The Community College Experience of Black Male Achievers: Participation in Black Male Initiatives (BMIs)
Open AccessCountless Black men across the nation have chosen to make the most of their community college education, experiencing success inside and outside the classroom. Contrary to the deficit messages that largely characterize Black male collegians as academically underprepared and even unfit for college, there are many Black male achievers with impressive records of academic achievement, leadership, and service. In response to inequities and to maximize opportunities for student success, many institutions of higher education have implemented programs and policies to address the opportunity and education gap experienced by Black male students. Such efforts include Black Male Initiatives (BMIs), which are informed by both empirical research on student success and the lived experiences of successful Black male students. The research literature indicates that social and academic integration experiences and support mechanisms and structures (e.g., mentoring programs) have a positive impact on student retention and achievement (Wood, 2012). Therefore, a study providing further understanding of how successful Black male students describe and make meaning of their community college experiences, specifically as they relate to membership in a BMI becomes critically important. This interpretive qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews to investigate the experiences of eleven Black males who graduated from two large, multi-campus, community colleges in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern regions of the United States. Wood and Harris’s (2014) five domains of Black male student success in community colleges provided a conceptual framework to investigate how participants made meaning of their community college experiences as members of a Black Male Initiative (BMI).The findings of this study suggest that study participants had positive community college experiences and that a meaningful connection to the institution is essential to achievement for Black male community college students. Further, their membership in a BMI assisted them with identity development, adapting to a new environment, bonding with faculty, accessing student support services and campus resources, navigating life as a community college student, and ultimately achieving their educational goals. Overall, their BMI experiences were described as positive, inspiring, memorable, affirming, and empowering. The study findings have implications for higher education researchers and policy makers and can be used to inform BMI program design, resource allocation, and professional development. Finally, the findings emphasize the importance of institutions creating a supportive environment where Black males are welcomed and provided what they need to persist, stay engaged, and succeed academically.
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