DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS

Damon Williams
(2002)

Cultural identity, student involvement, and academic achievement in three student of color populations.

Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, School of Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

ABSTRACT: This dissertation refined Tinto's model of "integration" and college student persistence, by specifically attending to the role of race and ethnicity as a potentially important component of the integration process for students of color.

The secondary analyses of data from a longitudinal study of students at a Research I University, examined the relationship between this refined model and student academic outcomes, defined as Persistence into the Senior Year and Cumulative Grade Point Average for Latino/a, Asian Pacific American and African American first-year students.

By applying bivariate and multivariate techniques to longitudinal data, this study explored how involvement in ethnic-specific experiences during the first-year of college, might suggest an alternative path to academic success for students of color.

Results of the dissertation both confirmed and extended major elements of Tinto's theory to explain the experience of students of color. Academic and social integration are important for academic achievement and persistence for students of color, similar to Tinto's original findings for White students. Integration into the academic and social values of the institution during the first year of college are important irrespective of ethnicity and race. Furthermore, this dissertation makes clear the important influence of faculty members in the integration process.

While supporting the integrationist theories that academic and social integration are important for the academic success of students of color, as well as white students, these findings tend to refute the assimilation argument, which suggests that a strong ethnic identity is problematic for persisting and remaining in college. For African Americans identity was positively related to both academic achievement and persistence.

In addition, this dissertation suggests that involvement in ethnic-specific organizations helped to shield African American students from the hostile effects of the campus climate. Surprisingly and in contrast to the findings of African American students, ethnic identity and ethnic-specific involvement were not connected to academic outcomes for Asian Pacific American students. This lack of finding suggests that APA identity is manifest in different ways and not connected to academic values and success in the same way as African Americans. Indeed, APA identity was expressed through ethnic-specific involvement.