Black students’ perceptions of the institutional context and associations with belonging and persistence at a southeastern MSI
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Domonique A. Edwards (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Andrea Hunter
Abstract: Black students represent about 13% of the students who enroll in higher education and only 27% graduate within four years (NCES, 2021). Given national enrollment rates are declining, (NCES, 2022) higher education leaders face rising pressures to ensure the students who do enroll continue to matriculate toward graduation. Guided by a proposed integrative model of student experiences of embedded context in higher education, this study examined if there are distinct profiles of Black students’ perceptions of UNCG’s institutional context. Additionally, this study explored whether student characteristics were associated with emergent context profiles and how emergent context profiles were associated with students’ sense of belonging to UNCG and persistence toward graduation. Using a person-centered approach, this investigation revealed four distinct context profiles that were characterized by the extent to which students’ perceived UNCG’s institutional context as culturally engaging and welcoming versus culturally unengaging and discriminatory. Students’ college generation status, off-campus employment, living arrangements, and undergraduate year were all significantly associated with their likelihood of being classified in one context profile compared to another. additionally, context profiles were significantly associated with students’ sense of belonging but not their persistence toward graduation. Findings suggest Black students at UNCG are embedded in different types of interpersonal context within the institution, but the majority perceive a positive campus environment with respect to their cultural background. Findings also suggest that although UNCG successfully cultivated a culturally engaging and welcoming context for most Black students, there are specific groups within the Black student population in which additional institutional efforts are needed. The results provide support for the importance of several institutional factors that are linked to students’ sense of belonging.
Black students’ perceptions of the institutional context and associations with belonging and persistence at a southeastern MSI
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Created on 5/1/2023
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Dissertation
- Language: English
- Date: 2023
- Keywords
- Black college students, Campus climate, College persistence, Minority serving institutions, Sense of belonging
- Subjects
- College students, Black $x Attitudes
- Belonging (Social psychology)
- College environment