African American Males Educational Success Factors

Due to the recent call for educators to increase African American educational achievement (Butler, 2012; Toldson, Sutton, & Brown, 2012; Harris & Taylor, 2012), the authors sought to identify personal characteristics associated with African American male educational success. There appears to be little discussion about this group¡¯s success in today¡¯s academic literature (Harper, 2009b). Thirty high-achieving African American male undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 22 at an urban southeastern American university were surveyed. Participants completed Likert scale and open-response items regarding their success in college. The results suggest high achieving African-American males deem sources of inspiration, people, and financial incentives as important for educational success. Also, a significant difference was discovered between STEM (science, technology, engineering, or math) majors and non-STEM majors with regards to age, paternal relationship, and incentives (internal, external) to achieve goals. Implications for administrators and higher education were discussed.