African American male high school student's experiences: Success in urban high school's college preparation program

Although there are more African American male students in higher education, they do not succeed to the same extent as other demographic groups. The purpose of this Action Research qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis is to explore the lived experiences of African American male high school students in regards to their academic problems and to solicit their perceptions about what hinders their success in a college preparatory program. The aim of this study is to determine what factors might help African American males be more successful in academia. The study is a phenomenological analysis of the lived experiences of ten African American male students from a high school in a Middle Atlantic state. The researcher opened a dialogue with the students through semi-structured interviews based on questions developed from the literature review. Their responses indicate how African American males achieve success in academia despite the barriers they face as minority students.