The main purpose of this research is to expand research that shows African American students experience difficulty in social and academic integration. In the literature there is the implicit assumption that African American students undergo social alienation because of conflicting cultural beliefs and values due to attending a primarily white institution (PWI). Because few studies examine relationships “among African American students’ beliefs and philosophies regarding race, their perceptions of fit in their college environment, and the extent and nature of social integration in the college environment”, this study examines these relationships by focusing on background/school congruence and racial identity/perceived ethnic fit (Chavous 79).
The article is written for researchers, institutional leaders and educators as explained by the author at the end of the document. The article supports its conclusions through an empirical study conducted on African American students attending a PWI. The main conclusions drawn from the research are as follows:
Backgrounds may not be related to feelings of incompatibility due to ethnicity.
Racial ideology did predict perceived ethnic fit.
Backgrounds are related to organizational involvement.
Strength of ethnic identification is related to students’ perceived ethnic fit and organizational involvement.
The author concludes the article by discussing limitations of the research and offers recommendation for future research, such as investigating the “unique characteristics of the [African American] population” in order to gain a deeper insight into how these characteristics impact college integration behaviors (Chavous 97).
The Journal of Black Psychology is published by the Association of Black Psychologists (ABP) and as such focuses on issues pertaining to the mental heal
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