The relationship of academic performance and social support to graduation among African-American and White university students: A path-analytic model
✍ Scribed by Scott L. Hershberger; Anthony R. D'Augelli
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1992
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 762 KB
- Volume
- 20
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0090-4392
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The influence of perceived social support on differential graduation rates of African-American and White students at a predominantly White university was assessed through path analysis. In the path model, precollege academic performance, first-year college grade-point average (CGPA), and general adjustment variables were hypothesized to affect graduation. Although this initial model provided an adequate fit to the data, the direct path from social support to CGPA was not significant. In a revised model, only the influence of CGPA directly influenced graduation. Further research must be conducted to clarify the interaction of academic and social-behavioral variables in influencing graduation patterns.
Fewer African-American undergraduates complete their baccalaureate degree programs than White degree candidates even though increasing numbers of young African-American women and men attend college. The American Council on Education's most recent compilation of completion statistics finds 44% of African-American entrants to 4-year colleges completing degrees, compared to 54% of Whites (Carter &Wilson, 1991). Little consensus has emerged to account for these differences in degree attainment . Past research on the retention of African-American students in college until the completion of their degrees has differentiated between academic predictors such as high school grades, SAT scores and college grades, and a larger set of "noncognitive" variables (Nettles, Thoeny, & Gosman, 1986; Sedlacek, 1987). Tinto's (1975, 1982) model of retention, which has served as the conceptual basis for many investigations, distinguishes between academic and social integration in the college context. (See Pascarella, 1985, for a review of Tinto's model and its supporting research.) Astin (1982) found that academic preparation had the most powerful relationship to student success. The usefulness of standardized admissions test scores in predicting college academic performance has been recently reviewed by . Morgan found that for African-American students, high school grade-point average (GPA) and SAT scores significantly predicted college GPA, though less well than White students' GPAs were predicted. found the African-American students' college grades were lower than would be predicted by SAT scores, attributing the differential to lower satisfaction wtih college, difficulties in peer relationship due to minority status, and other disruptive factors.
In a similar analysis, Fleming (1990) argues that, in addition to standard academic indicators, contextual variablesin particular, the supportiveness of the college or university environmentmust also be considered in understanding the lower academic performance of African-American students. study as well as others' work