Participation of International African Students at the University of Arkansas in Extracurricular Activities and Their Academic Outcomes

This paper examines whether there is an association between participation of the international African students at the University of Arkansas in extracurricular activities (ECAs) and their grade point average (GPA). Additionally, the researcher seeks to discover how and why the international African students participate in ECAs. The researcher surveyed 59 full time African students at the University of Arkansas during the academic year 2017-2018. The participants were adult males and females pursuing bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees at the University of Arkansas. The researcher compared the reported quantity of ECA hours with the participant’s GPA as reported by the participant. The observed independent sample t-test’s results, with an α = .05, was insignificant, t(57) = 2.00, p = .72, concluding that there was no significant difference in GPA between the international African students (M = 3.56, SD = .42, n = 24) at the University of Arkansas who were most involved in ECAs and their less involved peers (M = 3.6, SD = .33, n = 35). Additionally, the researcher compared the GPAs of the participant who reported being involved in sports ECAs and their peers who reported being involved in non-sports ECAs. The observed independent sample t-test’s results, with an α = .05 was also insignificant, t(57) = 2.00, p = .14, concluding that there was no significant difference in GPA between the surveyed international African students (M = 3.49, SD = .45, n = 20) at the University of Arkansas who reported participating in sports ECAs and their peers (M = 3.64, SD = .31, n = 39) who reported participating in non-sports ECAs. Furthermore, 37% of the surveyed African students at the University participated in ECAs because they wanted to (1) help and have fun, (2) meet new people, and (3) exchange experiences