The College Board, which has been taking quite an interest in issues related to students of color in recent years, issued a new report this week entitled “The Educational Experience of Young Men of Color: Capturing the Student Voice.” The report is based on a study involving more than 90 men of color hailing from nearly 40 different institutions throughout the country. The majority of the men are from the Northeast but significant numbers are also from the West and Southwest with a few from the Midwest and South. The study included a nice mix of Asian American, Latino, Black, and Native American men, with most of them attending either four-year public or four-year private institutions of higher education.
The authors focus on successful men of color, noting that there is much to be learned from their successes and that educators should share this knowledge with other men of color. Conveniently, the report is organized into three major sections: “Pressures of Life”; “Paths to Completion”; and “Webs of Support.” The authors make it even simpler for the reader by including sections within these three groups: “Roadblocks” and “Catalysts.”
You may wonder why I am telling you about the specific organization. I’m pointing it out because the organization is key—it is key to its use and it also promotes a “no excuses” attitude about improving the success of men of color. I like that!
Some of the roadblocks faced by these successful men of color were: family responsibilities, financial pressures, community and home situations, identity and cultural development, stereotypes, work, and avoidance of alcohol and drugs. Many of these young men, although college-aged, are faced with the pressures of adulthood, whereas the majority of their white male counterparts in four-year colleges and universities are not.
The authors found that many of these men of color put the needs of others before their own needs and that this practice often kept them in school and working hard. These men did not want to disappoint their families and friends.
Some of the catalysts for success experienced by these men of color included: tapping resources, immersing themselves in their own cultural heritage, joining social organizations, securing internships, and reaching out to others of their same race or ethnicity on campus.
One of the most interesting findings in the report, which is consistent with my own work as well as work by Robert Palmer (SUNY-Binghamton) and Shaun Harper (University of Pennsylvania), is that the peers of these men of color helped them to succeed. And, they, in turn, helped other men of color to succeed. For example, these men of color mentor other students, work to enroll more men of color in college, speak in local communities about college attainment, and often create organizations to bring about change for future students.
The College Board report ends with a call for institutions to move beyond the research and to start making some meaningful change on college campuses. It recommends the following:
1. Minimize the experience of ‘feeling like an outsider’ by recruiting a critical mass of men of color.
2. Elevate the importance of aid that addresses life issues to the same level as academic and financial aid.
3. Increase access and support for students who step off the pipeline, yet want to step back on.
4. Close the engagement gap (in terms of curriculum and learning) for better outcomes.
5. Increase the chances for getting help from campus resources.
6. Create a support culture of community, connection, and relationship building on campus.
The “Educational Experience of Young Men of Color” report is important, provocative, and offers many tangible and practical recommendations that can easily be adopted by colleges and universities throughout the country. No excuses! The stakes are too high!
