Waldron, Selvon Malcolm
(2024)
Prospected: Mining the talent of Black and Latinx boys in college preparation programs.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
College access remains challenging for Black and Latinx boys. These boys, on average, lag boys who are White or Asian, and peers who are girls in both college enrollment and college graduation rates (Bell, 2014; Noguera, 2012). College preparation programs have helped close the racial and gender gaps by providing students with relevant navigation skills and financial resources. However, Black and Latinx boys face the lowest recruitment and retention rates in college preparation programs. With over a decade of working with dozens of college and career staff – called talent miners here, I noticed many of these programs did not demonstrate culturally responsive (Gay, 2010) practices or invest sufficiently in engagement of mothers which could support recruitment and retention of Black and Latinx boys.
This study used Critical Race Theory to guide continuous improvement – ImproveCrit (Anderson & Hayes, 2023). I utilized a PDSA Cycle to measure improvement in the recruitment of Black and Latinx boys following the intervention of a culturally responsive recruitment training module with a recruitment team. I also used a Case Study approach (Yin, 2009) to investigate the impact of mothers in retention. Borrowing from participatory action research (Brown & Rodríguez, 2009), much of the study’s methods and recommendations were co-created with two recent program graduates—called junior practitioners. Mining talent is akin to mining gold; therefore, I presented my findings using gold mining metaphors. To this end, I find that self-perception was equally important as the talent miners’ perception, mothers support their Black and Latinx sons as advocates or coaches, Black and Latinx boys are either overlooked or feared, and different skills were needed to recruit and retain the Black and Latinx boys in groups and Black and Latinx boys as individuals. By the class of 2026, Genesys Works - National Capital Region aimed to: (1) increase recruitment from 20% to 35% among students who identify as Black or Latinx boys and (2) achieve a retention rate of 80% among Black and Latinx boys (versus their current rates of 43% and 60%, respectively). The results of the study showed improvement and progress towards the aim.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
|
| Date: |
9 July 2024 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
6 May 2024 |
| Approval Date: |
9 July 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
20 June 2024 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
103 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Education > Learning Sciences and Policy |
| Degree: |
EdD - Doctor of Education |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Black boys; Latinx boys; College Preparation; Training: Cultural Responsive staff; recruitment and retention. |
| Date Deposited: |
09 Jul 2024 13:58 |
| Last Modified: |
09 Jul 2024 13:58 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/46597 |
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