UCLA

Since the late 1960s, the enrollment of African American students in higher education has steadily increased. Furthermore, the community college system and specifically the California community college system has seen the highest rise in the enrollment of African American students. Despite the rise in their numbers, African American male students who have relied on the California community college system as a conduit to a better life continue to have the lowest academic achievement outcomes and are the most likely to leave college. Although research shows that the persistence and academic achievement of college students is linked to the interactions they have with faculty and their peers, little is known about whether these relationships are also connected to the academic achievement of African American males attending California community colleges, nor is it understood how psychosocial factors influence the achievement. This dissertation built on a study conducted by Reid (2007) in which Tinto’s institutional integration theory (e.g., Tinto, 1993) was extended by assertion that African American males who are academically successful (and not just persistent) are also well integrated in the academic and social milieu of their college campuses. Reid’s study also hypothesized that their level of institutional integration which influenced their academic achievement was linked to their racial identity attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs.

The study employed a qualitative phenomenological approach in which twelve African American male students, who were recruited from one Southern California community college, were interviewed to learn about their educational experiences and perceptions. The goal of the study was to provide a voice to this student subgroup which continues to under-perform academically. The findings of the study highlight the importance of race, faculty connections and intrinsic motivation factors in reaching academic goals. The study provides recommendations, based on the findings, for educators, administrators and other community college stakeholders to better assist African American males attending community colleges in California to attain their educational goals.