Introduction
This qualitative empirical study explores the decision-making of the university administration in regard to support being provided to the Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) students. As graduation and education level become increasingly pivotal to a student’s development, racial inequality in the academic environment can significantly damage academic achievement standards in underrepresented students. Thus, examining the administration and staff’s perspective on supporting BIPOC students is essential to understanding, developing, and implementing effective strategies and increasing graduation rates among minority students.
Purpose Statement and Researcher’s Lens
The purpose of this paper is to determine the challenges preventing minority students from college graduation and, most importantly, identify the approaches to support, prepare, and retain students from historically underrepresented groups within the University of Delaware. The identified epistemological and ontological paradigms demonstrated that my personal experience, educational history, and overall alignment with the constructivist approach to the qualitative research process define my researcher’s lens. The choice of constructivist grounded theory as a preferred methodological approach allows for individual’s active participation in interpreting the investigated phenomena.
Literature Review
The administration’s approaches to student diversity and ethnic disparities are critical to eliminating barriers in higher education completion. As the literature review shows, diminished retention rates and graduation in students of BIPOC communities are significantly higher compared to non-minority learners (Lascher, 2018). Along with significant adjustment difficulties presented by college settings, a number of factors threaten the chances of minority students achieving their educational goals due to the burden of social, economic, and psychological difficulties. Namely, financial issues, lack of support, discrimination, and the lack of a sense of belonging constitute the most common barriers for ethnic and racial minorities.
The complexity of factors obstructing minority students’ educational outcomes highlights the need to address the issue. A number of administration support options are available for underrepresented students, including culturally relevant courses, mentorship, and institutional change. For instance, culturally relevant courses are introduced to provide the BIPOC students with content they are familiar with and can relate to. Peer and faculty mentorship is another effective option that contributes to improving minority students’ academic performance and retention rates. Finally, institutional change is required to embrace an organizational culture reflecting the community and background of the target student population.
Methods & Data Collection
The University of Delaware (UD), namely its Newark campus, was chosen as the institution under review to obtain the opinions of the faculty, administrative staff, and leadership as the primary data for analysis. The participants included one head of faculty, white male; two deans of the college, one white male and the other black male; a director of programs, immigrant female. A semi-structured interview guide was developed using a mix of standardized and open-ended questions, all of which implied flexibility.
Data Analysis
Thematic analysis and grounded theory method were employed to define the themes and construct theory using the data obtained during interviews. No QDA Miner software was used, and a number of steps were taken to ensure efficient and consistent analysis. The thematic analysis approach allowed for structuring the knowledge produced by the participants recognizing that each individual has a different perspective and cognitive style. There was no list of pre-set codes, and all of them were developed and modified after the interviews were carried out. The notetaking, review, post-interview memoing, and member-checking were chosen to ensure a comprehensive picture of the issue studied.
Findings
Three themes were identified as the most relevant to the research question, such as connection, engagement, and learning environment. Based on the thematic analysis findings, connection appears critical as all the interviewees highlighted the importance of providing opportunities for staff to “connect with the students” and “reach out to them more.” Students are encouraged to connect and share their experiences with teachers and other students through inclusive programs and events offered by the university. As the coronavirus pandemic severely affects minority students, efforts are made to provide resources and guides for self and community care along with technical equipment required for distance learning.
The importance of engagement for underrepresented students was often discussed in the interviews, making it another critical recurring theme in this research. Community engagement activities are widely implemented at the Newark campus to help minority students engage in the community and academic settings. In particular, the UD strengthens collaborative alliances and partnerships with other academic institutions, community, external agencies, as well as private and governmental sector organizations to diversify the educational experiences for BIPOC students. Enhancing the visibility of financial aid and job opportunities is an effective strategy to provide support for students and help them engage in the community.
Another critical theme identified in this research is the importance of the learning environment in supporting students of color. Focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion allows for creating a culturally rich environment that can significantly improve student retention. Some students feel like they are not treated fairly by faculty and staff at the university. At the same time, acceptance and celebration of the academic performance of underrepresented students are critical to improving engagement. The administrative staff perceived “cultural proficiency” as a vital factor that helps teachers and students connect knowledge and ensure a rich educational environment free from bias.
Conclusion
To conclude, supportive practices are vital for providing minority students with an opportunity to overcome academic struggles and eliminate challenges throughout the educational process. The findings of this study address the research question by providing a better understanding of how the higher education administration sees support being provided for minority students that foster retention and graduation, based on the study conducted at the Newark campus of the University of Delaware. Connection, engagement and learning environment were deemed as critical factors of supporting minority students and increasing retention and graduation rates from the perspective of the faculty, administrative staff, and leadership of the University of Delaware.
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