Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

12-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Educational Leadership

Committee Chair

Wanda Maulding Green, Ed.D.

Abstract

There has been a growing concern for African-American male students (Hawkins-Jones & Reeves, 2020) due to the fact that they maintain consistently low achievement levels throughout their education and graduate from high school at lower rates than their peers. Their failure rate in math and reading on the National Assessment of Educational Practice (U.S. Department of Education, 2017) is above average, and the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (Hussar et al., 2020) reported that they also have higher than average dropout, suspension, and truancy rates. The achievement and discipline gaps that African-American male students face in education are unmistakable. One way institutions have been attempting to combat this low level of achievement is through mentoring (Cleaver & Fincheme, 2017). Mentoring has become an effective vehicle for changing the negative educational history and overall image of African-American male students (Witters & Liu, 2015).

Therefore, this qualitative study discloses interviews with nine African American male alumni of Seaside Mentoring (SSM; a pseudonym for a formal mentoring program), an established formal mentoring program, to investigate the influence of mentoring during high school and beyond. The interview questions were designed to reveal and clarify knowledge regarding the impact of mentoring on their lives. The goal was to highlight those aspects of mentoring that strengthened mentees’ ability to navigate academically, socially, and in other ways throughout high school and beyond.

The researcher reviewed each participant’s response to each question, using familiarization to highlight habitual words, phrases, actions, activities, and patterns (McGrath et al., 2019). The information was then hand-coded and analyzed, which revealed three emerging academic themes (a desire for inclusion/membership, a push to be great, and observation of role models), three social themes (gained confidence, exploration of self-abilities, and connection with members), and two additional themes (self-image and acceptance of criticism).

The researcher then evaluated these themes in order to identify areas of strength in the mentoring offered through SSM. The researcher’s intent was to use the knowledge gained from these participants to suggest changes that would improve the mentoring of high school students and, in turn, assist in improving graduation rates, job search actions, and employment retention for African-American men. Based on the responses and the eight emerging themes, the researcher recommended extending the mentor/mentee relationship through the years immediately following high school and increasing the involvement of parents in the mentoring program.

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