Singing in a Foreign Land: An Exploratory Study of Gospel Choir Participation Among African American Undergraduates at a Predominantly White Institution

2011 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terrell L. Strayhorn
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Predominantly White ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Predominantly White Institution ◽  
White Institution ◽  
Foreign Land ◽  
Gospel Choir

scholarly journals Winning when the odds are against you : a narrative inquiry of African American female persistence at a predominantly white university

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Christine M. Woods
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Predominantly White ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Black Female ◽  
African American Female ◽  
Predominantly White Institution ◽  
Predominantly White University ◽  
White Institution ◽  
Persistence Toward Graduation

African American females are enrolling and graduating college at increasing rates and outpacing their male counterparts to graduation. While their graduation rates increase, narratives of their journeys to and through college are sparse in the literature. This qualitative study examines the narratives of persistence of 10 Black female undergraduates enrolled at a Mid-Western Predominantly White Institution (PWI). Through the lenses of Crenshaw's intersectionality and Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, this study explores factors that impede or promote persistence through the socio-environmental contexts of Black female undergraduates' journeys to and through a PWI. Using a semi-structured interview protocol, participants share stories of persistence beginning from childhood. Interview data underscore family context, faith, and issues of race, gender, and class as influential factors of persistence toward graduation at a PWI. Implications for practice and research are presented, and recommendations for administrators and practitioners are offered.

scholarly journals African American Student Persistence at a Predominantly White Institution

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Bourke ◽  
Nathaniel Bray
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Predominantly White ◽  
African American Students ◽  
Institutional Factors ◽  
African American Student ◽  
State University ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Predominantly White Institution ◽  
American Students ◽  
White Institution

Persistence in college among African American students continues to remain low compared to persistence among White students. Often, the focus in examining this issue has been on institution-wide retention efforts, which can ignore socio-cultural elements that can influence the decisions of individual students to persist at an institution; however, persistence may rely on a combination of institutional factors and socio-cultural elements. The purpose of this article is to present findings from a research project that highlight institutional factors and socio-cultural elements that influence the persistence of African American students at a predominantly White institution. The findings from focus groups with African American students suggest that they persist despite a “cold” campus climate and ongoing experiences with racism and prejudice at Southern State University [pseudonym].

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