THE INFLUENCE OF BLACK GREEK MEMBERSHIP ON THE ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE STUDENTS

Author

Cedric D. Shelby

ORCID Identifier(s)

0000-0002-6424-7219

Graduation Semester and Year

2021

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Department

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

First Advisor

Catherine Robert

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the experiences of Black male students who are members of Black Greek Letter Fraternities (BGLF) while attending a large institution. This study examines the academic practices of the fraternity members, and the effects fraternity membership has on their academic progress. For this study, four Black male undergraduate fraternity members and five graduates shared stories of their undergraduate experiences and how being in a fraternity impacted their academic progress. Semi-structured questions were used during the interviews to explore the student’s academic engagement and they focused on the following research question: 1. How does membership in a BGLF contribute to persistence at a large institution? Findings reveal that there is evidence that Black Greek membership has a positive effect on the academic engagement of its members. Participants indicated that membership in their Greek fraternity, had a positive impact on their academic engagement while in college. This narrative study examined the relationship between membership in a BGLF and the overall academic experiences of African American male college students attending a large institution. The findings from this study can be used to develop programs for students in their first year of college to help foster a sense of belonging that may lead to increased retention, persistence and increased graduation rates for students who may struggle early on. These programs can be designed to fit a number of different demographics.

Keywords

Persistence, African American male academic engagement

Disciplines

Education | Educational Leadership

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

Recommended Citation

Shelby, Cedric D., "THE INFLUENCE OF BLACK GREEK MEMBERSHIP ON THE ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE STUDENTS" (2021). Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations. 138.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/edleadershippolicy_dissertations/138