Date of Award

4-2022

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology

First Advisor

Mary Z. Anderson, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Joseph R. Morris, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Regena F. Nelson, Ph.D.

Keywords

Race-related stress, academic self-efficacy, racial centrality, mibi, hbcu, pwi

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among racial centrality, racerelated stress, and psychological well-being on academic self-efficacy for Black former undergraduate HBCU and PWI students currently attending PWI graduate institutions. The following measures were used to test the research questions (a) a demographic questionnaire, (b) Mental Health Inventory (MHI; Viet & Ware, 1983), (c) Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity – Racial Centrality Scale (MIBI; Sellers, 1998), (d) Inventory of Race-Related Stress- Brief Version (IRRS-B Utsey, 1999), (e) Graduate Education Self-Efficacy Scale (GESES; Williams, 2005). There were 200 participants, 74 former HBCU graduates and 126 former PWI graduates from undergraduate institutions.

ANOVAs, hierarchical multiple regressions, and canonical correlations were used. The findings indicate Black HBCU students had higher levels of racial centrality than those from PWIs. Racial centrality had a positive and significant relationship with race-related stress and psychological well-being. High racial centrality predicted high psychological well-being and high academic self-efficacy, while high race-related stress predicted low psychological well-being and academic self-efficacy. The findings differed from former HBCU students and former PWI students suggesting a need for continued research. This study highlights the fact that HBCUs matter in promoting positive wellbeing, academic performance, centrality, and other protective factors. PWIs can also build programs based on monitoring, assessing, and hearing out current Black graduate students from former HBCUs.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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