presenting challenges for educators guiding student projects. This phenomenological study aimed to elucidate how teachers independently strengthen mentorship capacities when formal development opportunities are scarce. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight secondary school teachers actively engaged in mentoring. Data analysis identified four key themes on self-directed skill improvement strategies: pursuing professional development, building collaborative partnerships, engaging in self-learning, and adapting approaches. Findings provide insights into teachers' intrinsic motivation to address competency deficiencies without structured training. Participants demonstrated commitment through informal learning channels like conferences, reading, collaborations, and reflective adjustments. The study offers a conceptual model to inform training interventions and communities promoting sustainable mentorship growth. By highlighting informal pathways, it furthers understanding of how teachers continuously cultivate expertise and advance student support amidst constraints. Ultimately, this suggests the importance of facilitating professional empowerment for optimized research learning.

This qualitative study explored how Black men made sense of their college years. Specifically, using Museus’s (2014) culturally engaging campus environments model as the study’s framework, I analyzed 41 Black men’s experiences in and perceptions of the campus environment at two different Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs). Findings revealed that the HSI campus environment can play a critical role in enhancing Black men’s college experiences by providing an enriching campus environment that helps meet students’ academic, cultural, social, and relational needs. While students credited the campus culture and student diversity as important aspects that initially attracted them to their respective institutions, they also used their agency to identify and seek out meaningful, culturally engaging opportunities within the campus environment. Most prominently, the cultural relevance of diverse and affirming programming, learning, and peer relationships, along with the cultural responsiveness of institutional agents’ praxis through mentorship, guidance, and teaching, helped the men feel valued and validated and reflected a commitment to these Black men. Being enmeshed in a culturally engaging environment not only helps meet the diverse needs of Black men collegians, but it also contributes to their belonging, persistence, and success in college.

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to understand experiences of Black males who successfully graduated from a northeast Hispanic serving community college (HSCC). The local model of successful minority students (LMSMS) was used as the conceptual framework for this study. There were two groups of participants, Black males who participated in a minority male initiative program and Black males who did not. The findings revealed that: 1) Black males at the HSCC faced both internal and external barriers that impeded their persistence to graduation, 2) Black male student engagement with similar peers and in cohort programs improved persistence and graduation, 3) Black males who created an internal “family” that encompassed faculty, peers, and staff at the institution were able to persist to graduation, 4) the lack of organization at the institution was a discouragement that Black males had to overcome to successfully persist to graduation.

This research analyzes how Black men understand and make sense of their college experiences through their racialized and gendered identities and the campus climate. In-depth interviews with 105 Black men attending 5 different institutions, including three historically White institutions (HWIs) and two Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), reveal how they are accosted by Black misandry on a continual and routine basis during their college years. Based on students’ narratives, I find that Black misandry renders Black men as undeserving and unworthy, which is predicated on their seeming nothingness and nonbeing. Students cite being unseen and misperceived, acknowledge various ways that they are subjected to hyper-surveillance on campus, and discuss differential treatment. Given the ways that they are troubled and challenged on campus, the students describe what can be considered as daily battles of Black misandry—a specific form of gendered racism that creates seemingly daily phenomena that require them to prove their worth and being. Such efforts, including the emotional and psychological labor that they must enact, inform how they make sense of and navigate the campus ethos at HWIs and HSIs alike. Findings are presented across two main themes: (1) always already facing deficits and (2) dispositions and responses to anti-Blackness and Black misandry. These themes reveal a near consistency of Black misandry across both institutional types and inform the coping strategies that Black men employ in order to pursue their educational goals and keep their humanity intact.

This chapter illuminates a critical, often overlooked aspect of mental health, social determinants affecting Black men. While mental health is a universal concern, the unique experiences and challenges of Black men require specific attention. The authors dissect the complex web of social determinants shaping Black men's mental health, including historical legacies of racism and discrimination, intersectionality, and structural factors like healthcare access, education, employment, and housing. Cultural influences and family dynamics are explored alongside the resilience within Black communities. This chapter confronts the stigma surrounding mental health in Black communities and addresses multifaceted barriers to care. It showcases community-based interventions and effective, culturally sensitive, mental health promotion models while discussing policy recommendations and advocacy for equitable mental health outcomes.

