How African American Men At A Predominantly White Institution Negotiate Their Identity When Interacting With White Peers

Student success is directly tied to the kind of support they receive while in school. This goes beyond academic support services to include peer-to-peer social experiences that encapsulate the student experience. In order to address the issue of student persistence and student success, this study's overarching investigative concern was how African American males at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) characterize their identity negotiation when interacting with non-African American peers. The three research questions were developed to reveal the essence of the identities and student experiences of Black males and their White peers in communicative interactions. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were utilized to gain insight into this phenomenon as it takes place at a PWIs. Using a critical interpretive approach along with an audit trail, the results yielded 607 nodes that were reduced to seven emergent themes and three broader categories which were reflective of the three research questions. The results showed that African American male students tended to resist and/or struggle with identity negotiation with White peers, and that this has impacted their attitudes toward persistence and degree of comfort with peers, but their family upbringing and values as well as personal motivation have facilitated their overall student success.