Why Black Men [Supposedly] Can't Finish College
http://www.essence.com/news_entertainment/news/articles/education_news_why_black_men_struggle_to_finish_college
Peep the link above for an Essence write up of an AP survey on "Why Black Men Can't Finish College?"
1/6 of me want to find the AP research so I can read the conclusions and have some more insight myself. I'm sure it's nothing that hasn't been said before...but it's nice when numbers back it up.
1/6 of me wants to find the AP research to discredit some part of it, because that's what I've been trained to do.
1/3 of me is (as I often am of recent) disgruntled with Essence for basically regurgitating an Associated Press project without adding more nuance and then having the nerve to title the piece so negatively. I'm not saying to go start finding excuses for black men not finishing college, but you can throw in a little counterpoint and balance.
1/3 of me is extremely happy its pushing 1AM and I can excuse myself out of thinking because I should be asleep.
Most of the comments on the Essence website seem to point to men spending their college time chasing women. Do you agree that this is the problem?
Also, some men (if I were to speak from experience) just are not mature enough at college age to get down to business. They are easily distracted to the matter at hand by other trivial matters. However, it is possible in many instances, to "come to yourself," overcome the wasted time and get back on track.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it would appear that these figures are getting worse. Should we believe, then, that more men are chasing more women? That more men are immature?
ReplyDeleteThere must be specific reasons why the trend is the way it is *now.* I am sure the main factors are lack of preparation for post-secondary education and increasing financial pressures.
But I, too, would like to see the actual figures. Majority White institutions are definitely skimming many of the best qualified Black students off the top. We will probably have to face the fact that not every HBI is going to make it to see the end of the next decade. We should identify those institutions with the most promise, and also encourage more and better community college-to-4 year college pipelines.