Examining psychosociocultural influences, student-professor interactions, racial identity and resilience as predictors of academic self-concept and academic achivement of Black collegians

This study explores how perceptions of the university environment, cultural congruity, student-faculty interactions, racial identity and resilience affect academic outcomes among Black collegians attending historically White postsecondary institutions. Prior scholarship has traditionally focused on standardized measures when assessing academic outcomes among Black college students. In contrast, contextual variables have been given minimal scholarly attention. Using Pearson’s correlations and hierarchical multiple regression, this study examines how perceptions of the university environment, cultural congruity, student-faculty interactions, racial identity and resilience influence academic achievement and academic self-concept among Black college students.

The sample consisted of 253 Black college students (88 men, 165 women) recruited from historically White postsecondary institutions. Results revealed academic self-concept, resilience (via academic engagement) and racial centrality were significantly correlated with cumulative GPA. Using hierarchical multiple regression, academic engagement and racial centrality predicted a small but significant increase in variance of cumulative GPA above and beyond academic self-concept. Additionally, correlational analyses revealed psychosociocultural influences, student-faculty interactions, and resilience were significantly correlated with academic self-concept. Hierarchical multiple regression found that racial identity, psychosociocultural influences, student-faculty interactions and resilience each accounted for significant variance in explaining academic self-concept.

These findings suggest the need to begin developing a more integrated model that incorporates how race (racial centrality), space (perceptions of the university environment, student-faculty interactions), place (cultural congruity) and pace (resilience via academic and social engagement) influence the outcomes of Black collegians attending historically White educational institutions. Implications of these findings for university faculty, student affairs professionals and mental health professionals are identified.