African American males’ education success factors

Due to the recent call for educators to increase African American educational achievement (Butler, 2012; Toldson, Sutton, & Brown, 2012; Harris & Taylor, 2012), the authors sought to identify personal characteristics and other factors associated with African American male educational success. There appears to be little discussion about this group's success in today's academic literature (Harper, 2009b). Thirty highachieving African American male undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 22 at an urban southeastern American university were surveyed. Participants completed Likert scale and open-response items regarding their success in college. A very strong correlation was found between participant's external inspiration and hopes for professional achievement. Also there was a very strong negative relationship between participant's sources of inspiration for the arts and their financial incentives for paid employment. Finally, students who indicated personal sources of inspiration as their personal characteristic were more likely to report personal achievements as their goals. Implications for administrators and higher education were discussed.