Ivy Archie |
Name: Ivy Archie
School: Tougaloo College Major: Psychology Mentor: Dr. Karen Christoff Expected Graduation Date: May 2010 Organizations & Honors:
COMMENTS:
|
ABSTRACT
The Perceptions, Social Lives, and Academic Motivation Levels of African American Students Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities or Traditionally White Institutions
| For the past twenty years, some researchers have investigated social and academic differences between African American students at HBCUs and TWIs. Research has found that HBCUs produce more black professionals, doctors and lawyers than do TWIs (Rodgers& Summers, 2008). Presumably, this is due to the relatively more supportive environments at HBCUs. Of interest in this investigation was the question of whether or not attendance at HBCUs vs TWIs affects the view African American students have of one another and the education they are receiving at their institutions. |
| Data was collected via anonymous self-report surveys distributed to African American students from both HBCUs and TWIs across the nation. These surveys tapped into a variety of social and academic variables. For example, students at HBCUs reported lower scores for their colleges’ reputation (F = 10.44; p = 0.004). On a scale of 1 to 10 with 1 valuing poor performance and 10 valuing very challenging, the mean rating for students attending HBCUs was 5.36. TWI students reported their colleges’ reputation as being higher (x=8.86). However, not many conclusions could be drawn because of the lack of significant findings. The findings from this study do suggest, however, perhaps there are few, if any, meaningful differences between African American students that choose to attend HBCUs and those that choose to go to TWIs. |