Balancing accountability for persistence unto graduation: Perspectives of African-American male undergraduate students on mentoring, self-determination, and locus of control
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine African-American undergraduate male students' decision to persist to graduation when considering mentoring, self-determination, and locus of control with respect to institution type: (a) public historically black college or university (HBCU), (b) private historically black college or university (HBCU), and (c) public predominantly White institution (PWI). In this study, a quantitative survey-based research design was used to explore. A sample of 385 African-American undergraduate male students from a private HBCU, a public HBCU, and a PWI in Middle Tennessee were examined. Chi-Square Tests for Independence were used to compare differences in perceptions of the three factors on the Hodge Mentoring, Self-Determination, and Locus of Control Survey: Mentoring, Self-Determination, and Locus of Control among three institution types: public HBCU, private HBC, and public PWI. The Chi-square analysis revealed that students attending predominantly black institutions had more favorable perceptions of self-determination as a persistence factor than students attending a predominantly White institution. A logistic regression was performed to determine the effect of mentoring, self-determination, and locus of control on the intent to persist to graduation. A significant regression equation was found. The findings suggest that of the three predictor variables, mentoring was the only variable that showed significant predictive ability based on a significance level of p < .05. Further research should involve the examination of institutional characteristics that influence positive perceptions of mentoring, self-determination, and locus of control as persistence and success factors as well as empirical studies on these factors. Additionally, replication of the study in different types of institutions, use of focus groups, and perspectives of administrators and faculty are recommended.
Subject Area
Higher Education Administration|Educational leadership|School administration
Recommended Citation
Damien M. Hodge,
"Balancing accountability for persistence unto graduation: Perspectives of African-American male undergraduate students on mentoring, self-determination, and locus of control"
(2014).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI3683229.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3683229