No abstract

Based on evidence that students of color are frequently marginalized on their college campuses, this mixed-methods study examined the relationship between racial identity and campus connectedness in an ethnically diverse sample of Black college students. Further, same-ethnic friendships were tested as a mediator of that relationship. Findings from this sample of African, Caribbean, and Black American college students (N ϭ 345) showed that students with a strong racial identity tend to feel less connected to their college campuses, but that relationship was only significant for Black American students. Students across ethnic backgrounds reported higher feelings of closeness with their same-ethnic peers than those of different ethnicities. However, those same ethnic friendships only mediated the relationship between racial identity and campus connectedness for Black Americans. The interviews supported the statistical analyses: Black students in the sample were more socially connected to those of similar backgrounds than to their campuses overall. These findings suggest that their same-ethnic peers can provide alternative spaces where racial identities are affirmed. This study underscores the need to look at the ethnic diversity in the Black college student population and may offer colleges and universities with insight into how to best support these students.

In this qualitative cross-case study, we examine the role of familial habitus in providing early access to navigational capital and opportunities predictive of STEM success. Interviews with 18 students with non-apparent disabilities at a large, four-year research university in New England showed that parents and family played a key role in multiple dimensions of student experiences with disability. We organized the findings around three themes about family: (a) family’s framing of disability and academic ability; (b) family support of STEM interests; and (c) family as STEM role models. We extend these findings to highlight the importance of family more broadly, supporting research that indicates the critical role that parental involvement plays in the development of STEM aspirations and success.

Purpose This paper aims to focus on the construction of a third space within a high school. Specifically, the authors consider how youth of color engage the educational context of an 11th grade English language arts (ELA) class as a basis for (re)imagining their history, culture and themselves to construct counter-narratives away from framing their lived educational experiences as failures, deficient and depicted in “damage-centered” (Tuck, 2009) ways. The research engages the process and challenges of creating this type of space within a school setting, as well as examining the ways in which students envision these locations. Design/methodology/approach Critical ethnography centered the emphasis on youth engagement for social change, as well as the inquiry on how the classroom space was constructed, shared and navigated by the students and ourselves (Madison, 2005). In addition, the research design reflects critical ethnography through the use of prolonged participation in the field (nine and half months), a focus on culture (specifically school and classroom culture/climate) and a critical theory-based framework [hybridity, third space and youth participatory action research (YPAR)]. Findings Three major themes emerged from the data that demonstrate how instructors and students collectively engaged in a third space through the YPAR project. These themes include developing an ethic of care with students and among instructors, cultivating an atmosphere of social justice awareness and the contrast of the classroom space with the wider-Hillside Vocational High School environment. Originality/value The study engages the use of YPAR within a high school class that became a unique space for students to learn and develop. The ELA class did not just reflect adding the first space and second space together or merging the two. Instead, it seemed to demonstrate the creation of a new type of space or the development of a third space. In this space, students could bring and bridge their out-of-school and in-school experiences to develop new knowledge and ways of seeing the world.