An Investigation into African-Caribbean Academic Success in the UK

Abstract

While, there is a history of academic underachievement among African-Caribbeans in the UK, some African-Caribbeans progress successfully through undergraduate and on to postgraduate studies. This research investigates the factors contributing to such academic success. Fourteen African-Caribbean professionals, male and female, aged between 23 and 40 who had undertaken most of their compulsory education in UK schools, were interviewed. The findings suggest two possible models of success: a home-school model, which describes a continuous positive interaction between the home and school where both foster academic excellence and success, and a home-community model, which suggests that the family and community together create a 'sense of belonging' and acceptance and foster achievement and success, which compensate for low expectations and resources in the school. This suggests that academic success for a greater proportion of African-Caribbean children will become a reality when schools, the home and the community work together to develop and nurture academic achievement within a climate of excellence and high expectations.