A Study of the University of Tennessee Ronald Mcnair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program: Factors Related to Graduate School
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 8-1994 A Study of The University of Tennessee Ronald McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program: Factors Related to Graduate School Enrollment for First Generation, Low-Income and Under-represented College Students Kenneth Chatman University of Tennessee, Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Chatman, Kenneth, "A Study of The University of Tennessee Ronald McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program: Factors Related to Graduate School Enrollment for First Generation, Low-Income and Under-represented College Students. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1994. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/4375 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Kenneth Chatman entitled "A Study of The University of Tennessee Ronald McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program: Factors Related to Graduate School Enrollment for First Generation, Low-Income and Under-represented College Students." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Education, with a major in Educational Psychology and Research. Olga M. Welch, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Ed Roeske, Lawrence DeRidder, Esteban Walker, Mark Hector Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Kenneth Chatman entitled "A Study of The University of Tennessee Ronald McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program: Factors Related to Graduate School Enrollment for First Generation, Low-Income and Under-represented College Students." I have examined the final copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education with a major in Educational Psychology. �-{//�0IgM.Welc h, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: �- Accepted for the Council: Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of The Graduate School A STUDY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE RONALD MCNAIR POST BACCALAUREATE ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM: FACTORS RELATED TO GRADUATE SCHOOL ENROLLMENT FOR FIRST-GENERATION, LOW-INCOME AND UNDER-REPRESENTED COLLEGE STUDENTS A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Education Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Kenneth Chatman August 1994 11 Copyrighted by Kenneth Chatman August 1994 Ill ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to thank my major professor, Dr. Olga M. Welch, for seeing me through this research project. She provided an effective combination of challenge and support. I am truly better, as a scholar and a person, from having known and worked with her. I would also like to thank the other committee members, Dr. Ed Roeske, Dr. Lawrence DeRidder, Dr. Esteban Walker and Dr. Mark Hector, for their guidance and patience over the years. There is, obviously, much work yet to be done to enhance the likelihood of economic, educational, political and general social justice within the United States of America for poor people and people of color. However, I would like to pause a moment at this point in my academic life to give thanks and acknowledge the existence of the "care syndrome" within-and-throughout my life space. So many people, over the years, have taken the time to tend to me, help me and care for me in one way or another. This care syndrome that I speak of is said to be the way of the African, and is very much a part of the African American experience. The people mentioned below, most of African descent, are those who have gone well beyond the expected in motivating and enabling me to achieve the doctoral degree: Ms. Turner, my first grade teacher at L. H. Williams Elementary School in Macon, Georgia; Mr. Ingram, my fifth grade teacher at Ada J. Banks Elementary School of Macon; Coaches, teachers and administrators at lV Southwest High School of Macon--Mr. Albert Sharpe, Mr. Bobby Gordon, Mr. Douglas McGlaughlin, Mr. Reid Goodman and Ms. Linda Derryberry; mentor and friend, Dr. William H. Byas, next to my mother, the most influential person in my life; Dr. Ronald McFadden and the staff of The University of Tennessee Educational Advancement and Ronald McNair Programs; and Dr. Olga Welch and her secretary, Ms. Florence Cline. For me, this process has reaffirmed the importance of family. To my wife, Patricia, and my son, Chad, thanks for your love and patience that were so important to thecompletion of this project. And to the rest of my family, thank you for your support and encouragement, especially my mother, Mrs. Laura H. Chatman, my brother, Mr. Milton Chatman, and my mother-in-law and father-in-law, Mrs. Wylene Miller and Mr. Walter Miller. The dissertation experience was a long and challenging one for me. Most who knew me would have understood if I had simply quit. But let it be known that in the strongest moments of doubt, I was strengthened, both spiritually and physically, by thoughts of those who have come before me. I stand on the shoulders of theAfrican, theenslaved, the sharecropper, the segregated, the poor. I shall not forget, and quitting is not an option. V ABSTRACT The Ronald McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program is a federal response to the recent decline in the number of African American doctoral degrees conferred and the general under-representation of minority group members in graduate education. The McNair Program is designed, through enrichment activities, to facilitate doctoral study among first generation, low-income and under-represented students. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville was one of the first 14 programs funded in the United States. Now, sixty-eight McNair Programs are funded by the U.S. Department of Education. This quantitative case study of 60 participants in the University of Tennessee Ronald McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program during the summers of 1990 and 1991 had four purposes: (1) to describe the University of Tennessee Ronald McNair Program participants, (2) determine what proportion of McNair participants eligible for graduate school enrollment were enrolled in graduate school, (3) compare and contrast eligible students who had gone on to graduate school to those who had not and (4) construct profiles, from multiple variables, of the McNair participant who is likely to go on to graduate school (Group A) and the McNair participant who is not likely to go on to graduate school (Group B). Ten documents and 41 variables were identified and analyzed. Basic descriptive statistics, chi square, Fisher's Exact Test, MANOV A and discriminant analysis procedures were used. Vl Nearly 70% of the UT McNair participants eligible to apply to graduate school were enrolled in graduate school. First-generation, low-income status was positively associated with graduate school enrollment. The participants were overwhelmingly African American and studying in science and engineering related disciplines where African American students are most under-represented. Those McNair participants who went on to graduate school were found to be significantly different from those who did not. In light of the problem of under-representation of African American and other minority groups in graduate education, the findings suggest that students in the McNair program who are eligible to apply to graduate school do so. Though preliminary, these findings support the contention that enrichment programs do have positive effects. Vil TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1 NATURE AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY................. 1 Introduction....................................................................... 1 Purposes of the Study......................................................... 4 Identification and Selection Procedures................................. 4 Description of the Participants............................................. 7 An Overview of College Enrichment Initiatives..................... 8 Significance of the Study..................................................... 13 Research Methodology........................................................ 17 Limitations of the Study...................................................... 22 Definition of Terms............................................................ 23 Organization of the Study.................................................... 25 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE.................. 2 6 Introduction....................................................................... 26 Astin (1982) Minorities in American Higher Education.......... 28 Fleming (1984) Blacks in College......................................... 32 Allen (1985) Black Students on White Campuses.................... 35 Nettles (1990) Black, Hispanic and White Doctoral Students.... 38 Rotter (1966): Locus of Control Hypothesis.........................