Executive Brief: College Males

America considers education an inalienable right that each human being, no matter the race, creed, or ethnicity should be afforded; not a privilege that only a select few are privy to. America not only believes that all individuals have a right to an education, but a quality education that allows people to have the greatest opportunities made available, and adequately contribute economically, educationally, and socially, to the fabric of society. While most Americans are steadfast about educational opportunities and equities, many American children are not receiving the quality education this country believes they deserve, specifically marginalized children of color, such as African American, Asian, and Latino males.

         Minority males who make the critical decision to attend a higher education or postsecondary institution, despite their lack of academic preparation and low-motivation, confront many unique challenges that are not experienced by other groups on campus, including financial barriers, minimal resources, a numeric minority on campus, and a mere lack of knowledge of the higher education process. They graduate from high school and attend and complete college at disproportionately low rates. Even many of those at well-to-do suburban schools emerge unprepared for college-level work. This is most salient at predominantly white institutions (PWI).

African American Males

·    Fewer than a third of black men who enter four-year colleges as freshmen graduate within six years, the lowest six-year graduation rate among all racial and ethnic groups (Schmidt, 2008).

·    In 1994, at each degree level—associate, bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and first-professional—black men, compared to women, represent a lower proportion of their ethnic population receiving degrees than do Asians, Hispanics, or Native Americans (National Center for Education Statistics, 1996).

·    Recent reports suggest that only 26% of Blacks complete postsecondary degrees – with the percentage even lower for men (Quillen, 2010).

·    Among the more than fourteen million students enrolled in American colleges and universities in 1994, black men have the lowest male-to-female proportion when compared to all other ethnic groups.

·    Only 38 percent of black students are male; corresponding percentages for the male segment of other ethnic groups are 49 percent for Asians, 44 percent for Hispanics, 42 percent for Native Americans, and 45 percent for whites

·    Compared to that of whites, the college entry rate of black men has fallen since the late 1970s, being 20 percentage points lower than that of white men in 1988.

·    Among those African American men who do make it to college, a significant portion of the group are burdened with what can be generally characterized as an “underpreparedness” for the academic challenges of postsecondary education. This stems from a number of conditions: attending academically poorer elementary and secondary schools, lowered expectations of peers and significant adults toward academic achievement, peer pressure to disdain educational accomplishments and education as an outcome, financial hardships limiting educational access, lack of appropriate role models, and other barriers owing to racism.

Latino Males

·     In the last two years, 14% of the U.S. population identified as Hispanic, making this group of 42.7 million people the largest ethnic or racial minority in the United States (DiMaria, 2006).

·    Of these individuals, 64% are of Mexican descent; males outnumber females and, as a group, earn the lowest U.S. household income (DiMaria).

·     In 2004, 1.8 million Hispanic students enrolled in degree-granting institutions (Santiago & Brown, 2004), yet as a whole, Latinos remain “undereducated relative to the total population” (Hurtado & Gauvain, 1997, p. 506).

·    The college graduation rate for Hispanic students is the lowest of any ethnic minority group in the U. S. (Swail, Redd, & Perna, 2003).

·    The proportion of Latina/os graduating from college has not improved since 1990, despite improving rates for both Whites and Blacks (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2003).

·    Latino males, in particular, are underrepresented in institutions of higher education compared with their Latina counterparts (NCES, 2003), with Latinos earning fewer bachelor’s degrees (6.0%) than Latinas (6.7%; NCES, 2003).

·    From 1974 to 2003, 18- to 24-year-old White and African American males and females and Latinas increased their postsecondary education matriculation rates.

·    Male Latinos were the only group whose participation declined from approximately 27% to 22% (NCES, 2005). Given male Latinos’ lack of educational progress over the past

Asian Males

·    The contemporary image of Asian Americans is that of a highly successful minority who have overcome their ethnic handicap.

·    The notion that Asians experience few difficulties in society is reinforced by low official rates of juvenile delinquency by low rates of psychiatric contact and hospitalization by high academic achievement and by relatively high educational attainment (U.S. Census, 1960).

·    These facts seem ironic in light of the massive discrimination which has historically been directed at Asians.

·    Denied the rights of citizenship, denied ownership of land, assaulted, murdered, and placed in concentration camps during World War 11, Asians in America have at one time or another been subjected to the most appalling forms of discrimination ever perpetrated against any immigrant group.

·    There is now widespread recognition that, apart from being tourist attractions, Chinatowns in San Francisco and New York represent ghetto areas with prevalent unemployment, poverty, health problems, and juvenile delinquency.

·    People outside these communities seldom see the deplorable social conditions which exist behind the bright neon lights, restaurants, and quaint shops.

·    Asian American students are generally seen by educators, pupil personnel workers, and counselors as ideal students (quiet, obedient, studious, industrious, etc.) who are good in physical sciences but poor in people relationships.

The dominant personality characteristics exhibited by Asian American college males-such as the avoidance of abstract theoretical approaches, low tolerance for ambiguity, liking for structure, and the tendency to evaluate ideas on the basis of immediate practical applications-seem related to cultural patterns stressing well-defined role expectations, formality in interpersonal relations, adherence to family traditions, and familial emphasis on pragmatism.