Do Cultural Attitudes Matter? The Role of Cultural Orientation on Academic Self‐Concept Among Black/African College Students

Abstract

The authors explored the relationship between academic self-concept and noncognitive variables (i.e., Africentric cultural orientation, academic class level, gender, and involvement in culturally relevant school and community activities) among Black/African college students. Results indicated that Africentric cultural orientation and academic class level were significantly related to academic self-concept. Female students had higher scores on the Academic Self-Concept Scale (Reynolds, Ramirez, Magrina, & Allen, 1980) compared with their male peers. Implications for counseling practice and future research are discussed.

A mixed‐methods study of a social emotional curriculum for Black male success: A school‐based pilot study of the Brothers of Ujima

“…Therefore, it is critical for school‐based practitioners and researchers to understand and incorporate issues of culture and racial aspects of socialization when studying Black youth development (Jones & Neblett, ; Worrell, ). The significant and practically meaningful gains in students’ Afrocentric world view were promising given the constructs related to positive outcomes in the empirical literature (Neblett, Seaton, Hammond, & Townsend, ; Williams & Chung, ).…”

“…Their results showed that greater adherence to Afrocentric cultural values was predictive of higher levels of self‐esteem and perceived social support satisfaction. Williams and Chung () explored the relationship between academic self‐concept and noncognitive variables (i.e., Afrocentric cultural orientation, academic class level, and involvement in culturally relevant school and community activities). Results showed that Afrocentric cultural orientation and academic class level are significantly related to academic self‐concept.…”

Black male community college students : a narrative study of their success

“…For Black students, some of the challenges that affected their persistence were overcome with support from a professional counselor or advisor (W. S. Williams & Chung, 2013).…”

“…Counseling and advising centers have created a positive atmosphere and provided ways to address challenges -such as academic adjustment, financial difficulty, living conditions, and study skill issues -that have caused Black male students to drop out (W. S. Williams & Chung, 2013). Although very little research has shown correlation between seeing a counselor and retention rates, it has shown that Black students who utilized a counseling center early in their college career were more successful because they could tackle pre-existing fears that affected their self-concept and self-esteem (W. S. Williams & Chung,20).…”

“…Self-concept. The idea that there is a link between self-concept and academic success is not new to higher education (W. S. Williams & Chung, 2013). Ezeofor and Lent (2014) learned that students' personal views about themselves affected their emotions and behavior and indirectly played a role in academic success.…”