An Overview of this Issue

This special issue addresses theoretical, institutional, student and family issues that significantly impact the academic success of African-American students today

Educational Considerations, vol. 18 (1) Full Issue

Educational Considerations, vol. 18 (1) Fall 1990 - Full issu

An Editorial Comment

Recommendations for change in increased access and equity in education of African-American individuals: What do we do while we wait

Table of contents and editorial information for Vol. 18, no. 1, Fall 1990

Table of contents and editorial information for this special issue The Academic Success of African-American Students

Department Chair as University Change Agent: A Practitioner-Researcher Leadership Model

This symposium describes the leadership of department chair, who assumes the position as an institutional change agent by implementing strategies associated with leadership using the practitioner-researcher model. Positive outcomes and unanticipated consequences and implications will be discussed

Academic Performance vs. Academic Persistence: A Study of Black Students\u27 Perceived Personal Competency

The present study examines the contribution of Black students\u27 perceived personal competencies to both a four-year academic persistence and freshman GPA

Recognizing Suicide Lethality Factors: Who is Competent?

Not all of those likely to counsel potential suicide victims are equally qualified to do so. How do the competency levels of various professional groups rate

A Cross-Cultural Study of Vocational Identity: Does a College Education Mean the Same for All Persisters?

This item is copyright by Johns Hopkins University Press.No abstract is available for this item

Students’ Perceptions of the Training Environment: A Study of Race and Gender

This poster presents the results of a study of university students’ perceptions of educational training environments, which is typically limited to course evaluations. Relationships between program organization/structure, students’ perceptions, and cumulative GPA will be examined considering race and gender. Findings will enhance understanding about the impact of program variables. Packets (N = 227) , which included a consent form and a researcher-developed Training Environment Survey, were completed bi-annually by a random sampling of currently enrolled undergraduate (n = 140; 61.7%), graduate (n = 56; 24.7%), and doctoral-level (n = 31; 13.7%) university majors in programs housed within a Department of Human Services in a state institution located in the southern USA , having a total student population of approximately 13,000: Special Education, Deaf and Hard of Hearing, School Psychology, Vision Impairment, Orientation and Mobility, Rehabilitation Services, Counseling, Communication Disorders, and Speech and Language Pathology. The Training Environment Survey (TES) assessed students’ perceptions of: Faculty-Faculty Relationships, Faculty-Student Relationships, Student-Faculty Relationships, Student-Student Relationships and number of student services available (Policies). Twenty-four(23.8%) percent (n = 54) of the participants reported racial/ethnic minority status; 76.2% (n = 173) reported having White or racial/ethnic majority status; 94.2 % (n = 210) were female; and 5.8% (n = 13) were male; 1.8% (n = 4) did not specify; 12.8% (n = 29) identified as African American; 9.3% (n = 21) identified as Latino American; 1.3% (n = 3) identified as Asian American; and .4% (n = 1) identified as International Student status

The Influence of Demographic Information, Ethnic Identity, and Pro-Feminist Attitudes on Cognitive Empathy

A critical overview of the literature provides a frame for the overall purpose of this empirical study, which examines the influence of ethnic identity and attitudes about women on individuals’ ability to engage in empathic thinking. Results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that undergraduate students’ (n=179) ethnic identity and attitudes about women significantly contributed to 23% of the variance in the ability to think empathically. Among the three sets of independent variables (demographic information, attitudes about women, and ethnic identity subscales), ethnic identity was found to be the only significant (p \u3c .01) contributor to the model, explaining 17% of the 23% variance in scores measuring ability to use empathy. Findings suggested that individuals who scored higher on the ethnic identity scale, particularly in relationship to the orientation to other groups, had a greater ability to think empathically, as indicated by higher scores on the empathy scale. Implications for training in counseling programs is discussed