Abstract
Many educators have become accustomed to using the deficit model of thinking to illustrate the challenges faced by African American students, frequently interpreting their academic struggles as personal failures and lack of resilience. In 2007, a public university in Southern California established the Learning Habits Project (LHP), a study designed to assess the ongoing efforts of university academic programs and to provide data on fostering student success through successful learning habits. This study documented the strategic approaches that foster academic success and resilience employed by 19 African American female college students. Viewed through the lens of Black Feminist Standpoint and Resiliency theories, the results of this study can be used to guide students and educators seeking to improve academic success and resiliency in higher education.
Highlights
The My Brother’s Keeper initiative, launched by President Barack Obama in 2014, brought much-needed attention to social and cultural factors that impact youth from underrepresented groups
The Learning Habits Project (LHP) offered concrete data that presented specific approaches used by 19 African American female students to enhance academic success
With the rising number of underrepresented students applying to college each year, it is crucial that these strategies are re-evaluated
Summary
The My Brother’s Keeper initiative, launched by President Barack Obama in 2014, brought much-needed attention to social and cultural factors that impact youth from underrepresented groups. In 2016, the council created a report, Advancing Equity for Women and Girls of Color, highlighting female adolescents’ and women’s lack of support and access to important resources (The White House, 2016b) This paved the way for Prosperity Together, a public-private five-year project launched in 2015 with an investment of 100 million dollars. Completed in 2020, it supported women’s economic security through education, job training, childcare, and research, carried out by Prosperity Together Partners across the nation (Women’s Funding Network, n.d.) While these initiatives continue to afford women of color access to necessary resources to achieve academic success, more data is needed to highlight a model of persistence and success in higher education among African American women
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