Deficient or Resilient: A Critical Review of Black Male Academic Success and Persistence in Higher Education

• Published in: The Journal of Negro education Vol. 82; no. 3; pp. 300 - 311
• Main Authors: Kim, Eunyoung, Hargrove, Demond T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington The Journal of Negro Education 01.07.2013; Journal of Negro Education; Howard University School of Education; Howard University, School of Divinity
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Academic Persistence; African American culture; African American Students; African Americans; Black Colleges; Black people; Black white relations; Blacks; College Environment; College Students; Colleges; Colleges and universities; Heuristics; Higher Education; Historically Black Colleges & Universities; Males; Men; Outcomes of Education; Predominantly White Institutions; Racial Composition; Resilience; Resilience (Psychology); Risk; School campuses; School Holding Power; Stereotypes; Student Experience; Students; Studies; Success; Underachievement; Undergraduate Students; Whites; United States > US
• ISSN: 0022-2984; 2167-6437
• DOI: 10.7709/jnegroeducation.82.3.0300

What contributes to persistent trends of Black male educational underachievement? Past literature has often used a deficit-informed framework to answer this question, portraying Black male students as incapable, unintelligent, disadvantaged, and at-risk to fail, feeding into negative stereotypes. In this article, our primary objective is to depart from this deficit-informed orientation, seeking out themes that speak to, and explain, Black male resiliency while discussing major developments in research on Black college men in both PWIs and HBCUs. We aim to fill gaps in existing research by using a more heuristic framework, one that may guide future research on Black male collegiate experiences and success by drawing upon resilience theories.