Assessing Minority Students' Perceptions and Attrition at a Predominantly White Institution

• Main Author: Tiapo, Bernadette S.N.
• Format: Others
• Published: North Dakota State University 2017
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10365/26629

The enrollment, retention, persistence, and overall college experience of minority students are topical issues in colleges and universities, and even more so in predominantly White institutions (PWIs) where minority students encounter difficulties adjusting to the campus environment (Bennett & Okinaka, 1989; Jay & D'Augelli, 1991). This study employed a mixed method that used institutional data to investigate changes in minority students' attrition patterns, as well as the sensitivity to demographic characteristics, at a PWI that has conducted campus climate (CC) studies and progressively implemented survey recommendations (CCSRs). On-line survey data and information from focus group interviews were also used to analyze students' perception of CC at the PWI, and the sensitivity of perceptions to students' demographic characteristics. There was no significant impact on minority students' overall attrition pattern following the implementation of CCSRs at the PWI; however, male minority students were more likely, than their female peers, not to attrite following CCSRs implementation - in contrast to recent evidence on gender-specific attrition patterns. Although minority students were generally aware and appreciative of efforts to enhance CC at the PWI, their perceptions were strongly unfavorable for three critical CC-related variables - level of diversity, level of inclusion in the decision-making process, and minority students' feeling of obligation to prove self in the classroom. Overall, minority students' gender and class were critical variables in their perception of different CC-related issues, with implications in the design of CC-related efforts at the PWI as well as for further studies. The findings underscore the importance for PWIs to match commitments with actions on CC-related issues.