<em>The Likelihood of Transfer for Black Males in Community Colleges: Examining the Effects of Engagement Using Multilevel, Multinomial Modeling</em>

Abstract

Research indicates that Black male collegians tend to disproportionately seek out postsecondary educational opportunities at community colleges; despite this, a paucity of Black men actual transfer to four-year colleges and universities. In order to help facilitate transfer for Black male community college students, this article investigates the effects of student engagement on Black male students' self-reported likelihood of transfer. The implications of this study provides compelling context for institutional practice and future research to help community colleges be more intentional about improving transfer outcomes for among Black male students.Keywords: Black males, community college, transferCommunity colleges serve many functions and one of the primary functions of these institutions is to facilitate students' ability to transfer into four-year institutions of higher education. Students of color in general and Black males specifically are more likely to seek out postsecondary opportunities at two-year colleges (Wood & Williams, 2013). Of the vast majority of those who will attend two-year colleges, 81.9% will pursue their education at public community colleges. According to research (e.g., Bush, 2004), many Black men attend these institutions because they perceive that they can facilitate their social and economic mobility. A large number of community college students enroll with the intent to transfer into a four-year college or university. Specifically, 43 % of Black men indicate intent to transfer upon enrollment in the community college.Despite this, limited empirical research has investigated the likelihood of transfer for Black male community college students. One study that comes close is Nora and Rendon's (1990) research on factors predictive community college students' predisposition to transfer. Using data from students attending six community colleges in Texas, Arizona, and California, Nora and Rendon explored the applicability of Tinto's (1975) model of attrition on student's predisposition to transfer. Specifically Nora and Rendon (1990) were interested in the effect of academic (e.g., library use, interactions with faculty, attending campus lectures) and social integration (e.g., involvement in extra-curricular activities, seeking out special campus events, reading the college newspaper) on students' predisposition to transfer. Findings from their study indicated that students with greater levels of academic and social integration were significantly more likely to have transfer goals than their peers. A critical limitation to Nora and Rendon's (1990) research was that the sample included only Hispanic (74%) and White (26%) students. To this end, their study did not provide insight on Black students' predisposition to transfer. Despite these drawbacks, Nora and Rendon's study served as a conceptual guide for this research on predisposition to transfer among Black men.With this in mind, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of student engagement on Black male students' self-reported likelihood of transfer. Specifically, the effect of engagement on transfer likelihood focused on Black men who indicated a predisposition to transfer to a four-year college or university. Four types of engagement were explored, including: active and collaborative learning, faculty-student interaction, exposure to diversity, and usage of student services. Three primary questions guided this research:* Research question 1: Is there a significant relationship between Level 1 measures of engagement (with controls) on Black male community college students' self-report likelihood to transfer?* Research question 2: Is there a significant relationship between Level 1 and Level 2 measures of engagement (with controls) on Black male community college students' self-report likelihood to transfer?* Research question 3: Do engagement predictors at Level 1 have randomly varying slopes across colleges? …