Why I Stayed in School: An Examination of Factors Contributing to Undergraduate College Success in Underrepresented Minority Populations

Background and Purpose: Underrepresented minority students have the highest dropout rate among undergraduates which contributes to their overall poor health. Since earning a college degree is the most reliable factor to improve and ensure health and wellness over one’s lifetime, it is crucial to understand what keeps underrepresented minority students in school. There is very limited research evidence on why underrepresented minorities choose to stay in school and complete an undergraduate education. This paper aims to fill the gap in the literature by examining the main factors contributing to why underrepresented minorities successfully completed an undergraduate education. Specifically, this paper focuses on identifying the factors that lead to college success in three minority groups: (1) American Indian/Alaskan Native (2) African American (3) Hispanic/Latino.

Methods:   Fifty-four college graduates from across the United States responded to the following question: “Given the fact that underrepresented minority (American Indian/Alaskan Native; African American, Hispanic/Latino) students have such a high dropout rate from college, what was the main factor for you staying in college when you were an undergraduate student?” Participants were recruited for this study from October 2013 to February 2014 using a snowball sampling technique. The sample was comprised of 22 (41%) American Indians/Alaskan Natives, 19 (35%) African Americans, and 13 (24%) Hispanics/Latinos. Reponses to the question were coded independently in NVivo 10 by two researchers using a codebook that was tested for reliability. A thematic analysis was conducted to identify the main factors that participants identified as helping them stay in college.

Results: Data analysis revealed that each of the three underrepresented minority groups identified a variety of factors that they considered to be the main reason for them completing an undergraduate education. The majority of participants listed more than one main factor. For American Indians/Alaskan Natives participants, determination (27%) and emotional support of their parents (27%) were the two factors given by the majority of respondents. With regards to African-Americans, being the first in the family to attend college and wanting to break new educational ground for the family (47%) was listed at the main factor, For Hispanics/Latinos, having parents who stressed the importance of a college education (62%) was most often listed as the main factor for choosing to finish college. Across each of the three minority groups, determination to finish an undergraduate education was listed by a substantial portion of participants (27% American Indian/Alaskan Native; 37% African American; 38% Hispanic/Latino) as being a main factor for staying in college.

Conclusions and Implications: Findings highlight the need to deepen our understanding of the reasons why underrepresented minorities stay in college and complete their undergraduate education. By knowing the main factors that contribute to keeping these students in college, we can design stronger interventions to help these students succeed. Social workers must lead the way in developing best practices to ensure that those who suffer disproportionally have equal opportunities to benefit from obtaining a college degree which will ultimately lead to lifelong health.