The Influence of Fictive Kin Relationships and Religiosity on the Academic Persistence of African American College Students Attending an HBCU

Abstract

Academic persistence among African American college students has become an important issue due to the consistent lack of increase in retention and graduation rates of these students attending 4-year institutions. Despite the importance of this issue in the field of education, little has been done to study how cultural factors may influence college students’ academic success. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the ways in which fictive kin relationships and religiosity impact academic persistence in African American college students. Fourteen African American college students attending a Historically Black University were interviewed for the study. Participants were juniors and seniors who were expected to graduate within 2 years. Findings suggest that both fictive kin relationships within the university setting and surrounding community and religiosity to include prayer and attending religious services are used as coping methods contributing to the academic persistence of African American students.