THE INFLUENCE OF COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE VARIABLES ON THE SUCCESS OF BLACK UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING CURRICULA AT A PREDOMINATELY WHITE UNIVERSITY

The purpose of this study was to determine the cognitive and affective variables which influence achievement of Black successful and nonsuccessful undergraduates in science and engineering curricula at a predominately White technical and land grant university. In addition, the investigation sought to examine other significant variables that influence the success of students by interviewing 10 percent of the sample.;Computer analyses performed on the questionnaire data included correlational analysis and linear regression procedures. Students' t-tests and z-tests to determine difference in proportionality were done to analyze data collected from the interviews. Where appropriate, significance levels of .05, .01, and .001 were noted.;In this study, different high school cognitive variables, SAT-M scores and university predicted grade point averages were found to be predictors of achievement for successful and nonsuccessful freshman students, respectively. University predicted grade point averages were significant predictors of achievement for the successful and nonsuccessful sophomore and senior students. No significantly positive relationships between number of exposure to Black role models, proportion of Black students in the high schools, size of graduation class and achievement were found for Black successful and nonsuccessful science and engineering students. In addition, achievement in sophomore and freshman level science and engineering courses and perceived success were significantly related to cumulative grade point averages of the science students.;Attitudes were found to be significantly related to achievement. Attitudes toward mathematics and physics courses were significantly related to achievement of successful and nonsuccessful Black science and engineering students. In addition, significant relationships between attitudes toward science professors, attitude toward Blackness of students, attitude toward science teaching and achievement of successful and nonsuccessful Black science and engineering students were found.;Black undergraduate students enrolled in the Schools of Engineering, Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Mathematical and Physical Sciences who had not transferred from other institutions were selected for this study. Data were collected from 186 students by questionnaire. Background information on cognitive aptitudes and past performances were also collected. In addition, 10 percent of the Black student population was interviewed during the Spring semester of 1980.;The reasons given by successful Black students for majoring in science and engineering were different from those of nonsuccessful students. Successful and nonsuccessful students have different expectations of what the university experience at North Carolina State University would be. Successful students use more coping mechanisms for dealing with problems than nonsuccessful students.