Studies suggest that religion is a protective factor for substance misuse and mental health concerns among Black/African American youth despite reported declines in their religious involvement. However, few studies have investigated the associations among religion, substance misuse, and mental health among Black youth. Informed by Critical Race Theory, we evaluated the correlations between gender, depression, substance misuse, and unprotected sex on mental health. Using multiple linear regression, we assessed self-reported measures of drug use and sex, condom use, belief in God, and religiosity on mental health among a sample of Black youth (N = 638) living in a large midwestern city. Results indicated drug use, and sex while on drugs and alcohol, were significant and positively associated with mental health symptoms. Belief in God was negatively associated with having sex while on drugs and alcohol. The study’s findings suggest that despite the many structural inequalities that Bla...

Background/ContextOver the last three decades, considerable attention has been given to the social and educational conditions of Black males. Such observations have led to the accusation that Black males are “in crisis.” Although such pronouncements call national attention to the needs of Black males, these discourses have helped to normalize and fasten in place an unchanging and reworked narrative for discussing or addressing the conditions of Black males. The intent of this article is to show how, for numerous decades, both the findings and theories used to make sense of Black males within the social science and education literature have helped to produce a common-sense narrative about all Black males.Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of StudyThe purpose of this article is to trouble historical and contemporary beliefs about Black males and to help prompt new theories, research, and interventions that account for the complex needs of Black males’ lives. This article histor...

THE ROLE OF MINDFULNESS AS A BUFFER AGAINST PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEN Thomas E. Owens Ram A. Cnaan, Ph.D., Dissertation Chair The purpose of this qualitative study is to seek knowledge from African American men who have practiced mindfulness meditation (or yoga or transcendental meditation) on a regular basis and to ascertain if they were able to buffer the emotional, mental and social impact of psychosocial stressors due to the use of this practice. It will also be determined, by their shared retrospective experiences, if and how they managed to achieve a level of well-being, which may have enabled them to be active, connected and positive contributors in their respective communities. Between the months of April to June 2016, fourteen African American men consented to participate in the research study. The ages of the participants ranged from 27 to 61. Eight of the participants completed an eightweek Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course either at th...

The purpose of this study was to investigate achievement factors of African American males on a college campus in the state of Texas, primarily a private 4-year college that serves a predominantly African American student population. The researcher used a case study approach to determine factors that affect the persistence of these college-aged men. A major goal of this study was to monitor a group of participants as they spoke about factors of persistence, family life, educational strides, stereotypes, perseverance, and resilience that might have aided their motivation to achieve academically. The researcher conducted a series of open-ended interviews that were 30 to 45 minutes in length. Individuals participated in one to three interview sessions based on their availability to answer the interview questions during each session. An interview guide included open-ended questions that were used to capture participant feedback for data analysis. Findings may begin to drive new approaches to studying African American males in college and increase awareness to support the efforts of these students. While this one study may
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not change policy, it sought to point leaders in this direction as a snapshot of one group was revealed. After reviewing the data from these African American male students, several themes resonated with the researcher as they constantly affected and went against findings of previous literature for this demographic. The young men in this study took what was given to them and became responsible for the paths they chose to manifest and fulfill each of their destinies.

While much is known about how Black students negotiate and navigate undergraduate studies, there is a dearth of research on what happens when these students enter graduate school. This article presents the results of a study of 21 Black male graduate students in engineering from one highly ranked research-intensive institution. This article provides evidence of structurally racialized policies within the engineering college (e.g., admissions) and racialized and gendered interactions with peers and advisors that threaten Black males’ persistence in engineering. We argue for taking an anti-deficit approach to understanding Black males’ persistence in engineering. We conclude with implications for policy, practice, and research that could further improve the scholarship and experiences of Black males in engineering graduate programs.

In spite of an expanding enrollment of African American males in community colleges in the United States, the early departure of this minority group is one of concern. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore African American males’ identification of the factors that contributed to their persistence at community colleges. Data were collected through structured interviews with 7 African American male community college graduates who were enrolled at a 4-year university when the study was conducted. Data were analyzed through by coding and categorizing in order to determine themes. Social integration and social cognitive models were used to obtain an understanding of the factors that allowed these students to persist in their studies and obtain their associate degree. With this study, the researcher aimed at creating a mental picture of African American male students who have completed an associate degree by identifying the factors that African American males perceived cont...

This article's primary interest is an exploration of the complexities of educational and social conditions encountered by African American males in public schools. It focuses on the ability and effectiveness of comprehensive school reform to overcome the barriers to learning that hinder the urban Black male student, such as concentrated poverty, drug use, and violence. Current trends in comprehensive school reform tend to overlook the importance of cultural relevancy and student/teacher cultural synchronization in educating Black males. As such, this article argues that efforts for the reform of policy and practice be conjoined with the recruitment of educators and school staff. Specifically, this article addresses the effectiveness of recruiting well-educated African American male teachers to teach in schools with large populations of African American male students.

