Thriving in Black and Latino Men at Christian Colleges and Universities

Abstract

Black and Latino men are attending college at higher rates than ever before, yet their increased access has not led to increased success, as Black and Latino men face greater barriers to their success than do White and Asian men. The challenges to timely graduation for these populations are even greater at Christian colleges. The purpose of this study was to determine the campus experiences that contribute to the variation in thriving among Black and Latino men on Christian college campuses, after considering their demographic characteristics. Thriving is defined as students’ vital engagement in the college experience intellectually, interpersonally, and psychologically. Using a sample of 369 Black and Latino men from 35 Christian colleges and universities, we conducted a hierarchical multiple regression analysis to determine the variance in thriving mean scores and scale scores contributed by each predictor variable. The final predictive model explained 53.5% of the variation in thriving within Black and Latino men in the aggregate. Because race was a significant predictor of thriving, separate regression equations were conducted on the 133 Black men and 236 Latino men. These models explained 67.1% of the variation in thriving among Black men and 53.5% of the variation among Latino men. The implications of the findings for Christian colleges and universities are outlined, particularly the role of spirituality, sense of community, and perceptions of institutional integrity in supporting Black and Latino men’s ability to thrive in this environment.