Abstract
Although colleges in the United States have become increasingly racially and ethnically diverse, degree attainment remains disproportionately low among students from underrepresented and minoritized racial backgrounds. In this paper, we discuss the interactive influence of both person and environment factors in shaping academic persistence and argue that college administrators, faculty, and student support staff can intervene and take specific steps to improve the academic experience of racially minoritized college students. To this end, we offer specific evidence-based recommendations for campus leaders and stakeholders on how to adapt their campus community to facilitate the requisite person–environment fit to maximize academic persistence.
Highlights
The term URM students typically refers to Black/African Americans, Latinxs/Hispani cs, and Indigenous peoples (e.g., American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian) who at a national level have college graduation rates that are disproportionately lower than their White counterparts
In our evidence-based recommendations, we aim to address this gap in the literature, enumerating several concrete steps that colleges and universities can take to support URM students, considering what we know about predictors of adjustment and wellbeing among URM students
We argue that college persistence is situated at this intersection of personal and academic; here the accountability of student affairs professionals for the retention of URM students becomes quite apparent
Summary
The term URM students typically refers to Black/African Americans, Latinxs/Hispani cs, and Indigenous peoples (e.g., American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian) who at a national level have college graduation rates that are disproportionately lower than their White counterparts. We encourage the reader to critically examine the groups of students who are underrepresented and under-resourced at a particular university in light of the organized system of social stratification (e.g., based on race and ethnicity). This inclusive and contextual approach acknowledges how URM students may comprise different configurations of racial and ethnic groups at different institutions. College attrition of URM students is one of the many manifestations of inequitable distribution of power and privilege that exists throughout society and social institutions.
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