African American Males Educational Success Factors

Abstract

Due to the recent call for educators to increase African American educational achievement (Butler, 2012; Toldson, Sutton, & Brown, 2012; Harris & Taylor, 2012), the authors sought to identify personal characteristics associated with African American male educational success. There appears to be little discussion about this group’s success in today’s academic literature (Harper, 2009b). Thirty high-achieving African American male undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 22 at an urban southeastern American university were surveyed. Participants completed Likert scale and open-response items regarding their success in college. The results suggest high achieving African-American males deem sources of inspiration, people, and financial incentives as important for educational success. Also, a significant difference was discovered between STEM (science, technology, engineering, or math) majors and non-STEM majors with regards to age, paternal relationship, and incentives (internal, external) to achieve goals. Implications for administrators and higher education were discussed.