Middle school African American males: educational goals, career aspirations and high school retention factors

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine educational and socio-cultural influences affecting the perception of African American middle school males about schooling, in general, their educational goals, career aspirations and motivations to continue school. Identifying and understanding the factors that influence their decision to continue their education, opt out (a free choice to discontinue their education), or drop out (occurs because of extenuating circumstances such as family problems and/or obligations, expulsion or poor academic performance) of the educational system is critical to improving the retention rate of this group. Face-to face interviews were conducted with 17 African American middle school students and the interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The interviews focused on 43 questions, which were divided into 10 areas: personal demographics, educational experiences and attitude, goals and aspirations, perception of peers' educational experiences and attitudes, experiences and perceptions of dropping out of school, reported child perceptions of parents' behavior and attitudes, perceptions of teachers' attitudes, school demographics, perceptions of school environment and school curriculum. From the resulting data, several themes emerged: (a) family structure, (b) parental employment and education, (c) positive parental support for education and (d) the students' own desire to continue their education. These themes helped me understand the direction African American males in middle school were taking.