The study presents an analysis of student papers at the end of a problem-based course designed to create an active learning environment and encourage a deep approach to learning. It explores the achievement and participation characteristics of students claiming to have “learned nothing” and suggests the impact of student resistance.

The focus of the present study is whether student engagement as measured at the class level via the Classroom Level Survey of Student Engagement (CLASSE) is associated with higher levels of student satisfaction. To do so, we administered the CLASSE survey to 370 first-year, sophomore, junior, and senior students across nine classrooms. There were no statistically significant relationships between student engagement and overall satisfaction. When analyzed with student responses to questions about their satisfaction in the classroom, we found no variation in student satisfaction by race, gender, or class level. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The constant dehumanization of Black fathers and boys in the media, education, politics, pop culture, and society is traumatic. Deficit perspectives and a racialized political climate often negatively portray the moral, familial, and relational practices that Black fathers and boys engage in with their family members in their homes. Using humanizing research as a framework, we found how photo-elicitation interviews (PEIs) from two separate qualitative studies of a 39-year-old father and a 13-year-old boy helped to evoke deeper meaning and discussions of images of Black men and boys engaging in familial practices and reflecting on school-related events. We argue that humanizing images, especially of Black fathers and boys, can decolonize methodologies between the researcher and participant and provide a complex and unique understanding of Black fathers and boys in educational research. We offer suggestions for using PEI to influence research to build relation- ships and humanize participants’ stories and lives.

There is an apex to each day, a climax, where a decision is made, and a falling action is the result of that decision. Recommendations to combat the never-ending struggle of my invisibility are derived from culturally relevant and culturally responsive frameworks, resiliency frameworks, and ethical caring frameworks. Without systemic reform in local educational settings that includes local teachers, administrators, parents, and students providing new conceptual frameworks for learner and teacher efficacy, the African American male learner will persistently encounter crucial conflicts throughout the School to Prison pipeline while entering a space that has been rendered invisible due to the focus on policy that perpetuates the pipeline. This essay shows that every day when African American boys enter the pipeline, we are faced with two distinct conflicts--Man vs. Man and Man vs. Self--as we navigate an invisible space, compliant ambiguity.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the orientation and transitional experiences of Black undergraduate students at Metropolitan State University (MSU, pseudonym) an urban, public research university in the southeastern region of the United States. MSU is a unique research site for this study, as Black students’ six-year graduation rates equal that of White students. Using sense of belonging as a conceptual framework, the research team collected data from 28 participants in seven focus groups throughout the 2018-2019 academic year.  Findings revealed that participants experienced disparate orientation and transitional experiences, as well as a poor racial climate throughout their time at MSU.  Specifically, participants noted a shortage of Black faculty, limited Black cultural programming, and a need for identity-based space. Among working with campus partners to improve the racial climate, implications for orientation professionals include recruiting professio...

For far too long, schools have been violent places where Black girls are often adultified, overdisciplined, and overlooked. In school science and mathematics specifically, Black girls have been isolated, tokenized, and made to feel invisible. This qualitative study leveraged the Multidimensionality of Black Girls’ STEM Learning conceptual framework to explore the roles of two Black women middle school science and mathematics teachers on the STEM learning experiences of 12 Black girls who live in the U.S. Midwest and how the girls engage with culturally relevant lessons in an afterschool program—SISTERHOOD I AM STEM. Data sources included a demographic questionnaire, program artifacts, and semi-structured transformative dialogic interviews with student and teacher participants. Findings revealed the significance and benefits of single-gender STEM learning environments for Black girls who struggle to connect with school and the role of Black women teachers in creating safe spaces for ...

Academic identity refers to the extent to which one identifies or defines the self in terms of academic-related experiences and can motivate one to engage or disengage from school. Most research on the academic identity of African American students has focused on adolescents; high school students in particular. The primary concern has been academic dis-engagement as an explanation of low African American academic achievement relative to other racial and ethnic groups, white students specifically; the "achievement gap." As a result, relatively little is known about the subjectively experienced academic identity of African American elementary-aged students: How do they make sense of and understand the student role and what does being "smart" mean to them? Data were drawn from two third grade classes at an African American k-5 charter school on the campus of a prominent HBCU in a small town in the Deep South. Aligning with, yet extending in important ways, the thirt...