Loneliness among African American Students: Examining the transition from high school to the first semester of college
Public Deposited- Last Modified
- February 26, 2019
- Creator
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Ibe, Crystal
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
- Abstract
- African American students underperform and it is important to identify key factors in this process to help inform remediation efforts. Attempts to improve African American student academic performance should give greater attention to social-psychological factors driving experiences with educational environments that are in effect before students even enter college, particularly experiences of loneliness and racial disparity. A confidential email survey was sent to incoming African American students at a large southeastern university the summer before matriculation and then again after students completed their first semester. Responses were received from 203 students (74% female, 18-20 years old) on a number of well-validated surveys. Correlation analyses revealed that participants coming from high schools with a greater percentage of African American students joined more African American based groups in college. A marginal effect was found showing that having higher percentages of African American students in one’s high school are related longitudinally to higher levels of loneliness, after controlling for prior levels of loneliness. A significant effect was found demonstrating that higher percentages of African American students in one’s high school are related longitudinally to lower grade point averages. The results add to the growing body of research suggesting that African American students at predominately white institutions face additional social challenges to achievement. By identifying areas where African American students are being hindered psychologically, universities can then go own to further tailor retention efforts before students even enter a university and avoid increasing the racial achievement gap.
- Date of publication
- spring 2015
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- In Copyright
- Note
- Funding: UNC DoPUR grants funded by the Lindquist Undergraduate Research Fund
- Funding: Honors Undergraduate Research Fund
- Advisor
- Prinstein, Mitchell J.
- Degree
- Bachelor of Arts
- Honors level
- Honors
- Degree granting institution
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Extent
- 26
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