Management

The Retention Rate of African American Males Attaining Bachelor's Degrees

Introduction

Even though retention rates are different for every field, in education, they refer to the percentage of students out of a group who continue to a subsequent year of study at the same educational institute. In a four year academic program, it refers to the percentage of students continuing from their freshman year in the fall season going on to their sophomore year (NCES, n.d.).

Student retention basically tells about the satisfaction of students enrolled in a program; the higher the rate, the better the ranking of the university, and the heavier the likelihood for students completing and finally graduating. As published in the findings of the 2008 report of Retention Oversight Group, the retention rate of African American students was lesser than that of any other ethnic group (Retention Oversight Group, 2008). However, it also established that race does not happen to be one of those factors influencing retention rates. A finding in the October 2012 report of the Ohio State University also reveals that there was a considerable ratio of African American students not returning to the sophomore year after their freshman year, between 2005 and 2011 (Ohio University, 2012). The report by (Mathews, 1958) leads to an interesting insight that this low retention trend is particularly higher in African American male students. The report by (Roach, 2007) also leads to a similar conclusion.

All the above mentioned sources lead us to the premise that there are some factors leading to such low retention rates in African American male students. This research paper aims to analyze the factors that are causing lower retention and identify current trends and developments related to the said issue.

Discussion

Evidence of lower retention of African American male students in bachelor's programs

The Final Report by the Retention Oversight Group given in 2008 came up with a number of findings, one of which disclosed that even though there was not a cause-and-effect relationship between the ethnic group and persistent lower retention rates, African American students' retention rates were in fact lower as compared to other ethnic groups. However, the report clearly stated that the retention rates were not influenced by ethnic groups (Retention Oversight Group, 2008).

The 2008 report by the Ohio University showed the changing pattern in the African American male students' retention rates. From 76% in 2005 it went on to rise up to 82% in 2010. Table 3 of the report also revealed that males were more prone to quitting than females, and 55% of African American students above a GPA of 2.00 quit, which was the highest number after white or Caucasian students.

The 1958 report by Kenneth Mathews explored the reasons behind the persistence of minority students, particularly those who are underrepresented, like African Americans. The reason was primarily to understand the dropout ratio amongst these groups. HBCU's (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and PBI (Predominantly Black Institutions) were accessed and analyzed for gathering the necessary data. The retention rate identified in the report for African American ...