| It has been, and continues to be the case, that African American students have lower retention rates than their White counterparts enrolled at White majority institutions of higher education. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that contribute to the retention of African American students attending a two year technical/vocational college and how these factors influenced the students' desire to persist. This study also sought to gain insights into methods of addressing social, cultural, and academic problems that impact the retention of African American students at the selected predominantly White technical/vocational two-year college.;This exploratory case study utilized qualitative methods to explore the perspectives of African American students on the factors which contribute to their persistence at the selected site. Data was collected mainly from formal interviews with the students chosen as the research subjects. More data was collected from formal interviews with faculty and staff, and from college documents which included institutional and student information. The triangulation process of collecting data from multiple sources provided some validity for the research findings and broader understanding of the issues. The interviews were conducted using a protocol specifically chosen to address the research questions. The data was analyzed through coding and constant comparative analysis to identify emerging themes.;A number of factors such as pre-college attributes, social life, academic performance, environmental/institutional elements, and various informed network of student life can all impact retention and eventual student success. The conceptual foundation for the study is a merging of theoretical constructs of four retention models on Undergraduate student retention. The study found answers to questions about what factors provide retention at the institutions being studied, what meanings students give to these factors, and how these perspectives were used to overcome barriers at the institutions. A comprehensive student retention model emerged from the literature review and analyzed data of this study. A model of this nature may be used as a guide to increasing student retention at predominantly White technical/vocational colleges and also provide the foundation for future research studies. |
